CFEngine vs Rudder
No clear leader: Rudder (54.0) and CFEngine (49.1) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for configuration management tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
CFEngine
A configuration management platform that automates IT infrastructure operations, enforces security policies, and enables compliance across systems.
Rudder
Centralizes security policy enforcement across Linux and Windows systems in cloud or on-premises environments. Continuously audits infrastructure against security baselines, automatically detects deviations, and can remediate them in real-time.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
CFEngine
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
Rudder
Free open source core. Enterprise and Corporate plans with annual per-node pricing; contact for quotes.
- Rudder CoreFree
- Base infrastructure security automation
- Rudder EnterpriseContact sales
- Linux and Windows support
- Real-time infrastructure insights
- Security configuration management
- Choice of: Patch & vulnerability management OR Policy & benchmark compliance
- Unlimited standard support
- +1 more
- Rudder Corporate Security SuiteContact sales
- Security configuration management with continuous enforcement
- Patch and vulnerability management with automated campaigns
- Policy and benchmark compliance (CIS, NIST, ISO 27001)
- Real-time compliance scoring and dashboards
- Unlimited premium support with guaranteed response times
- +3 more
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
CFEngine
- Git
- Docker
Rudder
- CI/CD
- ticketing
- CMDB
- monitoring
- Centreon
- Consul
- ELK Stack
- GLPI
- OpenScap
- Vault
- Zabbix
- Ansible AWX
- iTop
- Rundeck
CFEngine or Rudder: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.