head to head · open source
ansible vs Pulumi
ansible has 70,740 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Pulumi has 25,705 stars, 1,430 forks, 2,419 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 175% (70,740 vs 25,705 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Pulumi is written in Go under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, Pulumi 6%. Pulumi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ansible | Pulumi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 26K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ansible if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Pulumi if
- You want the Pulumi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Pulumi fits your workflow better
About ansible
Ansible is a radically simple, agentless IT automation platform, written in Python and licensed under GPL 3.0, that handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration for operators, developers, and network and cloud teams who manage machines over plain SSH.
read the full ansible overview →
About Pulumi
Pulumi is an open source infrastructure as code tool that lets teams define and deploy cloud infrastructure using general purpose programming languages instead of YAML, aimed at developers, platform engineers, and agents working across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Kubernetes.
read the full Pulumi overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or Pulumi more popular?
ansible has 70,740 GitHub stars and Pulumi has 25,705. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and Pulumi free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Pulumi under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and Pulumi?
ansible is written in Python and Pulumi in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ansible or Pulumi?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,740 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Pulumi if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.