Is Consul worth the price?
Consul's pricing is quite generous with a robust free Open Source tier.
The HCP Consul tier at $0.08 per hour offers excellent value for those needing a managed service, especially considering it includes all OSS features and support. The Enterprise tier is for large organizations with complex needs.
Pricing Plans
Free TrialOpen Source
Free
Self-managed
- Service mesh
- Service discovery
- Key/value store
- Community support
HCP Consul
$0.08/per hour
Managed service
- All OSS features
- Managed infrastructure
- Auto-updates
- Support included
Enterprise
null
Large scale
- All managed features
- Advanced security
- Multi-datacenter
- Premium support
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
HCP Consul costs scale with usage
Enterprise pricing requires custom quote
Potential for data transfer costs in HCP
Which Plan Do You Need?
Developers needing free service mesh
Teams wanting managed cloud solution
Enterprises requiring advanced security
How Consul Compares to Competitors
Compared to AWS App Mesh, Consul offers a more feature-rich open-source option. While App Mesh is integrated into AWS, HCP Consul provides a multi-cloud managed solution at a competitive hourly rate, making it more flexible than cloud-specific alternatives.
Consul Pricing FAQ
How much does Consul cost?
Consul uses custom pricing. Contact Consul directly for a quote based on your team size and requirements.
Does Consul have a free plan?
Yes. Consul offers a free plan called "Open Source". It includes: Service mesh, Service discovery, Key/value store.
Does Consul offer a free trial?
Yes, Consul offers a free trial. No credit card is typically required to start the trial, though this may vary.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Consul?
Yes. Popular alternatives to Consul include HashiCorp Vault, Istio, Linkerd. Free alternatives include HashiCorp Vault, Istio, Linkerd. Compare them side-by-side on Toolradar.
Cheaper alternatives to Consul
3 of 3 direct competitors below offer a free plan. Per-seat pricing varies up to 60% across this set.
