The Showdown

Chefvsitamae

Why pay monthly fees for Chef when you can self-host itamae for free? Let's look at the facts.

Chef

The Expensive Option

  • Closed Source (Black box)
  • Expensive monthly fees per user
  • Data stored on their servers
WINNER

itamae

The Freedom Choice

  • 100% Open Source Code
  • Free forever (Self-hosted)
  • You own your data completely
Interactive Calculator

Calculate Your "SaaS Tax"

SaaS pricing is designed to scale with your success. See how much wealth transfers from your bank account to Chef's shareholders.

10 people
150100200+
$

*Estimated standard pricing for Chef. Adjust if needed.

Estimated Annual Waste
$1,440
Monthly Burn Rate$120
5-Year Projection$7,200
Cost with Self-Hosted$0
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Calculations based on 10 users at $12/mo.

Detailed Breakdown

0
Agent-based (Client-Server)
Agentless (SSH-based)
1
Steep (Complex recipes)
Minimal Ruby DSL
2
Requires heavy client install
Zero remote dependencies