We tested the top CLI-first DevOps tools for secrets management, GitOps delivery, and AI automation — all under $100/month. Infisical, Argo CD, and HashiCorp Vault lead our list of *the things actually worth buying* for terminal-driven engineers.
Best-in-class CLI for secrets injection, shift-left security, and CI/CD integration at an affordable price.
The gold standard for GitOps deployment automation on Kubernetes with a powerful CLI and zero licensing cost.
The most battle-tested secrets platform with a full CLI, dynamic secrets, and encryption-as-a-service — free to use.
The terminal is where DevOps engineers live. Every keystroke matters, every pipeline matters, and every dollar you spend on tooling should earn its keep. We tested the CLI tools that make the biggest difference in daily workflows — secrets management, continuous delivery, and AI-augmented automation — and kept a hard ceiling of $100/month per seat. Here are the things actually worth buying.
Linux CLI mastery remains one of the top DevOps skills for 2025.3 The best tools don't abstract away the terminal — they extend it. Whether you're rotating secrets across 50 microservices or pushing a Git commit that auto-deploys to production, the difference between a good tool and a great one is how seamlessly it fits into your shell workflow.
| Pick | Best For | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Infisical | Modern secrets management with a powerful CLI | $18/user/month (Pro) |
| Argo CD | GitOps continuous delivery on Kubernetes | Free (open-source) |
| HashiCorp Vault | Enterprise-grade secrets and encryption | Free (open-source) |
Price: $18/user/month (Pro) or free self-hosted (MIT license)1
Infisical is the new standard for developer-friendly secrets management. Its CLI lets you pull, push, and rotate secrets with a single command — no context-switching to a web dashboard. The Pro plan at $18 per identity per month keeps you well under budget, and the open-source core is free if you prefer self-hosting.1
What sets Infisical apart is its shift-left approach: secrets are injected at build time, not runtime, so you catch misconfigurations before they hit production. The CLI integrates with virtually any CI/CD pipeline and supports environment-specific overrides out of the box.
Best for: Teams that want a modern, fast secrets workflow without the overhead of HashiCorp Vault.
Price: Free (open-source, CNCF graduated)2
Argo CD is the gold standard for declarative, GitOps-based continuous delivery on Kubernetes.2 It watches your Git repository and automatically syncs the desired state to your cluster — meaning your deployment configs live in version control, not in someone's local terminal history.
The CLI (argocd) is fast, composable, and perfect for scripting. You can sync applications, roll back deployments, and inspect cluster state without ever opening a browser. And because it's a CNCF-graduated project, it's free — no licensing costs, no per-seat fees, no budget surprises.
Best for: Kubernetes-native teams committed to GitOps principles.
Price: Free (open-source)
HashiCorp Vault remains the most battle-tested secrets management platform in the industry. Its CLI (vault) handles everything from static secrets and dynamic database credentials to encryption-as-a-service and PKI. The open-source version includes the core secrets engine, token-based auth, and the full CLI — no cost attached.
Where Vault shines is its policy model and breadth of integrations. You can connect it to AWS, GCP, Kubernetes, databases, and more. The trade-off: it's heavier to operate than Infisical. For teams that need enterprise compliance features (audit logging, HSM support, replication), Vault is the answer.
Best for: Organizations that need a comprehensive, policy-driven secrets platform.
Price: Free to start
Open Interpreter gives LLMs the ability to run bash commands, write and execute code, and browse the web — all from a terminal interface. It's not a traditional DevOps tool, but it's rapidly becoming one of the most powerful CLI companions for automation, debugging, and ad-hoc scripting.
Think of it as an AI pair programmer that speaks shell. It's early-stage, but the potential for DevOps workflows — automated incident response, log analysis, infrastructure debugging — is enormous.
| Feature | Infisical | Argo CD | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Use | Secrets management | GitOps CD | Secrets & encryption |
| CLI Quality | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
| Price | $18/user/mo | Free | Free |
| Self-Hostable | Yes (MIT) | Yes | Yes |
If you're building a modern DevOps stack on a budget, start with Infisical for secrets — it's the easiest to adopt and the most terminal-native. Add Argo CD for deployment automation (it's free, so there's no reason not to). And if your compliance requirements demand enterprise-grade secrets management, HashiCorp Vault is the proven choice at zero license cost.
All three tools fit comfortably under $100/month, and all three will make you faster in the terminal — which is the thing actually worth buying.
Recomate earns affiliate commissions from some of the products featured in this article. We only recommend tools we've tested and believe deliver real value to DevOps engineers.
| Pick | Price | Price | Self-Hostable | Learning Curve | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infisical ▶ Pick | — | $18/user/mo | Yes (MIT) | Low | Check price ↗ |
Argo CD also good | — | Free | Yes | Medium | Check price ↗ |
Vault also good | — | Free | Yes | High | Check price ↗ |
Want a follow-up the article didn't answer? Ask the engine — it carries the article's context.
Each contender was provisioned on a clean cloud box and driven through its real workflow — the agent ran the official setup where one existed, then exercised the core features the way a new user would across a week of trials before scoring.
| Learning Curve | Low | Medium | High |
