Software · head to head
Vault vs Chef
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Vault vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor; Chef priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size
- They diverge on capability: Vault covers Secrets management, Chef covers Recipes.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Vault and Chef actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Vault
- Secrets management
- Encryption
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Audit logging
- API access
- High availability
- Replication
Only in Chef
- Recipes
- Cookbooks
- Roles
- Data bags
- Attributes
- Chef Server
- Chef Infra
- Chef Compliance
Both cover
- Docker
- On-premise deployment
- Cloud deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Vault
- Centrally storing and rotating secrets, API keys and database credentialsnot Chef
- Issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwordsnot Chef
- Encryption as a service and PKI certificate issuancenot Chef
Chef
- Configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleetsnot Vault
- Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Vault
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Vault
- Vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
- The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vault to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vault
- Each version only converts to MPL 2.0 four years after that version is published, and the Change Date is tracked per version
- Replication, HSM support, namespaces, performance standby nodes, FIPS builds, control group authorisation, multi-factor authentication, secrets sync and lease count quotas all require a Vault Enterprise licence
- A Vault Enterprise licence must be applied to the cluster before any Enterprise feature can be used
Chef
- Priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size
- Tripling the price between the two published tiers puts compliance and audit features well above basic automation
- Enterprise Plus and every self managed deployment are custom quoted with no published price
Pricing, plan by plan
Vault
Free- Open SourceFree
- Secrets management
- Encryption as a service
- Identity management
- EnterpriseFree
- Advanced features
- Premium support
- Dedicated updates
Chef
Free- Open SourceFree
- Chef Infra
- Community support
- Full functionality
- Chef Automate$4000/year
- Chef Infra
- Compliance automation
- Insights
Which should you pick?
Choose Vault if
- You need secrets management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
- You also want encryption.
Choose Chef if
- You need recipes.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
- You also want cookbooks.
Questions people ask
- Is Vault or Chef better?
- Neither clearly leads. Vault starts at Free and Chef at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Vault or Chef?
- Vault starts at Free and Chef at Free.
- Does Vault or Chef run on more platforms?
- Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
- Can I use Vault for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Vault best used for?
- Vault is most often used for centrally storing and rotating secrets, api keys and database credentials, issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwords, encryption as a service and pki certificate issuance. Of those, centrally storing and rotating secrets, api keys and database credentials and issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwords are not what Chef is typically brought in for.
- What can Vault do that Chef cannot?
- Vault covers Secrets management, Encryption, Authentication, Authorization. Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Both handle Docker, On-premise deployment, Cloud deployment.