Ansible vs Puppet
Ansible works over SSH without a custom agent, with a GPL-3.0 core that is free to use and a paid Red Hat Automation Platform quoted by sizing. Puppet centres on continuously enforcing a desired state, with a free Core Developer tier under 25 nodes and quoted plans beyond it. Neither vendor publishes a price for its paid tiers on the pages we read. Both are linked to US addresses, in Raleigh for Red Hat and Minneapolis for Perforce.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose Ansible ifyou want to manage hosts with nothing new installed on them, write plain YAML playbooks, and are ready for a quote from Red Hat if the platform becomes necessary. You also value an open source core with no node cap.
Choose Puppet ifyou need drift correction, run reports and CIS or DISA STIG alignment, and your fleet is under 25 nodes or ready to ask for a price. You also accept that web interface and role-based access sit in the higher tiers.
Ansible and Puppet side by side
| Ansible | Puppet | |
|---|---|---|
| Our configuration management software rank | #8 of 11 | #4 of 11 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| List price, 6 November 2026 | Free open source core; Automation Platform quoted by sizing and subscription, with Standard or Premium support | Under 25 nodes Core Developer costs nothing; from 25 nodes, Core Commercial, Enterprise and Advanced are custom-priced via sales |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Teams configuring servers and network gear who want no agent to install | Teams enforcing server configuration at scale with audit and compliance needs |
| Not for | Teams that want a recorded plan and stored state before every change | Teams provisioning cloud accounts rather than configuring operating systems |
Both are reviewed in full in our configuration management software ranking: Ansible and Puppet.
Where they differ
Ansible 1 · Puppet 2 · open 3- 01
Nothing to install on the target host
Ansible's repository states a design principle of avoiding custom agents and extra open ports, using the SSH daemon already running, and its documentation describes an agent-less architecture. Puppet's pricing page lists both agent-based and agentless architecture, plus on-prem, cloud and hybrid deployment. If you cannot change the hosts, Ansible has the plainer answer, though Puppet also offers an agentless route.
Edge: Ansible
- 02
Where the free ride ends
Ansible is described as free to use as an open source project, and Red Hat shows no amounts for Automation Platform, only quotes by sizing and subscription. Puppet Core Developer is free for fewer than 25 nodes, Core Commercial is custom from 25 nodes, and Enterprise and Advanced are contact-sales. No page we read shows a figure, but Puppet at least names the node threshold.
Edge: Puppet
- 03
Staying in line with a benchmark
Puppet's homepage describes continuous configuration enforcement, drift detection with automatic correction, and run reports as an audit trail. Core Commercial adds always-on policy aligned with CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs, and the Puppet Core page gives CVE remediation targets of 14 days for critical and 30 for high. Ansible's documentation stresses idempotent playbooks, but we read no compliance packs on its pages.
Edge: Puppet
- 04
Three ways to buy Ansible, one ladder for Puppet
Red Hat sells Automation Platform self-managed on your own infrastructure, as a managed service, as a managed application in a public cloud, or through AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and OCI marketplaces. Puppet's ladder runs Core Developer, Core Commercial, Enterprise and Advanced, the last adding priority support and advanced patching. Ansible offers more buying routes; Puppet offers a clearer climb. Neither page we read shows a price for any of these routes.
Depends on the buyer
- 05
Licences, modules and the paid layer
Ansible's repository carries GPL-3.0, with the paid platform on top. Puppet's repository is Apache-2.0, and the pricing page cites 7000+ modules on Puppet Forge, vendor-backed SLAs and hardened builds in Core. Continuous CIS enforcement is exclusive to the commercial version, and the web interface with role-based access control is in Enterprise. Both put governance features behind a payment, in different places.
Depends on the buyer
- 06
Support levels and the companies behind them
Red Hat lists Standard (9 to 5) and Premium (24x7) support for Ansible and was founded in 1993; its company page says it has joined with IBM since 2019. Puppet includes standard support and offers 24x7 premium, under Perforce Software at 400 First Avenue North in Minneapolis. Both sit in the United States, so location does not separate them. The pages we read name no support response times.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
If you want a stored plan reviewed before every change, or cloud account provisioning, neither tool is the natural fit. Look at Terraform for provisioning or Rudder for audit-oriented configuration management.
Ansible or Puppet: questions
3 answersCan I run Ansible in production without paying Red Hat anything?
The community project is described as free to use, and the repository is licensed GPL-3.0. Automation Platform is a separate paid product, quoted by sizing and subscription. The pages we read do not mention a free trial for Ansible itself.
What exactly changes for Puppet at the 25-node mark?
Core Developer covers fewer than 25 nodes at no charge. From 25 nodes, Core Commercial applies with custom pricing and no published amount. The pages we read mention no free trial.
Which of the two needs an agent running on each server?
Puppet's pricing page lists both agent-based and agentless architecture, so it supports either. Ansible's repository states a design principle of avoiding custom agents, using the SSH daemon already present. Neither page we read gives performance figures for these modes.
Sources
Checked 6 November 2026- Red Hat Ansible pricing: Sizing-based quotes, the two support levels and the self-managed, managed and marketplace routes.
- Ansible Collaborative: Ansible described as free open source and sponsored by Red Hat.
- Ansible GitHub repository: The GPL-3.0 licence and the avoid-custom-agents design principle.
- Red Hat company page: The Raleigh address, 1993 founding and the IBM tie since 2019.
- Puppet pricing: The 25-node line, the four plans, Puppet Forge module count, RBAC placement and agent options.
- Puppet homepage: Drift correction, run reports and the CIS and DISA STIG policy in Core Commercial.
- Puppet GitHub repository: The Apache-2.0 licence of the open source code.
- Perforce contact: The Minneapolis headquarters of the company selling Puppet.