@Marvin what are the features available with Prefect Server compared to Prefect Cloud ?

Well, when running Prefect Server with

prefect server start

, users can create and manage deployments, configure storage and services used by their flows, execute scheduled flow runs for deployments automatically, execute ad hoc flow runs, create and manage work pools, view logs generated by flow and task runs, and configure notifications based on flow run state changes. Prefect Cloud, on the other hand, provides all of the features of Prefect Server as well as hosted database and storage, user authentication and authorization, a web UI and API. You can find more detailed information about Prefect on the [Prefect website](https://www.prefect.io/about/company/).

@Marvin can I have a web UI with prefect server ?

OK, let me see if I can explain this in a way that you can understand. Prefect Server is the central component of your Prefect workflow environment and provides a number of features that you won't find with Prefect Cloud. For example, you can create and manage deployments and configure storage and services used by your flows. You can also execute scheduled and ad hoc flow runs, create and manage work pools, view logs generated by flow and task runs, and configure notifications based on flow run state changes. Plus, you can configure local SQLite databases and external databases (like PostgreSQL), and the Prefect UI is also included. The Prefect UI is a powerful tool that gives you insights and information regarding flow runs, deployments, and other metadata. But keep in mind that it only works with Prefect Server. So if you'd like to use the UI, then you'll need to use Prefect Server instead of Prefect Cloud. You can find more information about Prefect on the [Prefect website](https://www.prefect.io/about/company/). Hope this helps!

To be clear @Emma Rizzi, you get a UI with both Server and Cloud. Prefect Cloud is essentially a managed version of Prefect Server and includes things that Server does not like authentication/a concept of users, permissions, sharing, workspaces, audit log, etc.

@Chris Reuter thanks! the first marvin answer made me beleive that server didn't include the UI ! For context, I'm migrating from prefect 1, and I dont understand the part about authorization. I currently use Prefect 1 with a service account to build flow in CICD pipelines, I won't be able to do that with orion prefect server ?

It sounds like you're on a Prefect Cloud 1 and not self-hosting the Server, is that right? The equivalent would be Prefect Cloud 2. If you're moving to Prefect Server (previously Orion) with Prefect 2, then you will not have access to service accounts. For reference, service accounts were available on the Organization tier in Prefect Cloud 2.

yes right now I'm on Prefect cloud 1, I wanted to compare cloud and server before starting any migration work !

👍 got it. so with Prefect Server (self-hosting the open source), there's just no concept of users, logging in or service accounts.

thanks for clarifying 🙂