# Pulumi vs Scalr

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/pulumi-vs-scalr/

Every value below is read from Pulumi's and Scalr's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Pulumi | Scalr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| What the free plan includes | One user, IaC state management, unlimited projects and updates, up to 500 workflow minutes, and 5 million Pulumi Neo tokens a month — free forever for individuals and open source. | 50 runs a month with all core features, five concurrent runs, and no time limit or card. The plans differ only in volume. |
| Entry paid plan | $40/month for Team, which includes 40 Credits at $1 each and up to 500 resources; beyond that usage is billed on demand at $0.1825 per IaC resource per month. | $0.99 per run past the free 50 a month, with volume discounts — Scalr's own example is 100 runs for $99. There is no monthly plan fee to clear first. |
| Pricing model | Per resource under management, converted through a credit: 1 Credit = $1, one IaC resource costs 0.1825 a month and one managed secret 0.50. Workflow minutes are metered separately at $0.01 past 500 free. | Per run, and nothing else — the page states there are no per-user fees and no per-resource charges, which is the distinction from Pulumi and from the seat-based tools it competes with. Both plans start with five concurrent runs. |
| Self-hostable | Supported — Listed as a line item on the plan comparison, not a separate product | Limited — Self-hosted agents, unlimited on both plans; the control plane is Scalr's |
| Audit logs | Supported — Enterprise tier, above the $40/month Team plan | Not stated on the pricing page. Scalr lists drift detection, policy enforcement and the module and provider registries among its core features and does not mention an audit trail there. |

## Where they differ

### What the free plan includes

- Pulumi: One user, IaC state management, unlimited projects and updates, up to 500 workflow minutes, and 5 million Pulumi Neo tokens a month — free forever for individuals and open source. ([source](https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/))
- Scalr: 50 runs a month with all core features, five concurrent runs, and no time limit or card. The plans differ only in volume. ([source](https://scalr.com/pricing))

### Entry paid plan

- Pulumi: $40/month for Team, which includes 40 Credits at $1 each and up to 500 resources; beyond that usage is billed on demand at $0.1825 per IaC resource per month. ([source](https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/))
- Scalr: $0.99 per run past the free 50 a month, with volume discounts — Scalr's own example is 100 runs for $99. There is no monthly plan fee to clear first. ([source](https://scalr.com/pricing))

### Pricing model

- Pulumi: Per resource under management, converted through a credit: 1 Credit = $1, one IaC resource costs 0.1825 a month and one managed secret 0.50. Workflow minutes are metered separately at $0.01 past 500 free. ([source](https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/))
- Scalr: Per run, and nothing else — the page states there are no per-user fees and no per-resource charges, which is the distinction from Pulumi and from the seat-based tools it competes with. Both plans start with five concurrent runs. ([source](https://scalr.com/pricing))

### Self-hostable

- Pulumi: Supported — Listed as a line item on the plan comparison, not a separate product ([source](https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/))
- Scalr: Limited — Self-hosted agents, unlimited on both plans; the control plane is Scalr's ([source](https://scalr.com/pricing))

### Audit logs

- Pulumi: Supported — Enterprise tier, above the $40/month Team plan ([source](https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/))
- Scalr: Not stated on the pricing page. Scalr lists drift detection, policy enforcement and the module and provider registries among its core features and does not mention an audit trail there. ([source](https://scalr.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Pulumi if Infrastructure written in a language you already know, with a managed cloud that is free forever for individuals and open source — one user, unlimited projects and state management at $0.

Pick Scalr if A bill that follows activity rather than inventory: $0.99 a run past 50 free a month, no per-user fee and no per-resource charge, with unlimited users and environments on both plans.

Consider something else: Pulumi — Your estate is large. Pulumi meters resources under management at $0.1825 each a month past the first 500, so the bill tracks how much infrastructure you have rather than how often you change it — Scalr charges per run and explicitly nothing per resource.

Consider something else: Scalr — You need SSO or an audit trail on paper. Scalr's pricing page lists drift detection, policy enforcement and the registries among core features and names neither — where Spacelift and Pulumi both put them in a named tier.

## Documented by only one

- SAML single sign-on: Pulumi: Supported — SAML/SSO with RBAC, on Enterprise; SCIM sync on the tier above

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Pulumi or Scalr?**

Pulumi: $40/month for Team, which includes 40 Credits at $1 each and up to 500 resources; beyond that usage is billed on demand at $0.1825 per IaC resource per month.
Scalr: $0.99 per run past the free 50 a month, with volume discounts — Scalr's own example is 100 runs for $99. There is no monthly plan fee to clear first.

**Should I choose Pulumi or Scalr?**

Pick Pulumi if Infrastructure written in a language you already know, with a managed cloud that is free forever for individuals and open source — one user, unlimited projects and state management at $0.
Pick Scalr if A bill that follows activity rather than inventory: $0.99 a run past 50 free a month, no per-user fee and no per-resource charge, with unlimited users and environments on both plans.