Architecture comparison
Stella Ops vs Octopus Deploy
Octopus Deploy is strong for release orchestration and deployment automation.
Stella adds built-in security decisioning and replayable evidence across non-Kubernetes targets.
Last reviewed: 2026-02-10 Decision criteria Each vendor page is scored against the same five technical dimensions for consistent decision support. Proof and methodology links: Full market matrix | Evidence and Audit | Operations and Deployment | Decision Capsule specHow this comparison is evaluated
Octopus Deploy
- ⬢ Mature deployment orchestration
- ⬢ Cloud or self-hosted options
- ⬢ Kubernetes-first, VMs second
- ⬢ No built-in security scanning
- ⬢ Per-machine/project licensing
Stella Ops Suite
- ⬢ Release orchestration + security decisioning
- ⬢ 100% self-hosted, air-gap ready
- ⬢ Non-Kubernetes first (Docker, Compose, ECS, Nomad)
- ⬢ Built-in reachability-aware scanning
- ⬢ Unlimited deployment targets
Dimension-by-dimension comparison
| Decision dimension | Octopus | Stella Ops |
|---|---|---|
EnvironmentA logical deployment target (e.g. dev, staging, prod) that tracks its own release history, promotion rules, and policy gates management | Yes | Yes |
| Promotion workflows | Yes | Yes |
| Approval gates | Yes | Yes (cryptographically signed) |
| Rollback support | Yes | Yes (with evidence preservation) |
| Vulnerability scanning | No (needs separate tool) | Built-in |
ReachabilityAnalysis that proves whether vulnerable code is actually called by your application — filtering out false positives from scanner noise analysis | No | Yes (hybrid 3-layer) |
SBOMSoftware Bill of Materials - a complete list of all packages and dependencies in your software generation | No | Yes |
| Audit-ready evidence export | No | Decision Capsules |
| Deterministic replay | No | Yes |
| Air-gap deployment | Partial | Full (Offline Kit) |
| Non-Kubernetes focus | Secondary | Primary |
Evidence and decision-scope gap
Octopus tracks deployment events well. Stella additionally records why promotion was allowed, with signed evidence and replay support.
Octopus Audit
"Version 2.3.1 was deployed to production on Jan 15 by jsmith."
No evidence of security posture at deployment time.
Stella Ops Audit
"Version 2.3.1 (sha256:abc123) was deployed with 12 reachable CVEs below threshold, approved by jsmith, SBOM + reachability proof attached."
Complete decision evidence, replayable.
Operational fit and deployment model
Both tools orchestrate deployments, but Stella is optimized for non-Kubernetes estates:
Deployment Targets
- → Docker Compose deployments
- → Docker Swarm clusters
- → AWS ECS / Fargate
- → HashiCorp Nomad
- → Scripted deployments (.NET 10)
Infrastructure Integration
- → SSH/WinRM remote deployment
- → HashiCorp Vault for secrets
- → HashiCorp Consul for service registry
- →
EnvironmentA logical deployment target (e.g. dev, staging, prod) that tracks its own release history, promotion rules, and policy gatespromotions (Dev→Stage→Prod) - → Approval workflows
Pricing Comparison
Octopus Pricing
- ⬢ Free: 10 projects, 10 targets, 10 tenants
- ⬢ Professional: From $4,170/year (~$347/mo)
- ⬢ Enterprise: Custom pricing
- ⬢ Annual billing only
Still need a separate scanner for security
Stella Ops Pricing
- ⬢ Free: 3 environments, 999 scans/month
- ⬢ Plus: $299/month — 33 envs, 9,999 scans
- ⬢ Pro: $999/month — 333 envs, 99,999 scans
- ⬢ Unlimited deployment targets
Orchestration + security + evidence in one platform
Octopus Pro + Snyk Team ≈ $472/month
(Octopus ~$347/mo + Snyk 5 devs × $25 = $125/mo)
Stella Plus: $299/month — one platform, complete solution
Fit guidance by deployment and evidence needs
Octopus-centric fit
- ⬢ Kubernetes is your primary target
- ⬢ You already have security scanning covered
- ⬢ Audit evidence isn't a requirement
- ⬢ You prefer mature, widely-adopted tooling
Stella fit
- ⬢ Non-Kubernetes is your primary estate
- ⬢ You need built-in security decisioning
- ⬢ Auditors require exportable evidence
- ⬢ Air-gap or sovereign deployment is required
- ⬢ You want one platform instead of two
Methodology: This comparison is based on publicly available documentation, release notes, and hands-on evaluation as of February 2026. Capabilities change over time. Verify current behavior with each vendor's official documentation.
Stella Ops is committed to accurate, fair comparisons. If you believe any information is outdated or incorrect, please contact hello@stella-ops.org.
Evaluate orchestration plus evidence coverage
Compare deployment capability, policy gates, and audit-grade decision records on the same release flow.