Puppet vs Salt

Puppet9.3Visit Salt8.6Visit

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

vs

Salt #6 in Configuration Management Tools 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Salt

• Puppet fits best

  Mature enterprises needing broad hybrid automation

• Salt fits best

  Free, flexible infrastructure automation at scale

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Side by side

Feature	Puppet 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Salt 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.6
Ranking	#1 in Configuration Management Tools	#6 in Configuration Management Tools
Best for	Mature enterprises needing broad hybrid automation	Free, flexible infrastructure automation at scale
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Puppet 4/4 · Salt 4/4
Drift detection	✓	✓
Patch management	✓	✓
Policy as code	✓	✓
Compliance reporting	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Self_hosted	Self_hosted
Agent model	Both	Both
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, Windows, macOS, AIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, Gentoo, SUSE
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	Combines agent-based and agentless management through Salt SSH Supports configuration, orchestration, patching, packages, and remote commands Runs across Linux, Windows, and macOS with an open-source model
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	Self-hosted deployment puts infrastructure and administration responsibility on teams Master-and-minion architecture may not suit teams seeking a simpler operating model Compliance reporting and web management are tied to SaltStack Config
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 →	Salt is an open-source, Python-based framework for remote execution, declarative configuration management, provisioning, and infrastructure orchestration. It is suited to teams managing Linux, Windows, and macOS systems that want control… 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

• Salt — where it wins

  • Combines agent-based and agentless management through Salt SSH
  • Supports configuration, orchestration, patching, packages, and remote commands
  • Runs across Linux, Windows, and macOS with an open-source model

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment puts infrastructure and administration responsibility on teams
  • Master-and-minion architecture may not suit teams seeking a simpler operating model
  • Compliance reporting and web management are tied to SaltStack Config

• Puppet9.3/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit PuppetFull verdict →
• Salt8.6/10 · Free plan

  A flexible self-hosted choice for declarative infrastructure automation at scale.

  Visit SaltFull verdict →