Determining the cost associated with Ansible requires understanding its open-source nature and Red Hat’s commercial offerings. The core Ansible automation engine is free to use under the GNU General Public License v3.0. However, organizations often seek enhanced support, features, and management capabilities beyond the base open-source project.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform provides a comprehensive solution, encompassing not only the core automation engine but also tools like Ansible Tower (now Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Controller), analytics, and pre-built content. The advantage lies in enterprise-level support, a centralized interface for managing automation workflows, and readily available certified content. This simplifies deployment and provides greater confidence in automation stability. Historically, organizations faced the challenge of manually integrating and maintaining individual components of an automation solution; the platform addresses this integration challenge.