Best Cloud Management Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Waldur is ranked #1 of 27 as of 3 October 2026, ahead of OpenNebula and Cloudify. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Cloudify. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Terraform at $0.10/mo.
Managing cloud infrastructure can mean coordinating providers, provisioning resources, and setting consistent policies across environments. These ranked options are compared on cloud coverage and providers, deployment model, infrastructure as code, provisioning automation, policy governance, and self-service catalog. Waldur, OpenNebula, and Cloudify appear among the early entries, as do Cloudforet and Apache CloudStack. Compare the listed capabilities with the environments your team runs and the balance of automation and governance you need. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing are included as additional points to weigh.
27 cloud management software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Cloud coverage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waldur | 9.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | hybrid | View |
| 2 | OpenNebula | 8.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 3 | Cloudify | 8.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 4 | Cloudforet | 8.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | — | — | hybrid | View |
| 5 | Apache CloudStack | 8.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 6 | Platform9 Private Cloud Director | 8.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $1,000/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 7 | Cycloid | 8.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $45/mo | No | 29 /user/mo | — | View |
| 8 | Pulumi | 7.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $40/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 9 | Terraform | 7.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $0.10/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 10 |  Stakater Cloud Orchestrator | 7.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | hybrid | View |
| 11 | Cloud 66 | 7.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $23/mo | Yes | — | hybrid | View |
| 12 |  Jamcracker | 7.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | hybrid | View |
| 13 | ManageIQ | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 14 |  Canonical OpenStack | 6.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | hybrid | View |
| 15 |  CloudBolt | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 16 |  HPE Morpheus Enterprise | 5.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 17 | Scalr | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 18 |  HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $50/mo | No | — | — | View |
| 19 |  Juju | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | hybrid | View |
| 20 |  Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes | 5.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 21 |  CloudMatic AI | 5.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 22 |  Danube Cloud | 4.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 23 | Crossplane | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 24 |  Nerdio Manager for Enterprise | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | — | View |
| 25 |  gPanel | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | No | — | single | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which cloud management software is ranked first on Inferse?
Waldur is ranked #1 of 27 with a score of 9.0. OpenNebula is second and Cloudify third.
How many of these have a free plan?
9 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Terraform has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.10/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. Paid placements never change a rank.