# Chef Enterprise Automation Stack Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra

> With the help of Capterra, learn about Chef Enterprise Automation Stack Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other DevOps products and more.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/170467/Chef

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# 

 Chef Enterprise Automation Stack Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons

Last updated on March 13, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team.

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[Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews)

Chef Enterprise Automation Stack

## What is Chef Enterprise Automation Stack?

Chef Enterprise Automation Stack (EAS) is software that streamlines application delivery, infrastructure configuration, and compliance auditing. It allows organizations to define infrastructure security policies and application requirements as code, automate their delivery, and manage changes continuously. The system includes four components: Chef Automate for collaboration and analytics; Chef Habitat for application packaging and delivery; Chef InSpec for security and compliance testing; and Chef Infra for automating configuration across environments. Chef EAS enables teams to test security and compliance throughout development, addressing issues before production. It supports test-driven infrastructure configuration, treating infrastructure changes with the same rigor as application changes. This helps maintain consistent environments, reduce tool sprawl, and accelerate technology adoption while ensuring security and compliance.

## What is Chef Enterprise Automation Stack used for?

[DevOps](https://www.capterra.com/devops-software/)[Configuration Management Tools](https://www.capterra.com/configuration-tools-software/)[Server Monitoring](https://www.capterra.com/server-monitoring-software/)

Top alternative

Featured

Overall rating

Based on 36 user reviews

Reviews sentiment

Positive

94%

Neutral

6%

Negative

0%

Starting price

$250

Per User, Per Year

Free trial  
not available

Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products...

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

Do you work for Chef Enterprise Automation Stack?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=https://www.progress.com&name=Chef Enterprise Automation Stack)

## Compare with a popular alternative

Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status.

### Chef Enterprise Automation Stack

4.4 (36)

VS.

[4.9 (237)](https://www.capterra.com/p/180609/Action1-RMM/reviews/)

Starting Price

$250

Per User, Per Year

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Free Trial

Free Version

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

Ease Of Use

3.7 (36)

Ease Of Use

4.8 (237)

Value For Money

4.0 (28)

Value For Money

4.9 (224)

Customer Service

3.9 (28)

Customer Service

4.8 (210)

## Chef Enterprise Automation Stack alternatives

[4.5 (448)](https://www.capterra.com/p/144309/Atera/reviews/)

Starting price

$129.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

94%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.7 (347)](https://www.capterra.com/p/168192/Site24x7/reviews/)

Starting price

$10.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

97%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.6 (258)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172323/ManageEngine-Applications-Manager/reviews/)

Starting price

$395.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

97%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[4.5 (2)](https://www.capterra.com/p/159195/CloudAware/#reviews)

Starting price

$0.10

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

100%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

## Features

Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically.

Alerts/Notifications

4.5 (2)

0.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges

Compliance Management

4.5 (2)

50.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Track and manage adherence to policies for any service, product, process, or supplier

Server Monitoring

4.5 (2)

0.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Continuously scan servers on a designated network to monitor health and search for any irregularities or failures

Configuration Management

5.0 (1)

100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services

Continuous Deployment

5.0 (1)

100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

A process to automatically release code changes from repository to production environment

Continuous Integration

5.0 (1)

100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

A process to automatically integrate code changes from multiple contributors into a shared repository

Chef Enterprise Automation Stack 19 features

Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges

Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases

Data is backed up automatically to prevent data loss

Provides a channel for team members to share media files, communicate, and work together

Track and manage adherence to policies for any service, product, process, or supplier

Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services

A process to automatically release code changes from repository to production environment

A process to automatically integrate code changes from multiple contributors into a shared repository

Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics

Graphical representation of data

Analyze and gain insights into data in real-time

Receive data and information in real time

Active monitoring of systems, applications, or networks

Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs

Active reporting of data and metrics

Receive system updates as soon as any changes are made

Planning, scheduling, and overseeing the release of software or system changes into a live or production environment

Continuously scan servers on a designated network to monitor health and search for any irregularities or failures

Manage a detailed schedule of a product plan

Features

4.3 (36)

4.3

Based on 36 reviews

## Pricing

Value for money

4.0 (28)

Free Version

Basic

$250.00

Per User,Per Year

Value for money

4.0 (28)

4.0

Based on 28 reviews

## Integrations

[

Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/)[

Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)[

Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)

## Support, customer service and training options

Customer Service

3.9 (28)

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Deployment

-   Web
-   Android
-   iPhone/iPad

Typical users

-   Freelancers
-   Small businesses
-   Mid size businesses
-   Enterprises

Customer Service

3.9 (28)

3.9

Based on 28 reviews

## User reviews

Overall rating

4.4

Based on 36 reviews

Filter by rating

5(17)

4(17)

3(2)

2(0)

1(0)

Mentioned topic

Sorted by most recent

AU

Anonymous User

DevSecOps Engineer

Information Services

### "Good config management tool"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

3.0

3.0

Features

3.0

3.0

Customer Service

4.0

4.0

Likelihood to Recommend

5/10

June 6, 2023

Pros

The agent can be modified to use a specific port which could be an advantage for networks that require common ports like SSH and WinRM to be closed.

Cons

The agent requires more overhead to make sure the updates reach the destination in a large segmented network.

Alternatives considered

[Ansible Tower](https://www.capterra.com/p/149875/Ansible-Tower/)

[Ansible Automation Platform](https://www.capterra.com/p/206320/Ansible-Automation-Platform/)

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

SA

Samuel A.

Software

Telecommunications

### "Chef: Wizard of Automation"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

May 31, 2023

Pros

Chef excels in automation, making managing large tech setups a breeze and simplifying the delivery of updates.

Cons

Chef's complexity and reliance on coding knowledge can be a challenge for beginners, and it lacks a user-friendly interface for managing configurations.

Switched from

[Puppet Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/124189/Puppet-Enterprise/)

[Ansible Tower](https://www.capterra.com/p/149875/Ansible-Tower/)

[Ansible Automation Platform](https://www.capterra.com/p/206320/Ansible-Automation-Platform/)

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

MR

Meghanath R.

Software Engineer

Utilities

### "Configuration made easy"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

June 26, 2022

Pros

Easy to setup tool which works on pull mechanism, easy to learn

Cons

Basic understanding on config management tool is required

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

RK

Rajesh K.

System Administrator

Computer Software

### "Review Chef Enterprise Automation Stack"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

7/10

June 26, 2021

Over All Better Devops tool in Automation Industry.

Pros

The Chef Enterprise Automation stack is better automation tool in DevOps Industry. Easy to Deploy and Maintenance both On-Premises and Cloud Infrastructure.

Cons

The Chef Enterprise Automation stack may improve their deployment methodologies compared with others tool Like Ansible , Salt.

Switched from

[Puppet Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/124189/Puppet-Enterprise/)

Testing

Alternatives considered

[Ansible Tower](https://www.capterra.com/p/149875/Ansible-Tower/)

Reasons for choosing Chef Enterprise Automation Stack

Testing and Evaluation

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

MA

Mehak A.

Software Engineer

Computer Software

### "DevOps tool to manage application configuration."

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

4.0

4.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

December 31, 2020

Used it with a large application with multiple modules depending on each other and multiple servers and maintaining the configuration and keep them in sync would have been a really difficult task without the help of Chef.

Pros

The automation capability of Chef makes it very easy to integrate CI/CD pipelines. With a wide range of extensions present for Chef make is compatible with any kind of platform and the developer is able to write cookbooks for managing large numbers of serves and configuration.

Cons

There is no web console UI to update or manage the configurations. Chef is a very powerful tool so it is a resource-intensive tool and the code base is also large so not very suitable for small applications.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Web Developer

Computer Games

### "Good automation tool"

3.0

Overall Rating

3.0

3.0

Ease of Use

3.0

3.0

Features

3.0

3.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

February 29, 2020

Happy to use it for automatic deployment when someone else did the hard stuff to configure it.

Pros

It offered a lot of automation capability, which for the rigth people unlocks deployment of the applications and it's written in Ruby.

Cons

The documentation was a bit scarce, and the available resources online were not that great at the time I tried this.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

Trang N.

Senior Test Engineer

Computer Software

### "Chef provide a center location for continues manage infrastructure"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

December 31, 2019

We use Chef to manage our system consist of multiple Components deployed in AWS EC2 and Local with Auto Scale and frequency deploy our new code with updating our Chef cookbook and push to the Chef server. With Chef we could make our infrastructure as code and have consistent between our different environment Dev, Test, UAT or Prod.

Pros

With Chef we are easy to manage a large scale remote VMs in cloud or On-premise. We are able to completely bootstrap a newly added VM into our system remotely including software install, Application deployment and startup. The upgrade software version of deploy a new version of code for all VMs is handled from the Chef server with just update its cookbook. Have numerous provided cookbook for almost solution and we just need to modify it

Cons

Chef cookbook syntax is quite complex for understanding and it does not have UI graphic to know the progress of executing and error of Cookbook in each destination nodes

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

Darshan Y.

Linux and Virtualization specialist.

Information Technology and Services

### "Automate your deployment using Chef"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

3.0

3.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

December 7, 2019

Chef is being widely used by most of the enterprise companies to automate remote management, server deployments

Pros

One of the best configuration management tools available in market, because of availability of wide varieties of extensions it helps you to write cookbooks for any kind of platforms

Cons

Agent based solution makes it less favorite for end-users who like agent less CI tools like ansible, salt stack

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Full Stack Developer

Computer Software

### "Amazing VM customizer and config tool"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

November 15, 2019

I have used chef to automate virtual machine deployment process, config setup for different environments.

Pros

I like that you write cookbook where you define, how your virtual machine should work. It makes deployments easy and everything run as smooth as it should.

Cons

Nothing to dislike since it works as it should - uses Ruby for cookbook defining and i like this product.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Sustaining Engineer

Internet

### "Server configuration automation and reporting with interface options."

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

July 16, 2019

gets the job done, medium ramp-up time to learn the syntax, plenty of features to make it worthwhile to use.

Pros

chef offers a CLI and GUI to report on fleets of deployed assets and configurations assigned to them.

Cons

getting at individual attributes and hosts can be cumbersome to parse from the command output.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

[View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/170467/Chef/reviews/)

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Independent research methodology

Capterra's researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology.

[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/proprietary-data-research/)

How Capterra verifies reviews

Capterra carefully verified over 2.5 million+ reviews to bring you authentic software experiences from real users. Our human moderators verify that reviewers are real people and that reviews are authentic. They use leading tech to analyze text quality and to detect plagiarism and generative AI.

[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-verify-reviews/)

How Capterra ensures transparency

Capterra lists all providers across its website—not just those that pay us—so that users can make informed purchase decisions. Capterra is free for users. Software providers pay us for sponsored profiles to receive web traffic and sales opportunities. Sponsored profiles include a link-out icon that takes users to the provider's website.

[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-we-ensure-transparency/)