AWX vs Tower: What are the differences?

AWX and Tower are both powerful automation platforms that allow users to manage and control their IT infrastructure. While they share many similarities, there are several key differences between the two.

1. Open Source vs Commercial: AWX is an open-source project, which means it is freely available for anyone to use and modify. Tower, on the other hand, is the commercial version of AWX and offers additional features and support through a subscription.

2. User Interface: Tower provides a polished and user-friendly web-based interface for managing and monitoring automation tasks. AWX, being an open-source project, has a more basic and utilitarian interface.

3. Support and Maintenance: Tower offers professional support and regular maintenance updates through a subscription plan, ensuring stability and reliability. AWX, as an open-source project, relies on community support and updates may not be as frequent or comprehensive.

4. Advanced Features: Tower includes advanced features such as multi-tenancy, role-based access control, and job scheduling, which are not available in AWX. These features make it more suitable for large-scale enterprise environments.

5. Integration: While both AWX and Tower integrate well with various IT automation technologies, Tower provides official support and certified integrations with a wide range of tools and systems. AWX relies on community-developed integrations, which may not be as extensive or reliable.

6. Security: Tower includes additional security features such as enhanced logging, centralized user authentication, and secure credential storage. AWX, being open-source, may have a higher risk of security vulnerabilities if not properly configured and maintained.

In summary, while AWX offers a free and open-source automation platform, Tower provides a more feature-rich and supported solution for organizations that require professional support and advanced features.