# Habitat vs NixOS / Nix

| Attribute | Habitat | NixOS / Nix |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51.8 (76% (high)) | 54.6 (51% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 2,754 | 17,860 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An application automation platform that helps developers define build and deployment instructions, package applications with their dependencies, and run them consistently across servers, virtual machines, and containers using a lightweight agent-based supervisor. It is indexed under Configuration Management Tools.","source":"https://www.habitat.sh/","question":"What is Habitat?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Habitat is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Paid editions are also offered: Enterprise Edition, priced on request. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.habitat.sh/","question":"Is Habitat free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Habitat 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://www.habitat.sh/","question":"What platforms does Habitat support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Habitat can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.habitat.sh/","question":"Can Habitat be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Habitat, including Docker, Azure Container Registry and Amazon Elastic Container Registry. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.habitat.sh/","question":"What does Habitat integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Habitat is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat","question":"Is Habitat open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Habitat is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.habitat.sh/","question":"Where is Habitat available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"Nix enables reproducible, isolated package builds and declarative system configurations, ensuring that package installations cannot break existing systems and allowing rollback to previous versions. It is indexed under Configuration Management Tools.","source":"https://nixos.org","question":"What is NixOS / Nix?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NixOS / Nix is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the LGPL-2.1 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://nixos.org","question":"Is NixOS / Nix free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NixOS / Nix supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://nixos.org","question":"What platforms does NixOS / Nix support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. NixOS / Nix can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://nixos.org","question":"Can NixOS / Nix be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for NixOS / Nix. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as NixOS / Nix not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://nixos.org/community/teams/security","question":"What security certifications does NixOS / Nix have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. NixOS / Nix is published under the LGPL-2.1 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/NixOS/nix","question":"Is NixOS / Nix open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"NixOS / Nix is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the Netherlands.","source":"https://nixos.org","question":"Where is NixOS / Nix available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An application automation platform that helps developers define build and deployment instructions, package applications with their dependencies, and run them consistently across servers, virtual machines, and containers using a lightweight agent-based supervisor. | A package manager and system configuration tool that uses functional programming principles to ensure reproducible builds and deployments work consistently across different machines and environments. |
| features.capabilities | `{"model":"push","hosting":"both","language":"PowerShell, Bash","architecture":"agent","desired_state":true,"windows_support":true,"content_registry":true,"open_source_core":true,"policy_compliance":true,"cloud_provisioning":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","language":"Nix","idempotent":true,"architecture":"declarative_os","desired_state":true,"masterless_mode":true,"windows_support":true,"content_registry":true,"open_source_core":true,"cloud_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Docker Hub"},{"name":"Azure Container Registry"},{"name":"Amazon Elastic Container Registry"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Rust | C++ |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"NL","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community Edition","features":["Application definition, packaging and delivery automation","Pre-defined application templates","Dynamic service bindings","Clustering topologies","Service discovery","Update strategies","Export to Docker, tarball, and container registries"],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise Edition","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Open source Community Edition available; Enterprise Edition available","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.habitat.sh/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:24:10.172Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://nixos.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:12:22.888Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 52 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/2.1.23","date":"2026-06-11T20:59:54Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.23"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/2.0.504","date":"2026-04-20T15:13:15Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.504"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/2.0.488","date":"2026-04-01T19:38:57Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.488"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/2.0.450","date":"2026-03-04T16:12:15Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.450"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.1245","date":"2025-09-09T12:58:14Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1245"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.1244","date":"2025-08-06T15:17:37Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1244"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.1243","date":"2025-01-09T15:04:41Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1243"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.1215","date":"2024-11-18T19:04:15Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1215"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.1041","date":"2024-04-22T13:20:44Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.1041"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.826","date":"2023-08-15T20:05:23Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.826"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.652","date":"2023-02-07T19:38:20Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.652"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.607","date":"2022-11-14T14:50:49Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.607"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.568","date":"2022-09-01T16:37:32Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.568"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.521","date":"2022-06-07T15:22:04Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.521"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.513","date":"2022-05-24T15:17:15Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.513"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.500","date":"2022-05-10T14:37:53Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.500"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.477","date":"2022-03-23T15:50:59Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.477"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.420","date":"2021-11-01T18:53:27Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.420"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.416","date":"2021-10-28T23:12:43Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.416"},{"url":"https://github.com/habitat-sh/habitat/releases/tag/1.6.415","date":"2021-10-28T20:01:01Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.415"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.8 | 6.2 |
| security.trust_center | - | https://nixos.org/community/teams/security |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=rubygems&package_name=habitat-client&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=conda&package_name=nix&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Configuration Management Tools)

| Capability | Habitat | NixOS / Nix |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Architecture | Agent-based | Declarative-OS |
| Push / pull model | Push | - |
| Config language | PowerShell, Bash | Nix |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Masterless mode | - | ✓ |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Self-hosted only |
| **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 2026-10-16T19:29:47.960Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*