HashiCorp Terraform vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HashiCorp Terraform and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Configuration Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed HashiCorp Terraform vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The mobile application management, MAM, is the most useful aspect of the solution.""The Microsoft Windows Autopilot and Defender policies are the most valuable features of this solution.""It's easy to manage.""The device profiling which uses the official Outlook email enabled us to control the screenshot feature and prevent copying outside of the organization's application.""The technical support of Microsoft Intune is good.""It provides control over all mobile devices that are being connected to the corporate network.""Configuration profiles, remediation, scripts, and auto-pilot features are very good.""For our office workers who are not based in Norway, when we order the PC, we can do some of the settings for them. These are standardized settings. We can set them up exactly as they are in Norway so that they're the same."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

"The ARM template is very easy to work with, which is a big help to us.""One of the most valuable features is that it offers the ability to create a VPC, Virtual Private Cloud and VPN connectivity to the VPC can be automated without having to do it manually.""The most valuable feature is the great community support.""It is the customization of Terraform's modules that I find most valuable.""The state backend, automated describe functionality, modular structures, and variablization using templates are most valuable.""The most valuable feature is the support for different platforms like cloud, datacenters, VCS, databases, various storage types, and Kubernetes.""The most valuable feature of HashiCorp Terraform is the custom modules.""The most valuable feature is the solution does not need installation."

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"The most valuable features of the solution are automation and patching.""It has made our infrastructure more testable. We are able to build our infrastructure in CI, then are more confident in what we are deploying will work, not breaking everything.""Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is quite stable. If you set it up correctly with the right configurations and there are no hiccups during installation and deployment, it will be stable. I'd give stability a rating of eight out of ten.""Ansible provides great reliability when coupled with a versioning system (git). It helps providing predictability to the network by knowing exactly what's being pushed after validating it in production.""The most useful features are the playbooks. We can develop our playbooks and simplify them doing something like a cross platform.""One of the most valuable features is that Ansible is agentless. It does not have dependencies, other than Python, which is very generic in terms of dependencies for all systems and for any environment. Being agentless, Ansible is very convenient for everything.""I like being able to control multiple systems and push out updates quickly with just a couple of clicks of a button and commands. I like the automation because it is a time saver.""Installing it is a PIP command. So, it's pretty easy. It is a one liner."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Pros →

Cons
"The security features should be improved.""Microsoft Intune lacks the ability to provide seamless remote assistance or remote control.""Due to the abundance of features, there's a lot to organize, which makes managing and setting up the solution challenging. The setup is immense, and it would be good to see improvement in this area.""The configuration could be better by consolidating options and making it simpler.""There are items that require improvements. One is the controls from iOS.""I'd suggest adding more features for macOS in Intune. There should be more functionality for managing macOS. There should be a better capability for pushing things down on macOS. Currently, Intune is not capable of managing macOS at the same level as Windows.""It would be better if they can reduce the cost of the license.""The reports aren't complete, and it's not easy to build custom reports. For example, Windows Autopilot isn't working well in cases where the computers don't have a good internet connection. Then the option is not good enough."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

"On occasion, I have noticed a number of bugs in this solution that have needed to be fixed.""They should include tutorials for understanding the use cases.""The product must improve DevOps features.""The solution is missing a lot of properties for specific resources.""This solution could be improved by adding features such as CDM to accelerate the access of data by the users.""The solution is complex when we use it for a loop. This is a problem, not because of the language itself, but because of how the infrastructure generally works. It's different from Python.""The syntax is a bit difficult, and it would great if it could be easier.""It should have a more object-oriented approach like different coding languages."

More HashiCorp Terraform Cons →

"Because Ansible is establishing SSH sessions to perform tasks, there is a limit on scalability.""The product could do a better job at building infrastructure.""The solution should add a nice self-service portal.""The job workflow needs to be worked on. It's not really clear to how you actually link things together. What they probably could do is provide an example workflow on how to stitch things together. I think that would be very helpful.""It is a little slow on the network side because every time you call a module, it's initiating an SSH or an API call to a network device, and it just slows things down.""Accessibility. Ansible uses a CLI by default. Those accustomed to it can find their way and adopt the YAML files easily over time. But, some users are more comfortable using UIs...""The scalability of the solution has some shortcomings.""Some of the modules in Ansible could be a bit more mature. There is still a little room for further development. Some performance aspects could be improved, perhaps in the form of parallelism within Ansible."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
  • "There is a cost benefit of using Microsoft Intune because of the packaging with other Microsoft products."
  • "Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
  • "The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
  • "I have no comment on pricing of the solution."
  • "The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
  • "For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
  • "The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."
  • More Microsoft Intune Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The setup for Terraform is quite easy and currently, we are using their community version along with Jenkins."
  • "They have given it to us at a monthly cost, but it is on a yearly basis."
  • "HashiCorp Terraform is a free solution."
  • "I rate the price of HashiCorp Terraform a seven out of ten."
  • "We use the solution's free version."
  • "HashiCorp Terraform is a cost-effective solution."
  • "The solution is open-source."
  • "There are free and paid versions of the solution. We use the free version."
  • More HashiCorp Terraform Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "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 cost is high, but it still works well."
  • "We went with product because we have a subscription for Red Hat."
  • "Ansible Tower is free. Until they lower the cost, we are holding off on purchasing the product."
  • "Red Hat's open source approach was a factor when choosing Ansible, since the solution is free as of right now."
  • "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."
  • "The cost is determined by the number of endpoints."
  • "We're charged between $8 to $13 a month per license."
  • More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of… more »
    Top Answer: Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the modules it offers.
    Top Answer:The versions of Terraform providers are an area of concern where improvements are required. If a person wants to use the… more »
    Top Answer:Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management have… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution are automation and patching.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
    Terraform
    Ansible
    Learn More
    HashiCorp
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    Overview

    Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive cloud-based service that allows you to remotely manage mobile devices and mobile applications without worrying about the security of your organization’s data. Device and app management can be used on company-owned devices as well as personal devices.

    In an increasingly mobile workforce, Microsoft Intune keeps your sensitive data safe while on the move. Microsoft Intune makes it possible for your team members to work anywhere using their mobile devices. Microsoft Intune provides both the flexibility and the control needed for securing all your data on the cloud, no matter where the device with the data is located.

    Microsoft Intune Device Management Key Features

    With Microsoft Intune Device Management you can:

    • Ensure devices and apps are compliant with your security requirements.
    • Rapidly deploy and authenticate apps on all company devices.
    • Remotely access devices to troubleshoot issues or to remove data from them.
    • Generate reports for all devices in the system.
    • Monitor the way users access and share information to protect company information.
    • Set rules and configure settings on personal and organization-owned devices to access data and networks.
    • Create user groups and device groups, allowing you to rapidly access many users and devices simultaneously.

    Mobile Application Management

    Mobile application management in Intune is designed to protect your organization’s data at the application level.

    With Microsoft Intune Application Management you can:

    • Configure apps to run with specific settings enabled.
    • Update existing apps that are already on the device.
    • See reports on which apps are used and monitor their usage.
    • Selectively wipe organization data from apps.
    • Add mobile apps to user groups and devices.

    As part of Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for access control and with Azure Information Protection for data protection. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 Applications.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Intune stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure all devices under its management and the flexibility that the solution offers its users.

    A computing services manager notes, "Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."

    The head of IT engineering at a financial services company writes, "The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types: we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager (MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company details on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

    HashiCorp Terraform is a powerful configuration management solution that aims to provide users with the ability to maximize the ease with which users can perform their configuration management operations. It makes it so that organizations can reliably configure and manage their infrastructure. Terraform is a tool that transforms every user into an administrator and project collaborator. Businesses that use it have at their command a solution that they can use for the entire lifecycle of their infrastructure.

    HashiCorp Terraform Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy HashiCorp Terraform include:


    • Disaster recovery. Terraform provides users with the ability to prevent a catastrophic loss of infrastructure from taking place. It stores the blueprint for the infrastructure in a centralized state file. This central file contains all of the data, resources, and metadata that make up an organization’s infrastructure setup. If their infrastructure is damaged or destroyed this file can be used to reconstitute the infrastructure as it was before the damage was done. Users need never worry that they will lose their infrastructure.


    • Reduce overhead costs while offering maximum benefit. Terraform is designed so that users can deploy it relatively cheaply while still gaining the maximum level of benefit. It offers users a diverse collection of out-of-the-box modules that users can use and reuse without having to purchase anything else. The solution is also agentless which means that it can be deployed without requiring users to download anything else to make it function.


    • Flexibility. Terraform is highly flexible. It is a totally platform-agnostic solution. It can be used to manage architecture being run on both physical devices and virtual machines. Users who use cloud environments can utilize it just as effectively as those who are working with physical on-premises servers. This enables users to use whatever system they wish without being beholden to any kind of restrictions.


    • Remote operation. Terraform can be remotely operated and managed from anywhere in the world. This empowers organizations to operate internationally without worrying that they will somehow be less effective than if they were working from their headquarters.


    • Self-service infrastructure. Terraform can be operated by many members of an organization. Users can take on some of the responsibilities that would be handled by administrators. They can leverage the ServiceNow Integration to create workspaces, perform Terraform runs, and even order service items. Additionally, users can deploy Configuration Designer to leverage predefined modules in order to handle infrastructure requests themselves.



    HashiCorp Terraform Features


    • Integration suite. Terraform enables users to integrate their systems with it regardless of what kind of infrastructure system they are using. It leverages a wide variety of APIs to empower users to take their workflows and integrate them with Terraform’s powerful management capabilities.


    • Automation tool. Organizations can leverage Terraform to automate a vast variety of features. One example of a feature that administrators can automate is its system update application. Terraform makes it so that the solution itself is charged with applying updates and the like. This ensures that all operations are performed uniformly and in a manner that is consistent with the infrastructure’s configuration. It also guarantees that the possibility of human error need not be considered.


    • Collaboration feature. Terraform Cloud makes it simple for users to share their workflows with colleagues. This enables them to efficiently collaborate on whatever project they are working on. Teams that are authorized to work on a particular project will be able to securely cooperate and accomplish their tasks.


    • Notifications. Terraform offers users the ability to set it so that they receive notifications. The nature of these notifications can vary based on a user’s needs. They can range from notifications about the occurrence of particular events to progress reports concerning operations that the user is running.


    • Security suite. Terraform comes with a suite of security capabilities that aim to keep users and their infrastructures from being harmed by digital threats. One such capability is a feature that auto-generates short-lived security credentials. This prevents access codes from being leaked or stolen by hackers. The credentials last for a specified period of time and are then deleted from the system. When new credentials are needed they will once again generate a set for the user in question.


    Reviews from Real Users

    HashiCorp Terraform is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two significant advantages it offers are its ability to help users create deployment pipelines that make the deployment process simple and its ability to recover infrastructure fully should something delete or damage it.

    Patryk G., the chief technology officer at Translucent Computing Inc, writes, “Furthermore, Terraform enables the creation of a deployment pipeline using tools, such as Atlantis, which automates the process of scanning and deploying the code. This streamlines the deployment process and adds features, such as auditing, risk management, and security scanning to the deployment process. Terraform provides a more organized and secure way of managing infrastructure, compared to the traditional ad-hoc method.”


    Rakib M., the chief technology and strategy officer at the White House, says, “One of the other major features of terraform is its ability to act as a Disaster Recovery tool. Since terraform is an Infrastructure-As-A-Service tool, it can be used as part of the rest of the DR toolset to restore affected infrastructure to its original state without any variation.”

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a powerful network automation solution that allows organizations to handle every aspect of their application launch process within a single product. It enables users to share their automations so that teams within an organization can collaborate on various projects with ease. Ansible Automation Platform is designed to be used by all employees involved in the network automation process.

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform include:


    • Maximum benefit for reduced overhead. Ansible Automation Platform is an all-in-one solution that can enable users to do the jobs of multiple products with one. Users do not need to purchase multiple products to handle their network automation and application development needs. It is equipped with prefabricated content from more than one hundred companies that are partnered with it.


    • Scalable. Ansible Automation Platform is a highly scalable solution. It can easily be scaled up so that automations can be extended across the various devices that make up an organization’s network.


    • Flexibility. Ansible Automation Platform is highly flexible. It enables users to tackle any and all automation-related tasks.


    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Features


    • Automation analytics. Ansible Automation Platform comes equipped with an automation analytics feature. This feature enables organizations to measure the effects of their automations and plan how they are going to implement automations moving forward. It makes it easy for administrators to spot anomalies in their automations and resolve them before they can escalate and become major issues.


    • Integration suite. Ansible Automation Platform gives organizations access to a wide variety of integrations that enable them to connect to Ansible’s partners. Now users can augment their capabilities without needing to purchase additional solutions that will enable them to run features that are not normally a part of Ansible’s array of tools. The Ansible environment is built to handle the wide variety of integrations that their partners offer. In order to accomplish this it includes the APIs that users need in order to fully benefit from the integrations. 


    • Centralized interface. Ansible Automation Platform comes with a centralized GUI interface that enables users to manage all of their network automation and application creation activities from a single location. Businesses can guarantee that their operations are going to be handled efficiently and according to a single standard. The management process is greatly simplified. All of the tools that users need are located in one place.


    Reviews from Real Users

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its automation manager and its comprehensive centralized GUI-based management interface.

    MD J., a solution architect at STBL, says, “The automation manager is very good and makes things easier for customers with multi-cloud platforms.”

    Aankit G., a Consultant at Pi DATACENTERS, writes, “We like the GUI-based interface for the tower. Before, we only had a command-line interface to run all the Ansible tasks. Now, the Ansible tower provides the complete GUI functionality to run, manage, and create the templates and the Ansible jobs. This includes the code and YAML file we can create. The GUI interface is the added advantage of this solution, including some integration with the different plugins.”

    Sample Customers
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    Information Not Available
    HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Energy/Utilities Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm33%
    Computer Software Company22%
    Government11%
    Energy/Utilities Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Government7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Healthcare Company13%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business44%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise44%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise55%
    Buyer's Guide
    HashiCorp Terraform vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about HashiCorp Terraform vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    HashiCorp Terraform is ranked 6th in Configuration Management with 38 reviews while Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is ranked 1st in Configuration Management with 58 reviews. HashiCorp Terraform is rated 8.6, while Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of HashiCorp Terraform writes "Easy to use, technically strong, and great for multi-provider or multi-cloud environments". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform writes "Capable of broad integrations with easy-to-operate infrastructure and user controls". HashiCorp Terraform is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, SaltStack, Red Hat Satellite, SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor and BMC TrueSight Server Automation, whereas Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is most compared with Red Hat Satellite, Microsoft Configuration Manager, VMware Aria Automation, Microsoft Azure DevOps and AWS Systems Manager. See our HashiCorp Terraform vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform report.

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    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.