Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS CodeDeploy vs Chef comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

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

AWS CodeDeploy
Ranking in Release Automation
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Chef
Ranking in Release Automation
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Build Automation (20th), Configuration Management (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Release Automation category, the mindshare of AWS CodeDeploy is 3.2%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Chef is 1.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Release Automation
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadBilal7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective communication with seamless integration improves deployment but tool diversity raises usability questions
There are many tools in the market that cover different aspects, such as the GitOps methodology of deployment. I have not used CodeDeploy with EKS, although I have used it with ECS. I am not sure if CodeDeploy can be used with EKS, and I see this as a deficiency for end users. Easier implementation would be beneficial.
Aaron  P - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy configuration management, optimization abilities, and complete infrastructure and application automation
In terms of improvement, Chef could get better by being more widely available, adapting to different needs, and providing better documentation. There is also an issue with shared resources like cookbooks lacking context, which could lead to problems when multiple companies use them. Chef should aim for wider availability, better flexibility, clearer documentation, and improved management of shared resources to prevent conflicts. Many companies are now moving to Ansible, so I would recommend better documentation, easier customer use, and simpler integration. I have concerns about the complexity of migrating to different servers and would prefer a simpler process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Customer service was very helpful."
"I can integrate it with other AWS services."
"I would suggest using AWS CodeDeploy if your applications are on AWS cloud platform, as it integrates well with multiple AWS services and automates scalability and infrastructure management."
"The biggest feature of AWS CodeDeploy is its scalability."
"I appreciate the feature for automating the deployment of code to the server."
"It's just like every other AWS resource I use. It gets the job done."
"The most valuable features of AWS CodeDeploy are its integration with other AWS services to deploy applications."
"CodeDeploy is very stable. I rate it a 10 for stability."
"Manual deployments came to a halt completely. Server provisioning became lightning fast. Chef-docker enabled us to have fewer sets of source code for different purposes. Configuration management was a breeze and all the servers were as good as immutable servers."
"Chef is a great tool for an automation person who wants to do configuration management with infrastructure as a code."
"Deployment has become quick and orchestration is now easy."
"We have had less production issues since using Chef to automate our provisioning."
"This solution has improved my organization in the way that deployment has become very quick and orchestration is easy. If we have thousands of servers we can easily deploy in a small amount of time. We can deploy the applications or any kind of announcements in much less time."
"The most valuable feature is automation."
"It streamlined our deployments and system configurations across the board rather than have us use multiple configurations or tools, basically a one stop shop."
"If you're handy enough with DSL and you can present your own front-facing interface to your developers, then you can actually have a lot more granular control with Chef in operations over what developers can perform and what they can't."
 

Cons

"AWS CodeDeploy doesn't provide multiple plugins like Jenkins, which is a shortcoming where improvements are required."
"There will always be room for improvement, however, I cannot think of any specific improvements at the moment."
"An improvement for the end users would be easier implementation, especially regarding local testing tools for deployment."
"Improvements could be made to AWS CodeDeploy in terms of its agent's compatibility across different operating systems. Currently, there are instances where the agent may not work seamlessly with certain integrations, leading to issues with registering protocols on authorized servers."
"Deployment and stability should be improved."
"The documentation could be more detailed, especially for new users."
"AWS CodeDeploy's lack of ability to use independently without CodePipeline or CodeBuild makes it unstable."
"I faced some stability issues."
"The time that it takes in terms of integration. Cloud integration is comparatively easy, but when it comes to two-link based integrations - like trying to integrate it with any monitoring tools, or maybe some other ticketing tools - it takes longer. That is because most of the out-of-the-box integration of the APIs needs some revisiting."
"The agent on the server sometimes acts finicky."
"I would like to see more security features for Chef and more automation."
"Since we are heading to IoT, this product should consider anything related to this."
"Chef could get better by being more widely available, adapting to different needs, and providing better documentation."
"Vertical scalability is still good but the horizontal, adding more technologies, platforms, tools, integrations, Chef should take a look into that."
"If they can improve their software to support Docker containers, it would be for the best."
"Support and pricing for Chef could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price is normal."
"Since we are using a dedicated AWS environment, the solution's pricing is fine."
"The product is free with EC2."
"AWS CodeDeploy has proven to be a cost-effective solution for us, especially considering the benefits we gain from using it. In terms of pricing, AWS is quite affordable, providing excellent value for the features and services it offers."
"It is costly."
"Pricing for Chef is high."
"We are using the free, open source version of the software, which we are happy with at this time."
"The price is always a problem. It is high. There is room for improvement. I do like purchasing on the AWS Marketplace, but I would like the ability to negotiate and have some flexibility in the pricing on it."
"We are able to save in development time, deployment time, and it makes it easier to manage the environments."
"I wasn't involved in the purchasing, but I am pretty sure that we are happy with the current pricing and licensing since it never comes up."
"The price per node is a little weird. It doesn't scale along with your organization. If you're truly utilizing Chef to its fullest, then the number of nodes which are being utilized in any particular day might scale or change based on your Auto Scaling groups. How do you keep track of that or audit it? Then, how do you appropriately license it? It's difficult."
"Chef is priced based on the number of nodes."
"Purchasing the solution from AWS Marketplace was a good experience. AWS's pricing is pretty in line with the product's regular pricing. Though instance-wise, AWS is not the cheapest in the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Release Automation solutions are best for your needs.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
University
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CodeDeploy?
Evaluating cost, it is important to note that the services provided by CodeDeploy can be expensive to purchase from other cloud platforms. However, depending on the services, it might be worth the ...
What is your primary use case for AWS CodeDeploy?
I remember it was a Node.js API that I deployed to some EC2 instances. I was trying to use PM2, a process manager, to deploy the application to the end users.
What do you like most about Chef?
Chef is a great tool for an automation person who wants to do configuration management with infrastructure as a code.
What needs improvement with Chef?
Chef does not support the containerized things of Chef products. In the future, Chef could develop a docker container or docker images.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Facebook, Standard Bank, GE Capital, Nordstrom, Optum, Barclays, IGN, General Motors, Scholastic, Riot Games, NCR, Gap
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS CodeDeploy vs. Chef and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.