Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RunDeck VS Ansible tower

Compare RunDeck VS Ansible tower and see what are their differences

RunDeck logo RunDeck

RunDeck is an open source automation service with a web console, command line tools and a WebAPI.

Ansible tower logo Ansible tower

An ansible web frontend.
  • RunDeck Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-07
  • Ansible tower Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-01

RunDeck features and specs

  • Open Source
    RunDeck is open-source, allowing for extensive customization and integration with various tools and services to meet specific requirements.
  • Web-based Interface
    RunDeck offers an intuitive web-based interface for managing and automating tasks, making it accessible and user-friendly.
  • Scheduling and Execution
    It provides powerful scheduling capabilities, allowing users to automate routine tasks and execute them at predefined times.
  • Plugins and Integrations
    RunDeck supports a wide range of plugins and integrations with popular tools such as Ansible, Chef, Docker, and more, extending its functionality.
  • Role-based Access Control (RBAC)
    It includes robust security features like RBAC, enabling fine-grained control over user permissions and access to different operations.
  • Audit Logging
    Provides comprehensive logging and auditing capabilities, helping organizations track changes and maintain compliance.
  • Community Support
    Being part of an open-source project, RunDeck has an active community that contributes to its development and offers support through forums and other channels.

Possible disadvantages of RunDeck

  • Learning Curve
    For newcomers, especially those unfamiliar with automation tools, there can be a steep learning curve to understand and effectively utilize all of RunDeck's features.
  • Complexity in Large Environments
    Managing large numbers of nodes and complex workflows can become cumbersome and may require significant effort to maintain and troubleshoot.
  • Limited Built-in Integrations
    While RunDeck supports many plugins, the built-in integrations may not cover all tools, requiring custom development or third-party plugins.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running multiple jobs and handling numerous nodes can introduce performance overhead, potentially affecting execution times and efficiency.
  • UI Limitations
    Some users may find the user interface limited in terms of advanced features and customization options compared to other enterprise automation tools.
  • Cost for Enterprise Features
    While the core RunDeck is open-source, advanced enterprise features and professional support are available only in the paid version, which could be a barrier for some organizations.

Ansible tower features and specs

  • Centralized Management
    Ansible Tower provides a centralized point of control for managing and executing Ansible playbooks, making it easier to oversee complex automation workflows across multiple nodes.
  • Role-Based Access Control
    It offers role-based access control to ensure that only authorized users can execute playbooks or access certain functionalities, improving security and compliance.
  • Job Scheduling
    Tower includes the ability to schedule job runs, allowing for automation tasks to be planned and executed at predefined times without manual intervention.
  • Graphical User Interface
    Provides a user-friendly web interface, which simplifies the process of using Ansible for users who may not be comfortable with command-line interactions.
  • Integrated Notifications
    Users can configure notifications to be sent through various channels like email or Slack upon completion or failure of jobs, enabling real-time monitoring.

Possible disadvantages of Ansible tower

  • Cost
    Ansible Tower is a paid product, which can be a significant factor for smaller organizations or individual users compared to free open-source Ansible.
  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing Tower can add complexity to an environment, particularly for organizations that are new to Ansible or do not require advanced features.
  • Resource Overhead
    Running Ansible Tower introduces additional resource and operational overhead, which may require more powerful hardware and infrastructure management.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Ansible Tower's functionality is heavily reliant on being online, which can be a limitation for environments that require significant offline capabilities.
  • Learning Curve
    Users accustomed to direct Ansible command-line operations might need time to adapt to Tower's interface and workflow, which can slow down initial productivity.

Analysis of RunDeck

Overall verdict

  • Overall, RunDeck is widely regarded as a good tool for automating operations and improving IT service delivery. Whether it is the best fit depends on specific organizational needs, requirements, and existing tool ecosystems.

Why this product is good

  • RunDeck is considered a good tool for automating operational tasks because it provides an easy-to-use interface for scheduling and executing jobs, managing workflows, and enabling self-service for operations teams. It allows users to define tasks in a repeatable and standardized way, reducing human errors and improving efficiency. Additionally, RunDeck's integration capabilities with various tools and infrastructure make it versatile and adaptable for different environments.

Recommended for

  • IT operations teams looking to automate complex workflows.
  • Organizations needing to improve service delivery and minimize downtime.
  • Teams seeking to implement self-service operational tasks for non-technical users.
  • Environments requiring integration with various tools and infrastructures.

RunDeck videos

Intro To Rundeck

Ansible tower videos

Red Hat Ansible Tower Demo

More videos:

  • Review - Red Hat Ansible Tower: Simplicity, Security, Stability

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RunDeck and Ansible tower)
DevOps Tools
88 88%
12% 12
Continuous Integration And Delivery
Continuous Integration
0 0%
100% 100
Other Infrastructure Tools

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RunDeck and Ansible tower

RunDeck Reviews

13 tools to use for DevSecOps automation
🔓 Rundeck is an open-source runbook automation tool for incident management, business continuity, and self-service operations. This tool is typically used in security and compliance, helping organizations maintain compliance controls, control access to sensitive data, and audit activity logs. Use the Rundeck node to automatically execute jobs and get their metadata.
Source: n8n.io
35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
RunDeck is an operations automation platform. It doesn’t just manage deployments but several processes in the CI/CD pipeline. It’s great for creating standard operating procedures and synchronizing actions across all your enterprise’s various scripts, tools, and APIs. RunDeck is particularly suited for companies planning to migrate to cloud services.

Ansible tower Reviews

12 Open Source/Commercial Software for Data Center Infrastructure Management
Thanks to that Ansible Tower can perform almost any possible program operation with integrated software and has an amazing statistics collecting module. On the dark side, we have a lack of integration with popular billing systems and pricing.
Source: www.tecmint.com

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RunDeck and Ansible tower, you can also consider the following products

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

Ansible Semaphore - Modern UI for Ansible

Terraform - Tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.

Specops Deploy - Specops Deploy is the name of an advanced deployment program that simplifies the installation of the software and applications in addition to the multiple operating systems.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service

Jenkins - Jenkins is an open-source continuous integration server with 300+ plugins to support all kinds of software development