Pact Broker
Pact Broker shares consumer-driven contracts and verification results, primarily for Pact contracts, while also accepting contracts that can be represented a…
What Pact Broker is
Pact Broker shares consumer-driven contracts and verification results, primarily for Pact contracts, while also accepting contracts that can be represented as JSON. Its compatibility matrix helps teams identify consumer and provider versions that can safely be deployed together. In a typical CI workflow, consumer builds publish pacts, provider builds retrieve and verify them, and consumers can use the can-i-deploy command before a release. Features include a REST API, embedded API browser, generated pact documentation, service network diagrams, verification results, and status badges. Webhooks can trigger actions when contracts change, such as starting a provider build or notifying a Slack channel. Deployment documentation covers Docker, Terraform on AWS, PostgreSQL, and SQLite for quick-start and CI use; SQLite is not supported for long-term broker operation. Docker images support linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. The open-source self-hosted broker is free, but users handle hosting, operation, security, maintenance, and upgrades. PactFlow also lists free and paid plans, including Team options at $115.42 per month billed yearly or $127.00 per month.
Good
- Free self-hosted broker under the MIT license.
- Compatibility matrix helps check deployable versions.
- Webhooks can respond to pact changes.
- Docker images support two listed Linux architectures.
- REST API supports publishing and retrieving pacts.
Watch out
- Users manage hosting, security, and upgrades themselves.
- SQLite is not suitable for long-term broker operation.
- PactFlow Team plans are paid.
Who it suits
Pact Broker suits development teams sharing contracts and verification results as part of consumer-provider testing and deployment workflows. Self-hosting is an option for teams able to take responsibility for operating and maintaining the broker.
Verdict
Pact Broker provides contract sharing and verification tools for CI workflows, with a free self-hosted option. That option shifts operational and maintenance responsibilities to the user.
Plans and prices
From Pact Broker's own pricing page, checked 30 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Pact Broker (self-hosted) | Free | Open-source broker · own hosting, operation, security, maintenance and upgrades |
| Starter (PactFlow) | Free | Unlimited users · 2 integrations · bi-directional contract testing |
| Team (yearly, PactFlow) | $115.42 a month | 50 integrations · community support · GitHub and Google login · USD per month (billed yearly as $1,385) |
| Team (monthly, PactFlow) | $127 a month | 50 integrations · community support · GitHub and Google login · USD per month |
| Enterprise (PactFlow) | Priced on request | SAML SSO · role-based access management · dedicated support · SaaS or on-premise deployment · Contact Sales |
The facts
Each one read from Pact Broker's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API availability
- The Pact Broker exposes a RESTful API for publishing and retrieving pacts.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Authentication
- The Docker distribution supports configurable basic-auth users with read/write and read-only privileges.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Automation
- Webhooks can trigger actions when pacts change, such as running a provider build or notifying a Slack channel.checked 30 Sep 2026
- CI workflow
- Consumer builds publish pacts, provider builds retrieve and verify them, and consumers can use the can-i-deploy command to check before deployment.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Core features
- Features include a REST API, embedded API browser, autogenerated pact documentation, service network diagrams, verification results, and status badges.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- The project documents Docker deployment, Terraform on AWS, PostgreSQL, and SQLite for quick-start and CI use; SQLite is not supported for long-term broker operation.checked 30 Sep 2026
- License
- The Pact Broker repository is published under the MIT license.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- Pact Broker shares consumer-driven contracts and verification results, and is optimized for Pact contracts while also accepting contracts serializable to JSON.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Safe deployments
- It provides a compatibility matrix to identify consumer and provider versions that can safely be deployed together.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Security scanning
- The Docker project says it uses bundler-audit, Trivy scans on published image digests and weekly, and Renovate.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Support
- The project directs users to its wiki, GitHub issues, Stack Overflow with the pact-broker tag, and Pact Slack.checked 30 Sep 2026
Money
- Free trial
- PactFlow's Team plan offers a free 14-day trial, and its Starter plan is listed as free.checked 30 Sep 2026
The company
- Headquarters
- Melbourne, Australiachecked 28 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Supported platforms
- The Docker project provides multi-platform images for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.checked 30 Sep 2026
Alternatives to Pact Broker
- 1
Karate
Free planOpen sourceAPIExtensionLinuxmacOS8.2From $100 a year - 2
PactFlow
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted7.6From $115.42 a month - 3
Pact
Free planAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted7.5From $115.42 a month - 4
Microcks
Free planWebAPIExtensionLinux7.2Free plan - 5
oasdiff
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.2From $100 a month - 6
Confluent Cloud
Free planWebAPILinux7.1From $385 a month