This downloadable guide compares every edition of Puppet — Open Source Puppet, Puppet Core, and the Puppet Enterprise platform.
As your organization grows and your infrastructure expands, you need a solution that scales quickly and securely. Download the guide to find comparisons and use cases for each edition of Puppet, from open source to enterprise-ready options, and make the right decision for your team and your business.
Download the free, definitive guide to Open Source Puppet vs. Puppet Core vs. the Puppet Enterprise platform.
Along with a side-by-side technical comparison of Open Source Puppet, Puppet Core, and the Puppet Enterprise platform, the Decision Maker's Guide to Puppet answers the most common questions about Puppet:
- What's the difference between Open Source Puppet and Puppet Enterprise?
- What use cases is each edition of Puppet best suited for?
- How can an organization tell it's time to upgrade to a more powerful automation platform?
- What support options are available for each version of Puppet?
Open Source Puppet vs. Puppet Core vs. the Puppet Enterprise Platform
The Decision Maker's Guide compares Open Source Puppet, the Puppet Enterprise platform, and Puppet Core at the technical and functional levels, and includes example differentiators and use cases for different editions of Puppet.
Below is just a small sample of what you'll find in the full guide.
Factor | Open Source Puppet | Puppet Core | Puppet Enterprise Platform |
Pricing | Free to download and use | Free Developer edition and Commercial per-node licensing available | Requires subscription with per-node licensing |
Capabilities | Automate and enforce desired state configurations across hybrid infrastructure | Secure, automate, and enforce desired state configurations across hybrid infrastructure | Predict, control, and respond to changes, enforce desired state, and empower large teams to securely automate across hybrid enterprise infrastructure |
Extensions & Add-Ons | Access to all community-created modules via the Puppet Forge | Includes Security Compliance Enforcement premium feature (commercial), plus access to all community-created modules | Access to all current and future premium features (Advanced), plus all community-created modules via the Puppet Forge |
Productivity & User Experience | Command line user interface (CLUI) | Command line user interface (CLUI) | Graphical user interface (GUI) and AI-powered chat interface for natural language prompting |
Enterprise Support | No support SLAs | Guaranteed SLAs for high and critical CVEs, and support portal access for defects | Guaranteed SLAs, enterprise support, and priority ticketing included |
These Companies Chose the Puppet Enterprise Platform
FAQs About Puppet Editions: Pricing, Support & More
- Open Source Puppet is free automation and configuration management software.
- Open Source Puppet does not include SLAs for vulnerabilities or official support options.
- Open Source Puppet is supported only by the Puppet community.
- Open Source Puppet requires deep technical skills to use and takes manual effort to maintain.
- The Puppet Enterprise platform is an infrastructure operations platform. It extends Puppet's powerful automation and configuration management capabilities to make every stage of infrastructure easier, from delivery to operation and optimization.
- The Puppet Enterprise platform is rigorously tested and released with supported, signed binaries backed by Perforce Software.
- The Puppet Enterprise platform is built for ease of use, with graphical interfaces, self-service automation tasks, and intelligent features for easier interaction with infrastructure.
- The Puppet Enterprise platform includes a host of premium capabilities, including:
- Built-in automation for vulnerability management workflows, making it easier to patch enterprise infrastructure fast.
- A natural language interface to talk to Puppet data and services.
- Integration with ServiceNow for self-service automation and configuration management.
- Integration with observability tools for infrastructure monitoring and optimization.
- Previews of the effects of infrastructure code deployments on dependencies and drift.
These are just a few of the factors that distinguish Open Source Puppet from the Puppet Enterprise platform. Download our free guide for a deeper look at both options.
Puppet Core is a commercially supported edition of Puppet that includes select features from the Puppet Enterprise platform:
- SLAs for high and critical-severity vulnerabilities in Puppet software
- The Security Compliance Enforcement premium feature for automated enforcement of configurations compliant with CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs
Puppet Core is ideal for organizations that need guaranteed SLAs, vendor support, and enterprise-ready automation and configuration management.
- Open Source Puppet: No official SLAs; support is community-based.
- Puppet Core: Includes support for high and critical-score CVEs and access to a support portal.
- Puppet Enterprise: Offers full enterprise support, SLAs for incidents and CVEs, and priority ticketing.
- Open Source Puppet: Free to download and use.
- Puppet Core: Available as a free developer edition (for use on up to 25 nodes) or licensed commercially per node (for 25 nodes or more).
- Puppet Enterprise platform: Subscription-based per-node licensing that scales with your infrastructure.
Ready to Learn More About the Different Editions of Puppet?
Download the free guide to find out more about the differences between Open Source Puppet, Puppet Core, and the Puppet Enterprise platform — and find out which version of Puppet is right for your IT.