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Developer Tools · head to head

Spacelift vs Thanos

Spacelift logo

Spacelift

Developer Tools

Infrastructure-as-code orchestration for Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi and Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Thanos logo

Thanos

Cloud

Highly available Prometheus with long-term object storage

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Spacelift users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.; Thanos several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
  • They diverge on capability: Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Thanos covers Global query.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Spacelift and Thanos actually diverge.

Attributes where Spacelift and Thanos differ
AttributeSpaceliftThanos
Pricing modelBy private worker and tier, not by userOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, CloudKubernetes, Linux, Docker
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Spacelift

  • Multi-tool orchestration
  • Policy as code
  • Private workers
  • Spaces
  • Blueprints
  • Drift detection

Only in Thanos

  • Global query
  • Object storage retention
  • Deduplication
  • Downsampling

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Spacelift

  • Platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application CInot Thanos
  • Organisations standardising Terraform and OpenTofu across many teams with policy enforcementnot Thanos
  • Estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the networknot Thanos
  • Teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alonenot Thanos

Thanos

  • Querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one placenot Spacelift
  • Retaining metrics for years without local disk growthnot Spacelift
  • Removing the gap that appears when a single Prometheus instance restartsnot Spacelift

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Spacelift

  • Users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.
  • There is no affordable paid entry point. The free tier stops at two users and the next tier is a five-figure commitment with nothing in between.
  • Three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it.
  • The self-hosted build lags the hosted one, has no public worker pool and lacks the Azure and Google Cloud integrations available in the SaaS product, with OIDC federation offered as the workaround.
  • Stacks, Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and Spacelift-managed state are proprietary constructs, so leaving means rebuilding the orchestration layer rather than pointing it at a different runner.

Thanos

  • Several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
  • The compactor is a common source of operational trouble and must not run twice against the same bucket
  • Query latency over object storage is meaningfully higher than local Prometheus
  • Object storage costs and API request charges become real at high volume

Pricing, plan by plan

Spacelift

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Two users
    • Public workers only
    • No private workers
  • Starter Plus$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Two public workers
    • One to two private workers
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Three private workers
    • Quoted
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Five to thirty private workers
    • Self-hosted option

Thanos

Free
  • ThanosFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Spacelift if

  • You need multi-tool orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want policy as code.
Spacelift review

Choose Thanos if

  • You need global query.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
  • You also want object storage retention.
Thanos review

Questions people ask

Is Spacelift or Thanos better?
Neither clearly leads. Spacelift starts at Free and Thanos at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Spacelift or Thanos?
Spacelift starts at Free and Thanos at Free.
Does Spacelift or Thanos run on more platforms?
Spacelift runs on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud. Thanos runs on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
Can I use Spacelift for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Spacelift best used for?
Spacelift is most often used for platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application ci, organisations standardising terraform and opentofu across many teams with policy enforcement, estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the network, teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alone. Of those, platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application ci and organisations standardising terraform and opentofu across many teams with policy enforcement are not what Thanos is typically brought in for.
What can Spacelift do that Thanos cannot?
Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Policy as code, Private workers, Spaces. Thanos covers Global query, Object storage retention, Deduplication, Downsampling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Spacelift: How is Spacelift priced?

By tier and by private worker count rather than per user. Users are unlimited on every paid plan. The published figure on the pricing page carries no period label, and the FAQ describes the tier as an annual subscription, so confirm the period in writing.

Thanos: Is Thanos free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-incubating. Costs are the object storage it uses.

Spacelift: Does it support OpenTofu?

Yes, and Spacelift sponsors the OpenTofu project, which is a substantive hedge for anyone avoiding Terraform under the Business Source Licence.

Thanos: Does Thanos replace Prometheus?

No. It runs alongside existing Prometheus servers, adding global query, deduplication and long-term storage.

Spacelift: Is there a self-hosted version?

Yes, described as carrying Enterprise functionality, but it is priced on request and lags the hosted product on cloud integrations.

Thanos: Thanos or VictoriaMetrics?

Thanos layers onto Prometheus using object storage and is the more established multi-cluster answer. VictoriaMetrics is a separate store aiming at lower resource use and fewer moving parts.

Spacelift: Why not just use the CI system we already have?

That is the real comparison. General purpose CI handles state, drift, approval gates and concurrency control for infrastructure poorly, and whether that is worth a five-figure floor depends on how much infrastructure change your organisation actually ships.

Spacelift: What happens to our pipelines if we leave?

They do not port. Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and managed state are Spacelift constructs and the orchestration has to be rebuilt elsewhere.

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