# Spacelift vs Scalr

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

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

## At a glance

| Criterion | Spacelift | Scalr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| What the free plan includes | Described only as 'always free for small teams', with no credit card and no time limit; the page puts no number on what small means. | 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 | $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason. | $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 | By concurrent private worker: Starter + includes one, and what a plan buys beyond that is features rather than volume — Spaces, workflow customization, policy, drift detection and cloud cost estimation. | 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. |
| Audit logs | Supported — In the Business tier, alongside 5-30 private workers | 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

- Spacelift: Described only as 'always free for small teams', with no credit card and no time limit; the page puts no number on what small means. ([source](https://spacelift.io/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

- Spacelift: $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason. ([source](https://spacelift.io/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

- Spacelift: By concurrent private worker: Starter + includes one, and what a plan buys beyond that is features rather than volume — Spaces, workflow customization, policy, drift detection and cloud cost estimation. ([source](https://spacelift.io/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))

### Audit logs

- Spacelift: Supported — In the Business tier, alongside 5-30 private workers ([source](https://spacelift.io/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 Spacelift if Orchestrating more than one IaC tool under one policy engine — Terraform, OpenTofu and Pulumi together — with drift detection, policy as code and an audit trail as the product rather than an add-on.

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: Spacelift — You need to know what it costs. The first paid tier shows $20,000 with no period attached anywhere on the page, and what a plan buys is features and private workers rather than a volume you can forecast.

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

- Self-hostable: Scalr: Limited — Self-hosted agents, unlimited on both plans; the control plane is Scalr's
- SAML single sign-on: Spacelift: Supported — SAML 2.0 and OIDC, from the Business tier

## Questions this comparison answers

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

Spacelift: $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason.
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 Spacelift or Scalr?**

Pick Spacelift if Orchestrating more than one IaC tool under one policy engine — Terraform, OpenTofu and Pulumi together — with drift detection, policy as code and an audit trail as the product rather than an add-on.
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.