BlueCat Gateway vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform comparison

BlueCat and Red Hat are both solutions in the Network Automation category. BlueCat is ranked #17, while Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. BlueCat holds a 2.3% mindshare in NA, compared to Red Hat’s 14.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BlueCat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

BlueCat Gateway

Read 2 BlueCat Gateway reviews

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370 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat Ansible Automation ...

Read 72 Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform reviews

10,071 Views
2,518 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

BlueCat Gateway

Red Hat Ansible Automation ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and BlueCat Gateway compete in the network automation and management space. Ansible Automation Platform often has the upper hand due to its advanced automation capabilities and scalability, while BlueCat edges forward in network-specific features like DNS management and security.

Features: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is known for its advanced automation capabilities, easy scalability, and vast module library. BlueCat Gateway specializes in DNS management, integration with IP Address Management, and enhanced network security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers straightforward deployments and strong community support, making implementations faster. BlueCat Gateway has a structured deployment process with network security focus, providing dedicated guidance for complex setups, but has a steeper learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform usually requires a higher initial investment but delivers substantial ROI by boosting efficiency and reducing manual efforts over time. BlueCat Gateway tends to have competitive pricing, with ROI gained from improved network reliability and reduced downtime.

To learn more, read our detailed BlueCat Gateway vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Gateway vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

March 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

BlueCat Gateway

Ranking in Network Automation

17th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Red Hat Ansible Automation ...

Ranking in Network Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Release Automation (3rd), Configuration Management (1st), AWS Pro Service Providers (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of BlueCat Gateway is 2.3%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is 14.9%, down from 20.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Automation Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform	14.9%
BlueCat Gateway	2.3%
Other	82.8%

Network Automation

Featured Reviews

Frederic Girard

Developer for DDI Team at Cgi Deutschland KG

Simple to use, straightforward to deploy, and provides good support and documentation

One area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the time it takes to fill in the dropdown in the UI of the solution because the speed with which the data loads isn't that fast. It would be better if you didn't have to wait for old items to load before seeing the first data. Another area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the discovery probe, as it doesn't allow you to see all the setup parameters after you've set it up. This may not be a big issue, but it's something my team noticed that may not be good in the solution.

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Manas Kashyap

DevOps Engineer at Elevenxcapital

Automation has transformed server patching and has reduced months of work to minutes

The best features that Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers is that it does not require any additional resources inside the servers. Python is the only requirement, and since Python is already present inside the servers, we can run it from our location and it automatically deploys things and does the work for us. The minimal requirements and easy deployment have definitely impacted my daily work and my team's efficiency. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is one of the best features that we depend on. We have evaluated other options, but Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform was the best choice because it has saved us a tremendous amount of time. We do not need to manually intervene in the servers or install third-party software to maintain these things. It is very easy to write playbooks for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Ansible Galaxy contains many playbooks that are readily available and ready to be used. It is highly configurable with Jinja templating, making it easy to maintain. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform has positively impacted my organization. Previously, we needed to go into the servers and maintain them manually, which used to take a lot of time. For 200 to 300 servers, the maintenance took about one to two months. New patches would arrive and we would have to repeat the process. Now, it is a one-night work or a 10 to 15 minutes task. We write a playbook, maintain an inventory, and roll out the updates and it starts working for us. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform uses conditional clauses and has rollback options, functioning like a standard coding language that is simple to use. There is definitely a reduction in errors with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform because we have playbooks written with all the necessary clauses and rollback options. Manual work automatically creates more errors, whereas in automation, we have written sets that we do not forget every time we run it. We have protected written sets that we execute consistently.

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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

"We found IP and Network Discovery the most valuable features of BlueCat Gateway. Our team found it very easy to build, verify, and validate APIs in BlueCat Gateway, mainly if the users have a background in development and APIs. Our team found that BlueCat Gateway answers our needs well."

"The ability to develop a kiosk-like solution for in-person assistance is crucial."

"It increases our company's efficiency, automating all the simple tasks which used to take hours of somebody's time."

"We can have an easy to go, ready demonstration set up in less than five minutes."

"It is quick to production. It has an API in the back which allows for integrations."

"Saved time as well as helped support compliance and standards."

"It is one of the best products to use, easy to understand and easy to manage, and you can use it if you have a cloud, physical server, or VMware because it is very good and offers operational efficiency."

"It is agentless; I don't have to think about which client system my unit has understanding in or not, because I can execute from my system, it will go and configure it, and any module that it is looking for will be shipped out."

"The most valuable feature of Ansible is repeatability because when you're working at the DoD, you want things to be cookie-cutter and replicable."

"Role-based access control and agentless architecture are the main features which may attract users."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pros

Cons

"One area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the time it takes to fill in the dropdown in the UI of the solution because the speed with which the data loads isn't that fast. It would be better if you didn't have to wait for old items to load before seeing the first data."

"My most significant concern is that the documentation has problems."

"It could be easier to integrate Ansible with other solutions. No single tool can do everything. For example, we use Terraform for infrastructure and other solutions for configuration management and VMs."

"The SSM connection access needs improvement"

"I have seen indications that the documentation needs improvement."

"The web GUI can be a little bit better. There should be a couple of more features."

"It's a young product so there is still room for improvement on the module side."

"It doesn't work well with large-scale infra."

"Networking needs to be improved."

"The user interface on the Ansible Tower product could be better, but it is functional."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is actually quite favorable based on our negotiations."

"If you only need to use Ansible, it's free for any end-user, but when you require Ansible Tower, you need to pay per Ansible Tower server."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an affordable solution."

"We have to be mindful of how we use Ansible because of the licensing model. I am not saying that it is unfair or we do not find value in it. Because we are trying to automate so many different things, we have to be mindful of what we are doing and how we are doing it because we are trying to stay in compliance with it."

"You don't need to buy agents on servers or deploy expense management when using the solution, which affected our decision to go with it."

"Like many Red Hat products, they have a no-cost version of the web application (AWX, formerly Ansible Tower), but you are on your own to install and it is a little more complicated than just installing Ansible."

"The solution is inexpensive compared to other products."

"We use the open-source version of the solution."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an expensive solution. There may be additional fees to use advanced features."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	25
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	48

Questions from the Community

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What is the difference between Red Hat Satellite and Ansible?

Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management have been outstanding. If you have a large environment, patching systems is much ...

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How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform was very simple. There is no pricing and no licensing required, as Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform ...

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Automation

March 2026

Download BlueCat Gateway product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

March 2026

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform report

Download Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform product report

Also Known As

BlueCat Network Automation

Ansible, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Subscription on AWS

Overview

BlueCat Gateway allows you to automate and transform mission-critical business requirements into DNS, DDI, DHCP, and IPAM workflows, plugins, and applications and enables the rapid development of turn-key integrations with existing technology investments. Using zero-touch automation frees IT teams from time-consuming, error-prone, and repetitive network configuration and provisioning tasks so they can focus on the innovation business needs. BlueCat’s automation platform automates the DNS services necessary to provision and deallocates cloud and on-premises resources, enabling IT to respond faster to user requests.

BlueCat

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform streamlines IT operations with features like a simplified GUI and extensive module support. Its agentless architecture and YAML ease make it an adaptable choice for managing diverse infrastructures efficiently.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers a robust automation framework that supports multiple environments and integrates well with various applications. Its agentless Python-based architecture facilitates efficient server management and rapid update deployment. Users benefit from centralized management through Ansible Tower, role-based access control, and dynamic inventory. However, improvement areas include documentation, API integration, network support, and UI scaling. Enhanced community contributions could address module availability and compatibility gaps.

What are the most important features of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

Agentless Architecture: Leverages Python for seamless management without needing local agents.
Extensive Module Support: Provides modules for managing multiple environments effectively.
Ansible Tower GUI: Offers a centralized interface for easy automation management.
Role-Based Access Control: Ensures user-specific permissions for improved security.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with a variety of applications to enhance functionality.
Dynamic Inventory: Automatically updates inventory, simplifying large infrastructure management.

What benefits and ROI should one consider?

Automation Efficiency: Significantly reduces manual intervention, saving time and resources.
Adaptability: Easily integrates with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, and Azure.
Security Compliance: Automates compliance checks, ensuring up-to-date security protocols.
Cost Management: Lower operational costs through streamlined processes.
Scalability: Supports infrastructure growth without requiring major adjustments.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and technology, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is used for network management, security compliance, and configuration tasks. Organizations utilize its capabilities for cloud and on-premises deployment, infrastructure provisioning, and workflow orchestration. Many integrate it with tools such as Puppet or Terraform to enhance CI/CD processes, benefiting from its agentless design in adapting to cloud environments.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

US Department of Energy, Swisslos, DXC, Edeka SouthWest

HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Gateway vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

March 2026

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