Red Hat Ansible Tower pricing in 2026: $19,250 per 100 nodes
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform (Ansible Tower) pricing in 2026. Premium lists at $19,250 per 100 managed nodes a year on AWS Marketplace, $192,500 for 1,000 nodes. What it adds up to, how nodes are counted, and a flat-priced alternative.
Red Hat sells what used to be Ansible Tower as Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), so "Ansible Tower pricing" now means AAP pricing. It is a capable product: controller, Event-Driven Ansible, the Lightspeed assistant, certified content, and Red Hat support. It is also priced per managed node, which is the part that changes most as a fleet grows.
Red Hat does not publish a price list on its own site, but its AWS Marketplace listing does: Ansible Automation Platform Premium is $19,250 per 100 managed nodes per year, sold in 100-node packs (seen October 26, 2026). Your negotiated quote may differ.
What public listings show#
| Source | Tier | Price | Per node per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Marketplace listing (seen Oct 2026) | Premium, 100-node pack, 12 months | $19,250 | $192.50 |
| Reseller price list (Dec 2022, older) | Standard, 100 nodes | $13,000 | $130 |
| Same (Dec 2022, older) | Premium, 100 nodes | $17,500 | $175 |
What that adds up to#
Premium at the current AWS Marketplace list price, in 100-node packs:
| Nodes | Packs | Per year at list |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 3 | $57,750 |
| 1,000 | 10 | $192,500 |
| 5,000 | 50 | $962,500 before volume discounts |
How nodes are counted#
Red Hat counts a managed node as any instance managed directly or indirectly, and a unique host is keyed on how Ansible connects to it (hostname, IP, ansible_host). Inconsistent naming can count one machine twice, and short-lived cloud instances count too. Self-managed AAP reports inventory counts used at renewal. Read Red Hat's current terms before sizing.
The flat-price alternative#
Gardience is priced per fleet size, not per node: Starter $6,000 a year for up to 250 machines, Team $15,000 a year for up to 1,000, Enterprise from $40,000 a year (government buys any plan at the same price).
It is a different tool, built on open-source Salt rather than Ansible, so compare what you actually need:
- Windows and Linux in one console, with no WinRM and no SSH keys (agents dial out).
- Your existing Ansible playbooks run over the Salt connection, so you do not throw away your automation.
- Patching and a scored STIG/CIS-aligned baseline with drift repair, built in (on AAP these come from playbooks and content you choose and maintain).
- Governance: two-person approval, change windows, locks, and a tamper-evident audit log with a signed evidence pack.
- An AI assistant that writes Salt commands and states from plain English, built in and supported, and a person approves every change.
- Event rules that react on the machine itself in seconds.
| Nodes | AAP Premium (list, per year) | Gardience (per year) |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | $57,750 | $6,000 |
| 1,000 | $192,500 | $15,000 |
If you rely heavily on AAP-specific features (certified collections, Red Hat's support relationship, deep RHEL integration), that may be worth the price. If what you need is patching, compliance, and governed changes across Windows and Linux, the per-node bill is worth questioning.
Questions#
Does Red Hat publish AAP prices?#
Not as a public list. Resellers and cloud marketplaces publish prices for node packs, which is where the figures above come from.
Do short-lived cloud instances count as managed nodes?#
Red Hat counts instances managed directly or indirectly, so check how ephemeral instances are counted in your terms.
Can I keep my playbooks if I leave AAP?#
With Gardience, yes. Existing playbooks run over the Salt connection on Windows and Linux.
Try Gardience on your own machines
One supported console for Windows and Linux on open-source Salt: patching, a scored STIG/CIS-aligned baseline, drift repair, event-driven automation, two-person approval and a tamper-evident audit log. Flat yearly pricing, not per node.
Free 90-day trial (25 nodes)See it work Compare