AWS CloudFormation vs Perforce Puppet comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Perforce are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.8, while Perforce is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 5.1% mindshare in CM, compared to Perforce’s 4.3% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Perforce users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Perforce Puppet and AWS CloudFormation both compete in the infrastructure automation market. While Perforce Puppet is favored for customer support and cost-effectiveness, AWS CloudFormation is preferred for feature-rich deployments due to its comprehensive capabilities.

Features: Perforce Puppet offers agent-based functionality, real-time reporting, and a vast code repository with extensive modules. AWS CloudFormation excels with seamless integration into AWS, reusability of infrastructure as code, and comprehensive deployment templates.

Room for Improvement: Perforce Puppet could benefit from enhanced integration with cloud-native tools, more streamlined user interfaces, and optimization for performance in larger environments. AWS CloudFormation could improve by offering broader multi-cloud capabilities, simplification of complex templates, and better support for non-AWS platforms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Perforce Puppet is known for easy implementation in diverse environments and offers responsive support. AWS CloudFormation, while simplifying deployment in the AWS ecosystem, often requires AWS-specific expertise but is backed by extensive AWS documentation and community support.

Pricing and ROI: Perforce Puppet is attractive for its lower initial costs and rapid ROI, appealing to budget-sensitive firms. AWS CloudFormation has higher upfront costs offset by a robust feature set that supports long-term infrastructure growth and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS CloudFormation vs. Perforce Puppet Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AWS CloudFormation vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 4.7%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS CloudFormation is 5.1%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perforce Puppet is 4.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	4.7%
AWS CloudFormation	5.1%
Perforce Puppet	4.3%
Other	85.9%

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

OluwashileAdeniyi

Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees

Centralized endpoint security has improved and supports hybrid work and BYOD policies

Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control. When comparing controls and policies between Windows, Mac, and Linux, Windows has almost everything you can think of, while Mac and Linux have limited types of control. You cannot implement certain things on Mac and Linux that you can on Windows. The limited controls are a major issue. Additionally, if Microsoft could find a way to embed servers into Microsoft Intune, that would be beneficial. Microsoft Intune is not really designed for servers or Windows servers. It is more tailored towards Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. Windows servers are not fully supported. Enterprise organizations usually have both servers and endpoints, which are users' workstations. For servers, most people look for other solutions such as SCCM, which is Configuration Manager. However, SCCM is what Microsoft Intune is trying to replace. Both SCCM and Microsoft Intune belong to Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to transition organizations into Microsoft Intune, the native cloud solution. However, because this update is still in process, servers are not fully compatible with Microsoft Intune and cannot be managed by it. The current policy that has emerged from issues with clients is what they call co-management, which is relatively new, and I do not know if adoption is significant. Many legacy or older customers who have been using these products for decades still have SCCM. When it is time for them to manage their Windows devices, they use what is called cloud attach. Cloud attach is a term whereby your SCCM is connected to your Microsoft Intune. Most people do not know about it, but I have deployed it for several organizations. Cloud attach and co-management work together so that your device is in SCCM, but some policies are pushed from Microsoft Intune. It is like two different solutions working hand in hand. That is what they call co-management. Microsoft Intune does not bring all of your endpoint and security management tools into one place, which is the goal and how it should be. However, as I mentioned, servers are not included. If we talk about end users, Microsoft Intune does bring all your devices together. In a typical enterprise environment, you have end users with workstations, laptops, company-issued phones, and bring your own devices. You can create policies for all of these. However, for the backend, your servers do not have much coverage. Servers are not really covered by Microsoft Intune in that way.

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Sridivya Chillappa

application security engineer at Hyperspace IT India

Automation and consistency in infrastructure deployment provide a robust foundation

When it comes to the challenges with AWS CloudFormation, I faced a few challenges. One challenge is associated with large infrastructures; the template can become very long and hard to manage. Sometimes, the error messages during stack creation or update can be very hard to troubleshoot. Managing the correct order of resource creation and some updates can be tricky, especially with interdependent resources. If a stack update fails halfway and rolls back, it sometimes leaves the resources in an inconsistent state. AWS imposes a limit on stack size and the number of resources per stack, which can be quite constrained for large deployments. Despite all this, once we have experience, we can overcome these challenges very easily. Stack creation or updates can be slower than expected, especially with large and complex resources, and certain resource types or dependencies can add to the wait time. Nevertheless, AWS offers a way to optimize performance by breaking large templates into nested stacks. It's very capable, but there is room for improvement in speed.

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Saufi Salim

Unix Consultant at ExxonMobil

Have managed configurations efficiently with an adaptable tool

I am using Perforce Puppet in the IT industry. I have experience with configuration management tools, specifically Perforce Puppet. I am a user of Perforce Puppet. I have used modular architecture to customize and integrate with my current IT environment. It is flexible and able to address my specific needs. I have worked with event-driven automation, and it helps to identify potential issues when someone manually changes any configuration on the server. Perforce Puppet reinforces the intended configuration that we have set earlier. I recommend Perforce Puppet as it's a good tool for all kinds of business and easy to use. It takes less than three months to learn how to use Perforce Puppet. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Perforce Puppet an eight.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Microsoft Endpoint Manager is not expensive overall, especially for small environments."

"The navigation, the keys, and the settings are easy to find. It is easy to understand."

"The most valuable feature of Intune is the user-friendly portal for end users."

"It has improved our organization through the remote management of non-domain joined devices."

"The overall user experience is quite nice. I have no complaints from end users regarding their devices enrolled in Intune."

"It has a useful device management feature."

"EAM is a godsend."

"I have seen a return on investment with Microsoft Intune, as it has saved me resources; previously, I managed my infrastructure with a team of around six to seven members, but after transitioning to the Microsoft Intune hybrid model, I am able to manage it with just one resource, allowing me to cut costs significantly, around 50-60 lakhs."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"If you want to deploy thousands of components - not only virtual machines, but, also, users, roles and services, in any of the AWS regions — it's not a problem."

"The time to market is really good, I would say, because you can quickly set up a blueprint and deploy it, and the initial setup is simple."

"The most beneficial aspect lies in its capability to handle input acquisition and assessment."

"By using AWS CloudFormation, I can automate tasks like creating VPCs and load balancers instead of doing them manually each time. The features I like most include improved scalability, resource management, ease of deployment, template creation, and resource provisioning."

"The most valuable feature of AWS CloudFormation is the simple tracking of infrastructure."

"Its ability to treat infrastructure's code is valuable. It makes things automatable and reproducible."

"Using AWS CloudFormation has given us the ability to automate and optimize our infrastructure, reducing manual efforts and improving efficiency, particularly in cost optimization and management of our cloud resources."

"Since AWS CloudFormation integrates well with the AWS platform, it facilitates faster deployment. Building templates for AWS services within the solution is also straightforward, making the process easier."

More AWS CloudFormation pros

"The agent-based feature helps me by being stable."

"Puppet Enterprise is a stable solution."

"I rate the stability of Puppet as ten out of ten."

"Return on the IaaS project was breaking even in the same year with deployment of 500 VM servers with a 3-tier app stack, and annual ROI from savings thereafter was to the tune of 60-80%."

"The main purpose for this automation tool would be: deploying, controlling, ordering change for the system and IT Infrastructure."

"Anything that we manage through Puppet always runs perfectly."

"Puppet Enterprise has reduced the time of production changes or environment changes, freeing our engineers to spend their time on creative, visionary work instead of repetitive tasks."

"The versatility is great."

More Perforce Puppet pros

Cons

"Intune's third-party patch management could be better. It should be easier for the average system admin to keep non-Microsoft applications updated."

"Microsoft Intune fails a lot when it comes to device compliance."

"Intune could be improved by expanding its third-party patching capabilities for a more comprehensive solution."

"When pushing anything from Microsoft Intune, the sync timing is 48 hours. While sometimes it takes 5 to 10 minutes, the official period given by Microsoft is within 48 hours, which can be time-consuming for policies, applications, or patches."

"Each feature has a separate license, making logistics and cost management difficult if not strategically bundled together."

"Reporting in Microsoft solutions is pathetic. With Intune, I'm getting a free inventory tool, but I don't get a reporting tool. When I go to Intune, I can see one machine's entire data in terms of the hardware and the software running on it, but I cannot generate a report for all the machines in the organization. The reporting is the only feature holding back the functionality that is already there."

"There is room for improvement in the reporting capabilities, specifically app reporting. It is challenging to report which apps are installed on which device."

"It isn't easy to use. It's very complicated, but as long as you take the time to learn it, you can do just about anything you want with your device."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"One area where AWS CloudFormation could improve is by offering more flexibility in creating custom templates."

"If Amazon could extend CloudFormation to other cloud platforms, that would be good. Currently, it is only limited to AWS."

"GUI could be improved by adding graphical components."

"Including certain examples of templates would be advantageous."

"CloudFormation is not particularly good at handling cross-account dynamic references. If you try to refer to an object that CloudFormation has created in a separate AWS account, it tends to fall apart."

"It's not that easy to use, but I can learn very fast."

"The code we write in AWS CloudFormation is pretty big compared to Terraform. We need to have more modules in the solution. A library should also be there where we can save code lines. A dashboard feature would be good for designers."

"What could be improved in AWS CloudFormation is its user interface, in terms of graphical design, I prefer WYSIWYG."

More AWS CloudFormation cons

"Regarding the cost, I find it expensive, always."

"Puppet Enterprise should improve the general extensibility for places where they can't install it."

"The solution has really complex code, you have to understand the Ruby language. However, once you know the code then you can move ahead without any problems."

"Puppet has a steep learning curve so you need to spend some time before you can use Puppet daily."

"The compliance side needs work. Puppet doesn't have much in terms of dealing with compliance."

"It's a bit of a pain point to make sure that everything works once we've upgraded it because Puppet has been evolving pretty fast."

"There's a lot of scope for enhancement on the DevSecOps side. They should definitely include features for compliance, for both the Linux and Windows side of the devices, as well as for network devices. Compliance is something they need to work on."

"Puppet Enterprise is more complex and difficult to configure."

More Perforce Puppet cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is somewhat on the higher side, particularly when considering certain price points, especially in markets like India."

"My team members bundled it together with their Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft 365 and related products."

"The solution is cost-efficient."

"The product is relatively pricey, but considering its benefits, I'd say it's fair. The benefits outweigh the expensive licensing fees, especially for large organizations, but medium-sized and smaller businesses may be unable to afford it."

"The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."

"Intune is moderately expensive. You can get the license bundled with Office 365 E3 or E5 licenses. The E5s are a bit expensive, but you get some cheaper solutions with Intune."

"In terms of the product price and licensing costs, my company finds the product to be reasonably priced."

"It is reasonable. When you have Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, it is already licensed in that license. So, you could say it is free."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"This solution is free to use and does not require a license."

"If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive."

"The tool is free for the AWS environment."

"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."

"The solution's cost is normal, neither cheap nor expensive."

"The product is free."

"AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs."

"The tool's pricing depends on the page model."

More AWS CloudFormation pricing and cost advice

"Puppet Enterprise can be an expensive solution for smaller businesses."

"Depending on the size of the organization there is a point when the price of Puppet Enterprise should be lower. However, they provide really good functionality, features, and capabilities."

"Puppet Enterprise’s pricing is competitive."

"The main thing that we noticed when we switched from the enterprise version to the community version was the difference in cost — the infrastructure is pretty expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	190
Midsize Enterprise	65
Large Enterprise	185

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	17

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?

Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...

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What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...

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How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CloudFormation?

AWS CloudFormation is free. However, there may be unexpected costs if developers deploy services incorrectly without ...

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What needs improvement with AWS CloudFormation?

When it comes to the challenges with AWS CloudFormation, I faced a few challenges. One challenge is associated with l...

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What is your primary use case for AWS CloudFormation?

I have experience with AWS CloudFormation. I use it to automate the provisioning of the entire environment by spinnin...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Puppet Enterprise?

Regarding the cost, I find it expensive, always. I don't know how much the license would cost per year or per user ap...

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What needs improvement with Puppet Enterprise?

I don't know what could be improved in Perforce Puppet to make this tool better for the next release. I can't think o...

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What is your primary use case for Puppet Enterprise?

My main use case for Perforce Puppet is for configuration management.

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

HashiCorp Terraform vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 9% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 8% of the time

CloudBees vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 7% of the time

BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 5% of the time

More AWS CloudFormation Competitors

BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 8% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 7% of the time

Quali CloudShell Pro vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 4% of the time

More Perforce Puppet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

AWS CloudFormation

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Perforce Puppet

June 2026

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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

CloudFormation

Puppet

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.

Microsoft

AWS CloudFormation provides scalable automation for infrastructure management using infrastructure as code principles while supporting JSON/YAML templates, empowering teams to efficiently manage resources across multiple AWS regions.

Designed to enhance efficiency, AWS CloudFormation simplifies resource management through automation, versioning, and template creation. Its integration within AWS accelerates setup and management of infrastructure by facilitating modular design and parameter management. DevOps teams benefit from these capabilities, easing deployment across complex environments. Despite its strengths, it could improve by enhancing speed, better error handling, user interface improvements, documentation, and integrating new AWS services while addressing licensing costs. Multi-cloud compatibility remains absent, which has some opting for alternatives like Terraform for broader deployment scenarios.

What are the key features of AWS CloudFormation?

Infrastructure as Code: Streamlines deployment using descriptive formats.
Nested Stacks: Allows modular and organized deployment.
Versioning: Facilitates tracking changes and rollback implementation.
Scalability: Supports large-scale operations effectively.
Template Creation: Ensures consistent and repeatable environment setups.
YAML/JSON Support: Simplifies code management across regions.

What benefits or ROI can users expect?

Enhanced Deployment Reliability: Minimizes errors through change tracking and rollbacks.
Automation Efficiency: Reduces manual interventions and speeds setup.
Resource Management Across Regions: Simplifies global deployment processes.
Cost Optimization: Efficient infrastructure usage cuts operational costs.

In industries like finance and healthcare, AWS CloudFormation automates infrastructure deployment, managing resources such as VPCs and EC2 efficiently. DevOps teams use it to ensure consistency through templates, facilitating quick, reliable service deployments while reducing manual error risks and enhancing scalability.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Perforce Puppet offers automated configuration management and diverse platform support through agent-based functionality, enhancing systems with real-time reporting and efficient process automation.

Perforce Puppet provides comprehensive management for both infrastructure and applications, primarily on-prem servers, enabling automation of server updates, security compliance, and IT operations. It supports Linux and is expanding to Windows, facilitating continuous checks and compliance monitoring. With robust Internet-based features, scalability, role-based access control, and exemplary community support, it streamlines processes like remote package installation, file distribution, and user creation. Using Puppet Forge modules enhances its capabilities despite its steep learning curve and reliance on Ruby and DSL. While GUI limitations necessitate command line proficiency, its integration features and high cost can be a deterrent, prompting some to consider alternatives or the community version.

What are the key features of Perforce Puppet?

Agent-Based Functionality: Provides real-time system management and reporting.
Automated Configuration Management: Streamlines server and network processes with a declarative approach.
Scalability: Adapts to changing infrastructure needs efficiently.
Puppet Forge Modules: Extends capabilities for enhanced performance.
Role-Based Access Control: Ensures secure and organized access control.

What benefits do users gain from Perforce Puppet?

Versatility in Platform Management: Supports diverse environments for seamless integration.
Efficiency in Automation: Reduces manual server configuration tasks.
Community Support: Access to a strong network of developers and users.
Enhanced Security Compliance: Facilitates continuous monitoring and compliance checks.

Perforce Puppet is widely adopted in industries requiring rigorous configuration management and provisioning for on-prem servers. Enterprises automate IT operations and security compliance, applying it initially to Linux servers and progressing to Windows. It aids in public configurations for nodes, enabling efficient network, package, and software integrations while automating configuration and patch management processes.

Perforce

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

Nextdoor, Coinbase, Expedia

Los Alamos National Laboratory, GitHub, IP Commerce, Cedexis, Spiceworks, Server Density, Swisstopo, Chockstone, Constant Contact, NICS, Citrix

Buyer's Guide

AWS CloudFormation vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2026

Free Report: AWS CloudFormation vs. Perforce Puppet

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS CloudFormation vs. Perforce Puppet and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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