Best Bare Metal Provisioning Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Canonical MAAS is ranked #1 of 29 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Foreman and openQRM Enterprise. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Foreman. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Canonical MAAS at $2.50/mo.
Putting physical servers into service means coordinating discovery, hardware records, bootstrapping, and the operating system lifecycle. Compare Bare-metal discovery and Hardware inventory with Lifecycle management and API access to see which stages each tool covers. OS image deployment, PXE bootstrapping, and Out-of-band management add useful distinctions for how machines are brought online and administered. Free plan and Paid from provide access and cost context. Canonical MAAS, Foreman, and openQRM Enterprise are among the named options to consider, alongside AuroraBoot and Confluent. Match the capabilities shown to the provisioning work your infrastructure requires.
29 bare metal provisioning software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Bare Metal Provisioning Software, one module each. A lit port is something its maker publishes; 11 of the 25 on this page have a public API.
- 01 Canonical MAAS API yesOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 7.3$2.50/mo
- 02 Foreman API yesOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 7.3Free
- 03 openQRM Enterprise API yesOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 7.3Free
- 04 AuroraBoot API yesOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 05 Confluent API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 7.0
- 06 NVIDIA Infra Controller API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 7.0
- 07 Grendel API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 6.9
- 08 MetalSoft Bare Metal Orchestrator API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 6.9
- 09 NOC-PS API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 6.9€83.33/mo
- 10 Digital Rebar Provision API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 6.7
- 11 HCL BigFix API yesOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 6.6
- 12 NVIDIA ShadowPlay API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 6.0Free
- 13 Supermicro SuperDoctor 5 API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 6.0Free
- 14 Clonezilla API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 5.9Free
- 15 iVentoy API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 16 NVIDIA Base Command Manager API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 5.8
- 17 Serva API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE yesDOCS 5.8$7.67/mo
- 18 Acronis Cyber Disaster Recovery Cloud API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.3
- 19 Tengan API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.2
- 20 Warewulf API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0Free
- 21 Cobbler API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.9Free
- 22 DRBL API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.8
- 23 FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.8
- 24 FOG Project API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.8Free
- 25 Metal³ API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.8
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Bare-metal discovery | OS image deployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canonical MAAS | 7.3 | Free plan | $2.50/mo | Yes | — | — | — |
| 2 | Foreman | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 3 | openQRM Enterprise | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | No | — | — | Yes |
| 4 | AuroraBoot | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | — | — | — | Yes |
| 5 | Confluent | 7.0 | No | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 6 | NVIDIA Infra Controller | 7.0 | No | — | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| 7 | Grendel | 6.9 | No | — | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| 8 | MetalSoft Bare Metal Orchestrator | 6.9 | No | — | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | NOC-PS | 6.9 | No | €83.33/mo | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | Digital Rebar Provision | 6.7 | No | — | No | — | — | — |
| 11 | HCL BigFix | 6.6 | No | — | No | — | — | — |
| 12 | NVIDIA ShadowPlay | 6.0 | Free plan | Free | No | — | — | Yes |
| 13 | Supermicro SuperDoctor 5 | 6.0 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 14 | Clonezilla | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 15 | iVentoy | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 16 | NVIDIA Base Command Manager | 5.8 | No | — | No | — | — | Yes |
| 17 | Serva | 5.8 | Free plan | $7.67/mo | Yes | — | — | — |
| 18 | Acronis Cyber Disaster Recovery Cloud | 5.3 | No | — | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Tengan | 5.2 | No | — | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| 20 | Warewulf | 5.0 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 21 | Cobbler | 4.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 22 | DRBL | 4.8 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 23 | FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) | 4.8 | No | — | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | FOG Project | 4.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 25 | Metal³ | 4.8 | No | — | — | — | — | — |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.
Questions about this list
Which bare metal provisioning software is ranked first on Inferse?
Canonical MAAS is ranked #1 of 29 with a score of 7.3. Foreman is second and openQRM Enterprise third.
How many of these have a free plan?
12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Canonical MAAS has the lowest first paid tier we found: $2.50/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it.