Chef vs Perforce Puppet comparison

Progress Software and Perforce are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. Progress Software is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.0, while Perforce is ranked #15 with an average rating of 7.5. Progress Software holds a 1.9% mindshare in CM, compared to Perforce’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Progress Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Perforce users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 8, 2025

Perforce Puppet and Chef are prominent players in the infrastructure automation space, each providing robust solutions for automating IT processes. Chef seems to have the upper hand, attributed to its comprehensive functionalities and significant ROI, which many consider worth the investment.

Features: Perforce Puppet offers strong configuration management with a declarative programming model, facilitating system provisioning and effective change enforcement. It provides stability and precise control over changes, making it ideal for controlled environments. Chef, with its imperative programming model, focuses on integration with cloud services and managing complex deployment scenarios, aiding in dynamic and scalable environments. It supports headless operations and allows writing recipes for versatile automation.

Room for Improvement: Perforce Puppet could enhance its integration capabilities with third-party services and improve the user interface for non-technical users to widen adoption. Increasing documentation for advanced users and reducing the footprint of agent installations would also be beneficial. Chef could simplify its setup process to reduce complexity in initial deployments. Enhancing rollback capabilities during deployments and expanding native cloud service integrations could improve its flexibility. Better out-of-the-box reporting and analytics features are also areas for growth.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Perforce Puppet integrates well with existing systems through a straightforward deployment model, supported by reliable technical assistance for smooth implementation. Chef requires more hands-on setup given its complex configurations. However, the customer service is commendable for extensive support and guidance throughout the deployment process, addressing initial complexities effectively.

Pricing and ROI: Perforce Puppet is often perceived as offering competitive pricing with moderate setup costs, gradually delivering positive ROI due to its reliable performance. Chef, although bearing higher initial setup costs, provides substantial ROI through its feature-rich capabilities and flexibility, ensuring long-term value through its robust automation solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Chef vs. Perforce Puppet Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Chef vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 856,874 peers since 2012

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 June 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 10.3%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Chef is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perforce Puppet is 1.0%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi

Collaborations engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Everything has worked better since we started using it

Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.

Read full review

Aaron P

DevOps Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

Read full review

Erik Ableson

Owner at Infrageeks

A stable solution that is more suited for larger companies with mature CI/CD structures and image management processes

Puppet Enterprise is more suitable for clients working up much more structured deployment images they manage internally. Before choosing Puppet Enterprise, users should think seriously about what they're trying to accomplish and ensure they put the right pieces in place. Overall, I rate Puppet Enterprise an eight out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Intune's unified endpoint management platform is invaluable."

"The user experience of Microsoft Intune is quite good because there's not much disturbance in the background; it's just running in the background."

"Intune significantly simplifies application deployment, mobile application management, and policy enforcement, such as restricting user access to specific applications, thereby enhancing overall environment security."

"I would rate the overall solution as a 10."

"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Intune is the detection and remediation script capability."

"We use a local Active Directory, but we weren't able to manage all our on-site systems without a solution like Intune, and we needed to deploy software like VPNs and other things. It's seamless now to to this through Intune."

"Intune's security features for Apple iOS and Mac OS are helpful. We can check enrollment, manage public and private settings, and manage the organization's data using security key features."

"Intune does consolidate all endpoint and security management tools into one place, making everything easier to manage."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"Chef is a great tool for an automation person who wants to do configuration management with infrastructure as a code."

"It has been very easy to tie it into our build and deploy automation for production release work, etc. All the Chef pieces more or less run themselves."

"Chef can be scaled as needed. The Chef server itself can scale but it depends on the available resources. You can upgrade specific resources to meet the demand. Similarly, with clients, you can add as many clients as you need. Again, this depends on the server resources. If the server has enough resources, it can handle the number of servers required to manage the infrastructure. Chef can be scaled to meet the needs of the infrastructure being managed."

"You set it and forget it. You don't have to worry about the reliability or the deviations from any of the other configurations."

"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."

"Automation is everything. Having so many servers in production, many of our processes won't work nor scale. So, we look for tools to help us automate the process, and Chef is one of them."

"The solution is easy to use and learn, and it easily automates all the code and infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature is automation."

More Chef pros

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

"Puppet Enterprise has good functionalities."

"The versatility is great."

"The most valuable features are the agent, high load balancing, and overall robustness and features."

"Puppet3 and 4 series provides optimum deployment solutions for infrastructure and applications."

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

"Puppet Enterprise is a stable solution."

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

More Perforce Puppet pros

Cons

"The closest Microsoft Intune can be to GPOs, the better. There needs to be more granularity on application deployments. However, they have done better recently with the application deployments."

"The reporting dashboard is really limited."

"Intune's server management could be better. If it could incorporate more features from System Center into Intune's Configuration Manager, it would be beneficial."

"Intune should be much more granular in terms of supporting more Android cellular devices."

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

"Intune could add more Linux security features and more integration with on-prem devices. The application deployments can also be improved."

"Microsoft Intune has potential for improvement; I would like to see a lot more customization in the reporting tools."

"Not all technicians are knowledgeable of the Microsoft solution, so they have to work on that as well."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"They could provide more features, so the recipes could be developed in a simpler and faster way. There is still a lot of room for improvement, providing better functionalities when creating recipes."

"I would also like to see more analytics and reporting features. Currently, the analytics and reporting features are limited. I'll have to start building my own custom solution with Power BI or Tableau or something like that. If it came with built-in analytics and reporting features that would be great."

"Since we are heading to IoT, this product should consider anything related to this."

"The solution could improve in managing role-based access. This would be helpful."

"If they can improve their software to support Docker containers, it would be for the best."

"I would like to see more security features for Chef and more automation."

"In the future, Chef could develop a docker container or docker images."

"It is an old technology."

More Chef cons

"At the beginning the initial setup was kind of complex."

"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."

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

"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."

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

"We would like Puppet to add more integration for applications."

"Clients with less technical expertise may find Puppet complex to configure. Our team may struggle if technical team members leave the organization, leaving others uncertain about using the tool."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is cost-efficient."

"The price is very reasonable."

"It is cheap, but as compared to Google, it is costly. Google is cheaper, but quality-wise, Microsoft Intune is better."

"Its price is quite okay. I wish they provide certain additional features with the same license."

"Licensing depends on how you are providing support to your enterprise, whether it's device-based or user-based."

"It is not expensive."

"Even if they charge a premium, they aim to provide equal value."

"Microsoft Intune's pricing is reasonable."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Chef is priced based on the number of nodes."

"Pricing for Chef is high."

"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."

"When we're rolling out a new server, we're not using the AWS Marketplace AMI, we're using our own AMI, but we are paying them a licensing fee."

"We are able to save in development time, deployment time, and it makes it easier to manage the environments."

More Chef pricing and cost advice

"Puppet Enterprise’s pricing is competitive."

"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."

"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."

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

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user185772

Senior Software Architect with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 27, 2015

Docker v. CFEngine v. Puppet Data Center Automation v. Chef v. Ansible

Originally posted at http://technologyconversations.com/2015/08/26/configuration-management-in-the-docker-world/ Anyone managing more than a few servers can confirm that doing such a task manually is a waste of time and risky. Configuration management (CM) exists for a long time and there is no…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

15%

University

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

32%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Chef?

Chef is priced based on the number of nodes.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Chef?

Chef does not support the containerized things of Chef products. In the future, Chef could develop a docker container...

See all answers

What do you like most about Puppet Enterprise?

Puppet Enterprise is a stable solution.

See all answers

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

Puppet is not cheap. I would rate its affordability as seven or eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Puppet Enterprise?

Clients with less technical expertise may find Puppet complex to configure. Our team may struggle if technical team m...

See all answers

Comparisons

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 12% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

BigFix vs Chef

Compared 45% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs Chef

Compared 16% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Chef

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Chef

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Chef

Compared 10% of the time

More Chef Competitors

AWS Systems Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 26% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Perforce Puppet

Compared 23% of the time

More Perforce Puppet Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

May 2025

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Buyer's Guide

Chef

June 2025

Download Chef product report

Buyer's Guide

Perforce Puppet

May 2025

Download Perforce Puppet product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

No data available

Puppet

Overview

Microsoft Intune provides centralized management of mobile devices and applications, ensuring security, compliance, and productivity through integration with Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory.

Organizations use Intune for managing mobile devices and applications, enhancing security and compliance across platforms. With features like single sign-on, conditional access, and zero-touch deployment via Autopilot, it facilitates efficient operations. Intune's scalability, easy enrollment, and capabilities such as remote wipe support diverse device management, offering robust data protection and efficient operation. Despite its features, improvement areas include reporting, compatibility with non-Microsoft devices, and better support for macOS and Linux devices.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Seamless Integration: Works with Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, and System Center for streamlined management.
Conditional Access: Enhances security with policies that restrict access based on conditions.
Autopilot: Provides zero-touch deployment for setting up new devices efficiently.
Mobile Device Management: Enables control over both personal and corporate devices.
Application Deployment: Facilitates app delivery across a range of devices.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Centralized Management: Reduces complexity by managing devices and applications in one place.
Security Enhancement: Protects data with features like remote wipe and compliance monitoring.
Improved Productivity: Enhances efficiency with seamless integration and automation features.
Device Scalability: Supports diverse device management for growing business needs.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and education, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure secure and compliant device management. Companies leverage its capabilities to deploy security policies and manage both corporate-owned and BYOD environments, facilitating a unified approach to data protection and compliance.

Microsoft

Chef, is the leader in DevOps, driving collaboration through code to automate infrastructure, security, compliance and applications. Chef provides a single path to production making it faster and safer to add value to applications and meet the demands of the customer. Deployed broadly in production by the Global 5000 and used by more than half of the Fortune 500, Chef develops 100 percent of its software as open source under the Apache 2.0 license with no restrictions on its use. Chef Enterprise Automation Stack™, a commercial distribution, is developed solely from that open source code and unifies security, compliance, infrastructure and application automation with observability. Chef provides an unequaled developer experience for the Coded Enterprise by enabling users to express infrastructure, security policies and the application lifecycle as code, modernizing development, packaging and delivery of any application to any platform. For more information, visit http://chef.io and follow @chef.

Progress Software

Perforce Puppet provides robust features for configuration management, compatible with Linux, Windows, and UNIX. It simplifies infrastructure management with automation and role-based access control, though it requires mastering command-line operations due to limited GUI.

Perforce Puppet utilizes a hub-spoke architecture to enhance automation across production environments, excelling in provisioning and configuration management for on-prem servers. Its infrastructure as code approach eases deployment and maintenance, supported by community resources for stabilization. Support for diverse devices makes it adaptable for complex configurations, but pricing and integration gaps, especially with Infosec tools, pose challenges for some.

What are the key features of Perforce Puppet?

Remote Package Installation: Centralized server management for remote installations
File Management: Streamlined file operations from a single point
Infrastructure as Code: Simplifies infrastructure maintenance
Scalability: Grows with organizational demands
Role-Based Access Control: Ensures secure user management
Device State Control: Efficient device integration and configuration

What benefits should users expect?

Automation Efficiency: Reduces manual tasks with hub-spoke architecture
Versatility: Supports multiple operating systems
Community Support: Backed by a stable and organized community
Configuration Simplicity: Simplifies and streamlines setup processes

Puppet is implemented across industries for managing production servers, especially in regulated environments. Its security compliance checks ensure adherence to required standards, while public configurations assist in device network integration. Industries benefit from its ability to streamline Linux server automation and explore expansion into Windows systems to meet cross-platform requirements.

Perforce

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

Facebook, Standard Bank, GE Capital, Nordstrom, Optum, Barclays, IGN, General Motors, Scholastic, Riot Games, NCR, Gap

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

Buyer's Guide

Chef vs. Perforce Puppet

June 2025

Free Report: Chef vs. Perforce Puppet

Find out what your peers are saying about Chef vs. Perforce Puppet and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Chef vs. Perforce Puppet report.

See our list of best Configuration Management vendors.

We monitor all Configuration Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.