# Ansible vs CFEngine

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Ansible

| Attribute | Ansible | CFEngine |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 64.1 (65% (medium)) | 49.1 (63% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 35 | 63 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 2,140 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 70,980 | 538 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 1,964,190 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Configuration Management Tools.","source":"https://www.ansible.com","question":"What is Ansible?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Ansible is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the GPL-3.0 licence. Paid editions are also offered: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, priced on request. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.ansible.com","question":"Is Ansible free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Ansible supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.ansible.com","question":"What platforms does Ansible support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Ansible can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.ansible.com","question":"Can Ansible be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 22 integrations for Ansible, including Terraform, VMware, ServiceNow, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Cisco and Juniper, plus 14 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.ansible.com","question":"What does Ansible integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Ansible is published under the GPL-3.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible","question":"Is Ansible open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Configuration Management Tools.","source":"https://cfengine.com","question":"What is CFEngine?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"CFEngine does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, across 2 plans (Community Edition and Enterprise Edition), so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://cfengine.com","question":"How much does CFEngine cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"CFEngine supports the web, Windows, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://cfengine.com","question":"What platforms does CFEngine support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. CFEngine can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://cfengine.com","question":"Can CFEngine be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A system for automating infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment across multiple machines via standard SSH without requiring agent installation on remote systems. | A configuration management platform that automates IT infrastructure operations, enforces security policies, and enables compliance across systems. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","architecture":"agentless","desired_state":true,"masterless_mode":true,"open_source_core":true,"cloud_provisioning":true}` | `{"model":"both","hosting":"both","language":"CFEngine policy language","idempotent":true,"architecture":"agent","desired_state":true,"windows_support":true,"content_registry":true,"open_source_core":true,"policy_compliance":true,"enterprise_edition":true}` |
| integrations.count | 22 | 2 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"VMware"},{"name":"ServiceNow"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Microsoft Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud Platform"},{"name":"Cisco"},{"name":"Juniper"},{"name":"F5"},{"name":"HPE"},{"name":"Dell Technologies"},{"name":"NetApp"},{"name":"SAP"},{"name":"Pure"},{"name":"Palo Alto Networks"},{"name":"CyberArk"},{"name":"HashiCorp Vault"},{"name":"Splunk"},{"name":"Dynatrace"},{"name":"Infoblox"},{"name":"Aruba"},{"name":"Windows"}]` | `[{"name":"Git"},{"name":"Docker"}]` |
| language.primary | Python | C |
| license.spdx | GPL-3.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Ansible (Open Source)","description":"Free open-source project"},{"free":false,"name":"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform","description":"Enterprise platform with security hardening and support","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open-source version or paid enterprise platform","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.ansible.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:05:30.789Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community Edition","summary":"Free, open source","features":["GitHub source access","Community support"],"description":"Open source under GPL v3, runs on Linux","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise Edition","summary":"Commercial with enterprise features","features":["Inventory & compliance reports","Web UI (Mission Portal)","APIs","Alerts & dashboards","Enhanced platform support"],"description":"Commercial license, runs on Windows and Linux","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open-source community edition or commercial enterprise edition","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cfengine.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:11:00.175Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.5","date":"2026-10-05T15:11:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.21.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.10","date":"2026-10-05T15:10:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.20.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.19.14","date":"2026-10-05T15:08:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.19.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.22.0b2","date":"2026-09-29T15:54:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.22.0b2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.5rc1","date":"2026-09-29T15:47:26Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.21.5rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.10rc1","date":"2026-09-29T15:47:35Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.20.10rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.19.14rc1","date":"2026-09-29T15:41:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.19.14rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.22.0b1","date":"2026-09-18T16:37:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.22.0b1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.4","date":"2026-09-08T16:52:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.21.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.9","date":"2026-09-08T16:50:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.20.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.19.13","date":"2026-09-08T16:48:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.19.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.4rc1","date":"2026-08-31T16:28:46Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.21.4rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.9rc1","date":"2026-08-31T16:27:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.20.9rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.19.13rc1","date":"2026-08-31T16:26:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.19.13rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.3","date":"2026-08-10T16:46:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.21.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.8","date":"2026-08-10T16:45:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.20.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.19.12","date":"2026-08-10T16:43:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.19.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.18.19","date":"2026-08-10T16:42:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.18.19"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.21.3rc1","date":"2026-08-03T22:47:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.21.3rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ansible/ansible/releases/tag/v2.20.8rc1","date":"2026-08-03T22:46:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.20.8rc1"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 7.5 | 6.9 |
| security.trust_center | - | https://cfengine.com/blog/2022/security-holiday-calendar-part-1/ |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":7,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=ansible-core&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcfengine%2Fcore&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Configuration Management Tools)

| Capability | Ansible | CFEngine |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Architecture | Agentless / SSH-push | Agent-based |
| Push / pull model | - | Both |
| Config language | - | CFEngine policy language |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Masterless mode | ✓ | - |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Idempotent | - | ✓ |
| **Model** |  |  |
| Desired-state declarative | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Content registry | - | ✓ |
| **Platform** |  |  |
| Windows support | - | ✓ |
| **Scope** |  |  |
| Cloud provisioning | ✓ | - |
| **Governance** |  |  |
| Policy / compliance | - | ✓ |
| **Commercial** |  |  |
| Enterprise edition | - | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source core | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:32:39.583Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*