Chef alternatives
As of 4 November 2026, 37 iac config management are named by companies instead of Chef: Terraform by 11,012 companies, Ansible by 5,846, AWS CloudFormation by 2,970.
As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.
- Chef, companies in postings
- 1,069
- Most used alternative
- Terraform · 11,012
- Fastest hiring, 90 days
- Terraform
- Alternatives ranked
- 37
- Catalogue
- T-1.0.1-prov
iac config management companies choose instead of Chef
Companies naming each tool in their own postings, and postings in the last 90 days. Bars are relative to the category leader.
| # | Alternative | Companies | companies | vs Chef | postings, 90 d | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TerraformHashiCorp | 11,012 | 1030% | 41,901 | Chef vs Terraform → | |
| 2 | AnsibleRed Hat | 5,846 | 547% | 22,542 | Chef vs Ansible → | |
| 3 | AWS CloudFormationAmazon | 2,970 | 278% | 8,108 | Chef vs AWS CloudFormation → | |
| 4 | PuppetPerforce | 1,347 | 126% | 3,167 | Chef vs Puppet → | |
| 5 | Azure BicepMicrosoft | 1,311 | 123% | 3,177 | Chef vs Azure Bicep → | |
| 6 | PulumiPulumi | 938 | 88% | 1,769 | Chef vs Pulumi → | |
| 7 | AWS CDKAmazon Web Services | 604 | 57% | 1,300 | Chef vs AWS CDK → | |
| 8 | Azure ARM TemplatesMicrosoft | 556 | 52% | 1,142 | Chef vs Azure ARM Templates → | |
| 9 | 471 | 44% | 1,039 | Chef vs Open Policy Agent → | ||
| 10 | SaltStackBroadcom (VMware) | 407 | 38% | 983 | Chef vs SaltStack → | |
| 11 | OpenTofuLinux Foundation | 400 | 37% | 739 | Chef vs OpenTofu → | |
| 12 | TerragruntGruntwork | 305 | 29% | 655 | Chef vs Terragrunt → | |
| 13 | Azure CLIMicrosoft | 278 | 26% | 588 | Chef vs Azure CLI → | |
| 14 | AWS Control TowerAmazon | 266 | 25% | 2,886 | Chef vs AWS Control Tower → | |
| 15 | HashiCorp PackerHashiCorp | 260 | 24% | 576 | Chef vs HashiCorp Packer → | |
| 16 | Azure Resource ManagerMicrosoft | 230 | 22% | 501 | Chef vs Azure Resource Manager → | |
| 17 | AWS Systems ManagerAmazon | 225 | 21% | 438 | Chef vs AWS Systems Manager → | |
| 18 | CrossplaneCNCF | 213 | 20% | 447 | Chef vs Crossplane → | |
| 19 | Ansible Automation PlatformRed Hat | 187 | 17% | 796 | Chef vs Ansible Automation Platform → | |
| 20 | Azure AutomationMicrosoft | 162 | 15% | 320 | Chef vs Azure Automation → | |
| 21 | AWXRed Hat | 139 | 13% | 285 | soon | |
| 22 | AWS CLIAmazon | 123 | 12% | 268 | soon | |
| 23 | VagrantHashiCorp | 89 | 8% | 155 | soon | |
| 24 | Serverless FrameworkServerless Inc | 74 | 7% | 116 | soon | |
| 25 | CedarAmazon Web Services | 72 | 7% | 167 | soon | |
| 26 | 62 | 6% | 162 | soon | ||
| 27 | Terraform CloudHashiCorp | 62 | 6% | 511 | soon | |
| 28 | ForemanThe Foreman Project | 57 | 5% | 116 | soon | |
| 29 | SpaceliftSpacelift | 45 | 4% | 88 | soon | |
| 30 | Terraform EnterpriseHashiCorp | 40 | 4% | 145 | soon | |
| 31 | NetmikoKirk Byers | 36 | 3% | 117 | soon | |
| 32 | NAPALMNAPALM Automation | 27 | 3% | 77 | soon | |
| 33 | AWS SAMAmazon | 25 | 2% | 50 | soon | |
| 34 | VMware vRealize AutomationVMware | 23 | 2% | 44 | soon | |
| 35 | BOSHCloud Foundry Foundation | 22 | 2% | 24 | soon | |
| 36 | MorpheusHPE | 17 | 2% | 165 | soon | |
| 37 | OCI Resource ManagerOracle | 13 | 1% | 56 | soon |
Filter on any of them, or on Chef users who also name an alternative, and open the person who owns the stack.
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37 iac config management are named by companies instead of Chef: Terraform by 11,012 companies, Ansible by 5,846, AWS CloudFormation by 2,970, measured from their own job postings. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/tools/chef/alternatives)
Read from the source, not self-reported
Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →
- RankingCompanies whose own postings name the tool as the team's system, from the Breaknorm technology catalogue T-1.0.1-prov. Editions are folded into their parent product.
- 90-day postingsOpen postings first seen or posted in the last 90 days that name the tool.
- Not includedRatings, prices, feature claims, sponsored positions.
Chef alternatives: questions
What is the most used alternative to Chef?
Terraform: 11,012 companies name it in their own job postings, against 1,069 for Chef.
How is this list ranked?
By the number of companies whose own postings name the tool as the team's system (Breaknorm technology catalogue T-1.0.1-prov), then by postings in the last 90 days. No ratings, no vendor input, no sponsored positions.
Does this say which is better?
No. It says who uses what, by company size, industry and country, so you can see which tools companies like yours choose. For features and prices, read the vendors.
Can I get the companies on any of these?
Yes: click the tool, see the first 20 companies, and sign up for the full list with verified e-mails. Counting is free.
Get these companies your way
The same data as a search, over MCP and the API, as bulk files, or pushed to you as it changes.
Every company on Chef
or on what replaces it
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