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CFEngine vs Microsoft DSC: catalog facts
CFEngine	Microsoft DSC
Freemium Free Community edition, with a commercial Enterprise edition.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Linux, Self-hosted, Command line	Windows, Command line
Lightweight agent suited to large fleets Configuration drift prevention and compliance reporting	Declarative, idempotent configuration that is safe to reapply Open source and actively developed by the PowerShell team
Own policy language to learn Web UI and reporting belong to the Enterprise edition	Aimed at administrators; there is no graphical interface Configuration concepts take some learning for newcomers
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.