vioscale
Comparison

Ansible vs CFEngine

On the evidence we track, Ansible leads this comparison with a composite score of 58/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Ansible full profile →CFEngine full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★Ansible58
CFEngine50
Score
Vioscale score
Ansible58 / 100medium · 61%
CFEngine50 / 100medium · 57%
Pricing
Free tier
Ansible✓
CFEngine✓
Model
Ansiblecommercial
CFEnginecommercial
Price level
Ansiblelow
CFEnginelow
Transparent
Ansible–
CFEngine✗
Integrations
Count
Ansible22
CFEngine2
Security
Disclosure policy
Ansible–
CFEngine✓
Scorecard
Ansible7.5
CFEngine6.6
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
Ansible2,140
CFEngine0
Github stars
Ansible70,473
CFEngine532
Package downloads weekly
Ansible2,699,011
CFEngine–
Activity
Commits last 30d
Ansible22
CFEngine100
Release
History
Ansible20 items
CFEngine–
License
Spdx
AnsibleGPL-3.0
CFEngine–
Language
Primary
AnsiblePython
CFEngineC
Market
Availability
Ansible–
CFEngineAvailable worldwide

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for configuration management tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Architecture
Ansible-
CFEngineAgent-based
Push / pull model
Ansible-
CFEngineBoth
Config language
Ansible-
CFEngineCFEngine policy language
Deployment
Masterless mode
Ansible-
CFEngine-
Hosting
Ansible-
CFEngineCloud + self-hosted
Correctness
Idempotent
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Model
Desired-state declarative
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Ecosystem
Content registry
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Platform
Windows support
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Scope
Cloud provisioning
Ansible-
CFEngine-
Governance
Policy / compliance
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Commercial
Enterprise edition
Ansible-
CFEngine✓
Licensing
Open-source core
Ansible✓
CFEngine✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Ansible

Leader

Ansible is an open source IT automation engine that automates provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, orchestration, and many other IT processes. It is free to use, and the project benefits from the experience and intelligence of its thousands of contributors.

Independently observed

CFEngine

Provides automated configuration deployment and continuous enforcement of desired system state across large-scale infrastructures, with capabilities for security hardening and compliance verification. Available in open-source community and commercial enterprise editions.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Ansible

Leader
HybridFree tier

Free open-source version or paid enterprise platform

  • Ansible (Open Source)Free
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation PlatformContact sales
as of verify ↗

CFEngine

HybridFree tier

Free open-source community edition or commercial enterprise edition

  • Community EditionFree
    • GitHub source access
    • Community support
  • Enterprise EditionContact sales
    • Inventory & compliance reports
    • Web UI (Mission Portal)
    • APIs
    • Alerts & dashboards
    • Enhanced platform support
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Ansible✗
CFEngine✓
Windows
Ansible✗
CFEngine✓
Linux
Ansible✗
CFEngine✓
CLI
Ansible✓
CFEngine✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Ansible✓
CFEngine✓
Self-hosted
Ansible✓
CFEngine✓
On-premise
Ansible✗
CFEngine✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Ansible

Leader
22 total
  • Terraform
  • VMware
  • ServiceNow
  • AWS
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Cisco
  • Juniper
  • F5
  • HPE
  • Dell Technologies
  • NetApp
  • SAP
  • Pure
  • Palo Alto Networks
  • CyberArk
  • HashiCorp Vault
  • Splunk
  • Dynatrace
  • Infoblox
  • Aruba
  • Windows
Independently observed

CFEngine

2 total
  • Git
  • Docker
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.