Chef AlternativesServer Management Tools and other similar apps like Chef

Chef is described as 'Open source systems integration framework built to bring the benefits of configuration management to your entire infrastructure. You write source code to describe how you want each part of your infrastructure to be built, then apply those descriptions to your servers' and is a server management tool in the network & admin category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Chef for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, Web-based and Self-Hosted apps. The best Chef alternative is Ansible, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Chef are Salt, Puppet, pyinfra and Rudder.

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Chef alternatives are mainly Server Management Tools but may also be Network Monitors or Remote Desktop Tools. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Chef.

Chef

Server Management Tool
Free • Open Source

Chef is an open source systems integration framework built to bring the benefits of configuration management to your entire infrastructure. You write source code to describe how you want each part of your infrastructure to...

More about Chef

Chef alternatives page was last updated Jan 25, 2023

Ansible
Ansible is a radically simple IT automation engine that automates cloud provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, intra-service orchestration, and many other IT needs.
56 Ansible alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Open Source
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Python
Ansible Features
1. No Coding Required
2. SSH
3. Configuration Management
4. Configuration
5. Orchestration
6. Automated provisioning
7. Manage system configuration
Show all NaN Ansible features ▾
Ansible VS Chef
Is Ansible a good alternative to Chef?
- Almost everyone thinks Ansible is a great Chef alternative.
- Ansible is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Chef.
- Ansible is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Chef.
- Ansible is Freemium and Open SourceChef is Free and Open Source

Salt
Salt is a powerful remote execution manager that can be used to administer and provision servers in a fast and efficient way.
40 Salt alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Salt Features
Lightweight
Configuration Management
Show all NaN Salt features ▾
Salt VS Chef
Is Salt a good alternative to Chef?

Puppet
Puppet Data Center Automation Solution helps you save time, gain visibility into your server environment, and ensure consistency across your IT infrastructure.
48 Puppet alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
Puppet Features
Ruby
Show all NaN Puppet features ▾
Puppet VS Chef
Is Puppet a good alternative to Chef?
- Most users think Puppet is a great Chef alternative.
- Puppet is the most popular Web-based alternative to Chef.
- Puppet is Freemium and Open SourceChef is Free and Open Source

pyinfra
pyinfra automates infrastructure super fast at massive scale. It can be used for ad-hoc command execution, service deployment, configuration management and more.
9 pyinfra alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- Virtualization Tool
Platforms
- Linux
- BSD
pyinfra Features
1. Configuration Management
2. Python-based
3. Optimal performance
4. SSH
5. Command line interface
6. Lightweight
Show all NaN pyinfra features ▾
pyinfra VS Chef
Is pyinfra a good alternative to Chef?

Rudder
Rudder is a solution for automating your IT infrastructure to ensure security, reliability and compliance of your systems, whatever the OS. Gain instant visibility of IT compliance and benefit from continuous remediation to ensure an environment well configured and secured.
13 Rudder alternatives
License model
- Paid • Open Source
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- SUSE Linux Enterprise
- Self-Hosted
- CentOS
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Raspberry Pi OS
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- Slackware
+2
Rudder Features
1. Ad-free
2. Lightweight
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Vulnerability management
5. Configuration Management
6. Patch Management
Show all NaN Rudder features ▾
Rudder VS Chef
Is Rudder a good alternative to Chef?
- Rudder is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Chef.
- Rudder is the most popular commercial alternative to Chef.
- Rudder is Paid and Open SourceChef is Free and Open Source
- Rudder is LightweightChef is not according to our users

Ansible Automation Platform
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an end-to-end automation platform to configure systems, deploy software, and orchestrate advanced workflows. It includes resources to create, manage, and scale across the entire enterprise.
14 Ansible Automation Platform alternatives
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Microsoft Azure
- Amazon Web Services
- Google Cloud Platform
Ansible Automation Platform Features
Configuration Management
Show all NaN Ansible Automation Platform features ▾
Ansible Automation Platform VS Chef
Is this a good alternative to Chef?
- Ansible Automation Platform is the most popular SaaS alternative to Chef.
- Ansible Automation Platform is Paid and ProprietaryChef is Free and Open Source

Landscape
Landscape automates security patching, auditing, access management and compliance tasks across your Ubuntu estate. Use it in well-connected or airgapped environments: at sea, in space and everywhere in between. Landscape is available with an Ubuntu Pro subscription.
31 Landscape alternatives
License model
- Free Personal • Proprietary
Platforms
- Linux
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Online
- Ubuntu
Landscape Features
Orchestration
System management
Show all NaN Landscape features ▾
Landscape VS Chef
Is Landscape a good alternative to Chef?

Fabric
Fabric is a Python library and command-line tool for streamlining the use of SSH for application deployment or systems administration tasks.
26 Fabric alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Linux
- BSD
Fabric Features
Configuration
Configuration Management
SSH
Show all NaN Fabric features ▾
Fabric VS Chef
Is Fabric a good alternative to Chef?

cdist
cdist is an alternative to other configuration management systems like cfengine, bcfg2, chef and puppet. But cdist ticks differently.
19 cdist alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
- BSD
cdist Features
SSH
Show all NaN cdist features ▾
cdist VS Chef
Is cdist a good alternative to Chef?

RunDeck
RunDeck is an open source automation service with a web console, command line tools and a WebAPI. It lets you easily run automation tasks across a set of nodes.
31 RunDeck alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Linux
RunDeck Features
Task Scheduling
Job scheduling
Configuration
Configuration Management
Show all NaN RunDeck features ▾
+8
RunDeck VS Chef
Is RunDeck a good alternative to Chef?

SlickStack
SlickStack is a free LEMP stack automation script written in Bash designed to enhance and simplify WordPress provisioning, performance, and security.
37 SlickStack alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- Server Management Tool
Platforms
- Online
- Self-Hosted
SlickStack Features
1. WP-CLI
2. PHP-FPM
3. Git integration
4. OpenSSL
5. Nginx
Show all NaN SlickStack features ▾
SlickStack VS Chef
Is SlickStack a good alternative to Chef?

munki
munki is a set of tools that, used together with a webserver-based repository of packages and package metadata, can be used by OS X administrators to manage software installs (and in many cases removals) on OS X client machines.
11 munki alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
munki Features
Batch Uninstaller
Software Management
Show all NaN munki features ▾
munki VS Chef
Is munki a good alternative to Chef?