Comparison of top DevOps tools (Pros and Cons)

Tools	Puppet 3.0	Chef 11.4	Ansible 1.3	Salt 0.17
Pros	Modules can be written in Ruby. Web UI handles reporting, inventorying, and real-time node management	Cookbooks and recipes can leverage Ruby Centralized JSON-based "data bags" allow scripts to populate variables during runtime Web UI lets you search and inventory nodes, view node activity, and assign Cookbooks, roles, and nodes.	Modules can be written in any lang. No agent required on managed clients. Web UI lets you configure users, teams, and inventories, and apply Playbooks to inventories. Extremely simple to set up and manage	State files can be simple configuration templates or complex Python or PyDSL scripts. Can communicate with clients through SSH/local agent Web UI offers views of running jobs, minion status, and event logs, execute commands on clients Extremely scalable.
Cons	Requires learning Puppet DSL or Ruby Installation process lacking in error checking and error reporting	Requires knowledge of Ruby programming Currently lacks functional push commands Documentation is sometimes vague	Lacks support for Windows clients Web UI doesn't tie into an existing Ansible deployment automatically; inventories must be imported	Web UI is not as mature or complete as competitors Lacks deep reporting capabilities
Pricing	Free open source version; Puppet Enterprise costs $100 per machine per year	Free open source version; Enterprise Chef free for 5 machines, $120 per month for 20 machines, $300 per month for 50 machines, $600 per month for 100 machines, and so on	Free open source version; AWX free for 10 machines, then $100 or $250 per machine per year depending on support	Free open source version; SaltStack Enterprise costs $150 per node per year, with volume discounts and site licenses available