Chef InSpec

7.7easy start · #1 of 27
in Infrastructure Testing Tools

Free to practise onyes
Free trialyes
Well documentedyes
Runs where you workyes

Runs on api, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows.

Chef InSpec is ranked #1 of 27 in infrastructure testing tools on The Geeks Club. It runs on API, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan. A free trial is offered.

Chef InSpec plans and pricing

All plans

Free Free Unlimited duration · non-production workloads · personal and non-commercial use docs.chef.io · 29 Sept 2026

Trial Free 30 days · non-production workloads · product evaluation docs.chef.io · 29 Sept 2026

Commercial Not published Renewable · production and non-production workloads · entitlements based on purchase order docs.chef.io · 29 Sept 2026

Compared on infrastructure testing tools

Free plan: Yes
Policy as code: Yes

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The record

Purpose: Chef InSpec tests and audits applications and infrastructure by comparing their actual state with a desired state expressed in InSpec code.
Compliance as code: InSpec is a runtime framework and rule language for specifying compliance, security, and policy requirements.
Profiles: Profiles organize controls into reusable artifacts that can be versioned and given platform requirements and dependencies.
Cloud coverage: Resources support testing AWS, Azure, AliCloud, and GCP cloud infrastructure, and users can create custom resources.
Reporting: InSpec can output audit results as JSON, HTML, or plain text, or send results to Chef Automate.
Targets: Tests can run locally or against cloud services and infrastructure such as Linux in Docker containers.
Integrations: The kitchen-inspec verifier lets users run InSpec profiles through Test Kitchen.
Security standards: Chef offers premium CIS- and STIG-based profiles for compliance scanning across enterprise assets.
License requirements: Chef InSpec 7 requires EULA acceptance, and whether a license key is needed depends on the distribution source.
Telemetry: The Chef Licensing Telemetry service gathers activation, usage, environment, and bug data for InSpec and is enabled for free and trial tiers, but not commercial users.
Installation: Chef documents native installers for Windows and Linux distributions and Habitat packages for macOS, Windows, and Linux distributions.
Support: The licensing page lists community Slack support for Free and Trial tiers and contract support for Commercial licenses.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Infrastructure Testing Tools in 2026#1 of 27
Best Security Configuration Management Software in 2026#1 of 26

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Sources

docs.chef.io/inspec/7.2/· checked 29 Sept 2026
docs.chef.io/inspec/7.2/chef_tools/plugin_kitchen_in· checked 29 Sept 2026
docs.chef.io/inspec/7.2/install/license/· checked 29 Sept 2026
docs.chef.io/inspec/7.2/install/· checked 29 Sept 2026
docs.chef.io/licensing/· checked 29 Sept 2026