Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rudder VS Cfengine

Compare Rudder VS Cfengine and see what are their differences

Rudder logo Rudder

Rudder is an easy to use, web-driven, role-based solution for Continuous Automation and Compliance.

Cfengine logo Cfengine

CFEngine is a configuration management and automation framework that lets you securely manage your...
  • Rudder Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-11
  • Cfengine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-12

Rudder features and specs

  • Open Source
    Rudder is an open-source tool, which means it can be freely accessed, modified, and enhanced by its community of users and developers, allowing for greater flexibility and customization.
  • Continuous Compliance
    It offers automated compliance checks, ensuring that infrastructure consistently meets compliance standards and regulations, reducing the risk of violations and mismatches.
  • Scalability
    Rudder is designed to manage and automate complex IT infrastructures, making it scalable to a wide range of environments from small to enterprise-level.
  • Ease of Use
    The platform provides a user-friendly web interface, allowing for simple management and visualization of infrastructure automation, which can help reduce the learning curve.
  • Integration
    Rudder integrates with various tools and platforms, improving its versatility and making it suitable for a wide array of IT ecosystems.

Possible disadvantages of Rudder

  • Complex Setup for Beginners
    Initial setup and configuration might be complex for beginners, potentially requiring a steep learning curve or assistance from experienced professionals.
  • Limited Community Support
    Despite being open source, the community around Rudder may not be as large as some other IT management tools, possibly leading to limited shared resources or troubleshooting support.
  • Performance Overheads
    There might be performance overheads when managing very large infrastructures, which can reduce efficiency compared to more lightweight solutions.
  • Customization Challenges
    While flexibility is a strength, deeply customized configurations might become challenging to maintain as the tool evolves, especially for complex workflows.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies and compatibility with other software or systems can sometimes be cumbersome, especially in dynamic or rapidly changing environments.

Cfengine features and specs

  • Scalability
    Cfengine is designed to handle large-scale environments efficiently, making it suitable for managing a vast number of systems.
  • Lightweight Agent
    It employs a lightweight agent that consumes minimal system resources, reducing the overhead on managed systems.
  • Security
    Cfengine has a strong focus on security, using encrypted communication between the nodes and server, ensuring integrity and confidentiality.
  • Model-based Configuration
    The tool uses a model-based approach for configuration management, which makes it easy to understand and predict the outcomes of applied policies.
  • Mature and Stable
    With a long history dating back to the 1990s, Cfengine is mature and known for its stability and reliability in production environments.

Possible disadvantages of Cfengine

  • Steeper Learning Curve
    The learning curve can be relatively steep for new users due to its unique policy language and declarative syntax.
  • Complex Debugging
    Debugging configurations might be complex due to intricate policies and a lack of straightforward error messages.
  • Limited Community Support
    Compared to other configuration management tools, Cfengine has a smaller community, which can limit access to third-party modules and assistance.
  • Less Extensible
    While powerful, Cfengine may not offer as much extensibility as some competitors, potentially limiting custom integrations.
  • UI and Usability
    The user interface and overall usability could be less intuitive compared to other modern configuration management tools.

Analysis of Cfengine

Overall verdict

  • Cfengine is a good choice for organizations that require a stable, scalable, and efficient configuration management solution. Its long history and proven track record make it a reliable tool for managing diverse and complex IT environments. However, its learning curve can be steep, and it might not have as active a community or as many user-friendly features compared to some of its newer counterparts like Puppet or Ansible.

Why this product is good

  • Cfengine is a powerful configuration management tool that's been around for a long time, providing stability and maturity to its users. It excels in automating infrastructure management and is known for its scalability, efficiency, and security features. Its lightweight agent and fast execution make it suitable for managing a large number of nodes without a significant performance impact. Additionally, Cfengine has a policy-based approach which ensures that system configurations are enforced consistently, and its declarative language makes it easier to define desired system states.

Recommended for

  • Large enterprises managing thousands of servers
  • Organizations needing a lightweight and fast performance solution
  • IT teams with a focus on security and consistent policy enforcement
  • Users comfortable with a steeper learning curve in exchange for stability and scalability benefits

Rudder videos

Thrustmaster T-Flight Rudder Pedals Review - Microsoft Flight sim 2020 / XP11 / DCS

More videos:

  • Review - VIRPIL ACE Rudder Pedal Review!
  • Review - Thrustmaster - TPR Pedal (Pendular Rudder) - Review

Cfengine videos

Webinar: Presenting the new CFEngine Community 3.4.0

More videos:

  • Review - WEBINAR - Infrastructure Automation with CFEngine at LinkedIn
  • Review - Webinar - Unveiling CFEngine Enterprise 3.0

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rudder and Cfengine)
DevOps Tools
50 50%
50% 50
Product Deployment
46 46%
54% 54
IT Automation
60 60%
40% 40
Build Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Rudder and Cfengine

Rudder Reviews

Best 8 Ansible Alternatives & equivalent in 2022
Rudder is a DevOps solution for continuous configuration and auditing. It is easy to use web-driven solution for IT automation.
Source: www.guru99.com
35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
Rudder is an open-source web-based configuration management tool. It allows for continuous audit and enforcement. Rudder comprises a full feature web-based interface. In addition to this, it features standardized, reusable policies, a custom policy editor, central reporting, grouping based on search queries, and per-host policies.

Cfengine Reviews

Best 8 Ansible Alternatives & equivalent in 2022
CFEngine is a DevOps tool for IT automation. It is an ideal tool for configuration management. It is one of the best Ansible competitors that helps teams to automate large-scale complex infrastructure.
Source: www.guru99.com
35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
CFEngine is the most cut and dry configuration management software on this list. It was originally released in 1993 and has managed to keep up with software development trends. CFEngine features full CI/CD integration. You can automate infrastructure configurations and manage your patches. It also features compliance reporting and infrastructure hardening.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Cfengine seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Rudder mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Rudder yet. Tracking of Rudder recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Cfengine mentions (5)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rudder and Cfengine, you can also consider the following products

Ansible - Radically simple configuration-management, application deployment, task-execution, and multi-node orchestration engine

Chef - Automation for all of your technology. Overcome the complexity and rapidly ship your infrastructure and apps anywhere with automation.

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

Salt - Fast, scalable and flexible software for data center automation

Puppet - Easily create custom dashboards for your users

IT Asset Tool - Free Software Asset Management, Inventory software and hardware in your Company.