Puppet vs AWS Systems Manager State Manager

Puppet9.3Visit AWS Systems Manager State Manager9.1Visit

Higher score Puppet #1 in Configuration Management Tools 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Puppet

vs

AWS Systems Manager State Manager #2 in Configuration Management Tools 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit AWS

• Puppet fits best

  Mature enterprises needing broad hybrid automation

• AWS Systems Manager State Manager fits best

  AWS-heavy teams wanting free managed-state control

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Side by side

Feature	Puppet 9.3/10 Visit ↗	AWS Systems Manager State Manager 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Configuration Management Tools	#2 in Configuration Management Tools
Best for	Mature enterprises needing broad hybrid automation	AWS-heavy teams wanting free managed-state control
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Web
Support	Docs	Docs
Integrations	11 integrations	8 integrations
Built for	Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Puppet 4/4 · AWS Systems Manager State Manager 4/4
Drift detection	✓	✓
Patch management	✓	✓
Policy as code	✓	✓
Compliance reporting	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Self_hosted	Cloud
Agent model	Both	Agent_based
Supported platforms	Debian, Fedora, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Amazon Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Alma Linux, Rocky Linux, Oracle Linux, Ubuntu	Linux, macOS on Amazon EC2, Windows Server
Our review
Pros	Desired-state enforcement with automatic drift detection and remediation Patch management, vulnerability remediation, and compliance enforcement Agent-based and agentless automation across major infrastructure platforms	Free State Manager service with scheduled desired-state associations Targets AWS, on-premises, virtual, and edge systems Includes drift management, patching, and compliance reporting
Cons	Commercial plans use custom pricing and may require sales contact The free Puppet Core Developer plan is limited to fewer than 25 nodes Its broad enterprise feature set may exceed narrow configuration needs	Its scope is centered on AWS and Systems Manager Associated AWS resources may incur separate charges Configuration work is organized around associations and documents
Our verdict	Puppet is an infrastructure automation and configuration management platform for platform, infrastructure, and DevOps teams. It manages configurations across on-premises, cloud, hybrid, server, network, and edge environments. Its core… Read the review →	AWS Systems Manager State Manager is a cloud configuration management service for AWS customers. It uses associations and Systems Manager documents to define desired configurations and repeatedly apply them to managed nodes and other AWS… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Puppet — where it wins

  • Desired-state enforcement with automatic drift detection and remediation
  • Patch management, vulnerability remediation, and compliance enforcement
  • Agent-based and agentless automation across major infrastructure platforms

  Where it doesn't

  • Commercial plans use custom pricing and may require sales contact
  • The free Puppet Core Developer plan is limited to fewer than 25 nodes
  • Its broad enterprise feature set may exceed narrow configuration needs

• AWS Systems Manager State Manager — where it wins

  • Free State Manager service with scheduled desired-state associations
  • Targets AWS, on-premises, virtual, and edge systems
  • Includes drift management, patching, and compliance reporting

  Where it doesn't

  • Its scope is centered on AWS and Systems Manager
  • Associated AWS resources may incur separate charges
  • Configuration work is organized around associations and documents

• Puppet9.3/10 · Free plan

  A mature hybrid automation platform with strong drift, patching, and compliance controls.

  Visit PuppetFull verdict →
• AWS Systems Manager State Manager9.1/10 · Free plan

  A free AWS service for scheduled configuration, drift management, patching, and compliance reporting.

  Visit AWSFull verdict →