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Pact Broker
Melbourne, Australia
What it is
Pact Broker is a contract registry for sharing consumer-driven contracts and verification results, optimized for Pact contracts while also accepting contracts that can be serialized as JSON. Its compatibility matrix helps teams identify consumer and provider versions that can safely be deployed together. In a typical continuous integration workflow, consumer builds publish pacts, provider builds retrieve and verify them, and consumers can use the can-i-deploy command before deployment. The broker includes a REST API, an embedded API browser, generated pact documentation, service network diagrams, verification results, and status badges. Webhooks can trigger actions when pacts change, such as starting a provider build or notifying a Slack channel. Documentation covers Docker deployment, Terraform on AWS, PostgreSQL, and SQLite for quick-start and CI use; SQLite is not supported for long-term operation. Docker images support linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. The self-hosted broker is free, but users handle hosting, operation, security, maintenance, and upgrades. PactFlow separately lists a free Starter plan and paid Team plans at $115.42 a month billed yearly or $127 a month billed monthly.
For and against
For
- Compatibility matrix helps assess safe deployments.
- REST API supports publishing and retrieving pacts.
- Webhooks can trigger actions when contracts change.
- Free self-hosted broker is open source.
- Docker images support linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.
Against
- Self-hosted users manage security and maintenance.
- SQLite is not for long-term broker operation.
- Paid PactFlow Team plans have monthly fees.
The verdict
Pact Broker provides contract sharing and deployment compatibility checks, with automation hooks for CI workflows. Its free self-hosted option leaves operations to the user; PactFlow also lists separate free and paid plans.
Who it suits
Pact Broker suits software teams that publish, retrieve, and verify consumer-provider contracts in CI workflows. It may suit teams able to manage their own hosting and maintenance.
Plans and prices
Pact Broker (self-hosted)
Open-source broker · own hosting, operation, security, maintenance and upgrades
Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Starter (PactFlow)
Unlimited users · 2 integrations · bi-directional contract testing
Read 30 Sep 2026 · pactflow.io
Team (yearly, PactFlow)
50 integrations · community support · GitHub and Google login
Read 30 Sep 2026 · pactflow.io
Team (monthly, PactFlow)
50 integrations · community support · GitHub and Google login
Read 30 Sep 2026 · pactflow.io
Enterprise (PactFlow)
SAML SSO · role-based access management · dedicated support · SaaS or on-premise deployment
Read 30 Sep 2026 · pactflow.io
On the record
- API availability
- The Pact Broker exposes a RESTful API for publishing and retrieving pacts.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Authentication
- The Docker distribution supports configurable basic-auth users with read/write and read-only privileges.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Automation
- Webhooks can trigger actions when pacts change, such as running a provider build or notifying a Slack channel.github.com · read 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.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Core features
- Features include a REST API, embedded API browser, autogenerated pact documentation, service network diagrams, verification results, and status badges.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Free trial
- PactFlow's Team plan offers a free 14-day trial, and its Starter plan is listed as free.pactflow.io · read 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.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- License
- The Pact Broker repository is published under the MIT license.github.com · read 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.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Safe deployments
- It provides a compatibility matrix to identify consumer and provider versions that can safely be deployed together.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Security scanning
- The Docker project says it uses bundler-audit, Trivy scans on published image digests and weekly, and Renovate.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Support
- The project directs users to its wiki, GitHub issues, Stack Overflow with the pact-broker tag, and Pact Slack.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
- Supported platforms
- The Docker project provides multi-platform images for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.github.com · read 30 Sep 2026
