Comparison

Puppet Bolt vs SaltStack

No clear leader: SaltStack (56.7) and Puppet Bolt (53.9) 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.

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Puppet Bolt54
SaltStack57
Score
vioscaleAI score
Puppet Bolt54 / 100medium · 71%
SaltStack57 / 100medium · 72%
Pricing
Free tier
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack✓
Model
Puppet Boltcommercial
SaltStackopen_source
Price level
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStackfree
Integrations
Count
Puppet Bolt11
SaltStack–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack0
Github stars
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack15,715
Package downloads weekly
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack31,513
Activity
Commits last 30d
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack100
Release
Cadence days
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack6
History
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStack20 items
License
Spdx
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStackApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Puppet Bolt–
SaltStackPython
Market
Availability
SaltStack–
Content
Faq
Puppet Bolt3 items
SaltStack–

Capabilities

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

Core
Architecture
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack-
Push / pull model
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack-
Config language
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack-
Deployment
Masterless mode
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack-
Hosting
Puppet BoltCloud + self-hosted
SaltStackSelf-hosted only
Correctness
Idempotent
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack✓
Model
Desired-state declarative
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓
Ecosystem
Content registry
Puppet Bolt-
SaltStack-
Platform
Windows support
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓
Scope
Cloud provisioning
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack-
Governance
Policy / compliance
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack-
Commercial
Enterprise edition
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack-
Licensing
Open-source core
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓

What each one is

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

Puppet Bolt

A framework for managing infrastructure resources by specifying desired states through modules and code, supporting multiple operating systems.

Independently observed

SaltStack

An event-driven framework for automating the deployment, configuration, and management of IT infrastructure, designed to maintain consistent system state across distributed environments.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Puppet Bolt

Pricing not documented yet.

SaltStack

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
macOS
Puppet Bolt✗
SaltStack✓
Windows
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓
Linux
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓
Deployment
Self-hosted
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✓
On-premise
Puppet Bolt✓
SaltStack✗

Integrations

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

Puppet Bolt

11 total
  • ServiceNow
  • VMware
  • Argo CD
  • Jenkins
  • Dynatrace
  • Datadog
  • New Relic
  • CIS Benchmarks
  • Tenable Nessus
  • DISA STIG
  • Splunk
Independently observed

SaltStack

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Puppet Bolt or SaltStack: 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.