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TL;DR - Nomad
- Nomad is a workload orchestrator for deploying and managing applications
- It schedules containers, VMs, and standalone applications across infrastructure
- Free and open-source, Enterprise plans available
Pricing: Free plan available
Best for: Growing teams
Score: 76/100
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Dramatically simpler than Kubernetes to deploy and operate
- Handles any workload: containers, VMs, binaries, batch jobs
- Single binary with no external dependencies
- Scales to millions of containers (proven at Cloudflare, Roblox)
- Native HashiCorp ecosystem integration (Consul, Vault)
- Lower operational overhead and learning curve
- Better for mixed/legacy workloads
- Federation for multi-region deployments built-in
Cons
- Smaller ecosystem than Kubernetes
- Fewer third-party integrations and tools
- Less community content and tutorials
- Not as widely adopted (harder to hire for)
- Some advanced networking features require Consul
- Enterprise features require paid license
Key Features
Multi-workload orchestration: containers, binaries, VMs, batch jobsSingle binary deployment - runs in minutes, not daysMulti-cloud and hybrid deployment supportBin packing for efficient resource utilizationRolling updates and canary deploymentsJob priorities and preemption for resource allocationService discovery via Consul integrationSecrets management via Vault integrationACLs and namespace isolation for multi-tenancyParameterized jobs for dynamic runtime behaviorBatch scheduling for periodic and one-off jobsFederation for multi-region, multi-cluster deploymentsAutoscaling based on metrics and queue depthWeb UI for job management and monitoringNative support for Docker, Podman, containerd, and raw exec
Pricing Plans
Most Popular
Open Source
Free
Free
- Orchestration
- Multi-cloud
- Integrations
Enterprise
Free
Custom
- Namespaces
- SSO
- Audit logging
About Nomad
By Toolradar Team·
HashiCorp Nomad is a flexible workload orchestrator that deploys and manages containers, binaries, batch jobs, and legacy applications across on-premise data centers and cloud environments. Unlike Kubernetes which focuses primarily on containers, Nomad handles any type of workload—making it ideal for organizations with mixed infrastructure. Nomad is significantly simpler to operate than Kubernetes, with a single binary that can be deployed in minutes rather than days. It integrates natively with HashiCorp Consul for service discovery and Vault for secrets management. Used by companies like Cloudflare, Roblox, and CircleCI for large-scale deployments, Nomad scales to millions of containers while remaining operationally simple.
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Nomad FAQ
How is Nomad different from Kubernetes?
Nomad is simpler to operate (single binary vs complex Kubernetes stack), handles non-containerized workloads natively, and integrates with the HashiCorp ecosystem. Kubernetes has a larger ecosystem and is more widely adopted, but Nomad offers lower operational complexity for mixed workloads.
Is Nomad free to use?
Nomad core is free and open source. Enterprise features like namespace quotas, audit logging, and multi-region federation require a HashiCorp Enterprise license. Most small to medium deployments work fine with the free version.
Can Nomad replace Kubernetes?
Yes, for many use cases. Nomad can run containerized microservices just like Kubernetes, but with simpler operations. Choose Nomad for operational simplicity and mixed workloads. Choose Kubernetes for the larger ecosystem and if your team already knows it.
What companies use Nomad in production?
Major companies using Nomad include Cloudflare, Roblox, CircleCI, Trivago, and Deluxe. These deployments range from thousands to millions of containers, proving Nomad scales to enterprise requirements.
Does Nomad work with Docker?
Yes, Nomad has native Docker support and also supports Podman, containerd, and other container runtimes. You can also run non-containerized binaries and scripts directly, which Kubernetes cannot do natively.
How does Nomad integrate with Consul?
Nomad integrates natively with Consul for service discovery and service mesh. Jobs can automatically register with Consul, enabling other services to discover them. Consul Connect provides secure service-to-service communication.
Source: nomadproject.io