Top 8 Terraform Alternatives for Your Business Needs 

Terraform is one of the oldest Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools, which allows developers to provision, manage, and version cloud infrastructure easily. However, due to recent licensing changes and the rise of open source alternatives, many teams are bound to explore newer options. 

So, whether you are looking for a community-driven option or need more features that align with your stack, there is a fitting set of Terraform alternatives in the market. 

In this guide, we explore 8 Terraform alternatives with their key features, benefits, and best fit-use cases to help you make a decision. 

Alternatives To Terraform – Quick Comparison 

Tool	Languages Supported	Cloud Support	Pricing	Best For	Open Source?
Terraform	HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language)	AWS, Azure, GCP, many others	Free OSS (up to usage limit); Paid Cloud plans (BSL-licensed)	Standard IaC with large ecosystem and registry support	❌ (BSL)
Pulumi	TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java	AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes	Free tier; Paid plans from ~$50/user	Developers preferring general-purpose languages and CI/CD pipelines	✅ Yes
CloudFormation	YAML, JSON	AWS only	Free (you pay for AWS resources)	AWS-native teams seeking deep integration	✅ Yes
Ansible	YAML (Playbooks)	Multi-cloud, On-prem	Free (OSS); Enterprise from ~$10K/year	Hybrid IaC + config management	✅ Yes
Crossplane	YAML (Kubernetes CRDs)	AWS, Azure, GCP	Free (OSS); Paid support via vendors	Kubernetes-native multi-cloud provisioning	✅ Yes
Bicep	Bicep DSL	Azure only	Free	Azure-focused teams using ARM templates	✅ Yes
CDK	TypeScript, Python, Java, C#, Go	AWS, Azure, GCP (varies)	Free (OSS); cloud usage billed	Developers wanting imperative IaC with full language support	✅ Yes
SaltStack	YAML, Jinja, Python	Multi-cloud, On-prem	Free (OSS core); Enterprise via VMware	Scalable, event-driven infrastructure automation	✅ Yes (core)
Chef	Ruby DSL	Multi-cloud, On-prem	Free core; Paid “Automate” solution	Compliance-heavy infrastructure automation	✅ Yes (core)

Top 8 Terraform Alternatives – Detailed Description 

As you look for alternatives to Terraform, you would come across multiple options, however, it is important to find the one that best suits your company needs. Here are our top 8 picks! 

1. Pulumi

Pulumi is a modern IaC platform that helps developers to use familiar languages, such as TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, and .NET to define cloud infrastructure. Plus, it supports all the cloud providers that Terraform does, making it an excellent alternative. Pulumi integrates seamlessly with all CI/CD pipelines. 

• Pricing: Free for individuals and small teams. Paid plans start around $50/user/month with additional features like SSO and policy enforcement.
• Best for: DevOps teams looking for deep language support and advanced automation flexibility.

2. AWS CloudFormation

AWS Cloudformation is Amazon’s native IaC solution that is designed to provision and manage AWS infrastructure through JSON or YAML templates. It is highly integrated with the AWS services and supports stack policies. 

• Pricing: Free to use; you only pay for the AWS resources you provision.
• Best for: Teams fully committed to the AWS ecosystem who want native support and deep service integration.

3. Ansible

Ansible is developed by Red Hat, which is a configuration management and automation tool that supports IaC through the playbooks written in YAML. It is agentless and does not require a host. 

• Pricing: Open source. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pricing starts at around $10,000/year for enterprises.
• Best for: Organizations that need hybrid IaC and configuration management across Linux and Windows environments.

4. Crossplane

Crossplane extends Kubernetes into a control panel for managing cloud infrastructure. It uses Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) to manage AWS, Azure, and GCP resources with the Kubernetes API. 

• Pricing: Open source. Commercial support offered by vendors like Upbound.
• Best for: Teams using Kubernetes that want a unified platform to manage both workloads and cloud infrastructure declaratively.

5. Bicep (Azure)

Bicep is Microsoft’s native domain specific language for deploying Azure Cloud resources. It offers an easily manageable and clean syntax compared to ARM templates and integrates tightly with the Azure CLI and Resource Manager. 

• Pricing: Free and open-source.
• Best for: Azure-native teams that want a simpler and more readable alternative to ARM templates.

Related Article: Ansible vs Kubernetes: Key Differences and Case Evaluations

6. CDK (Cloud Development Kit)

Cloud Development Kit is available for AWS, Azure (CDK for Terraform, CDK for Bicep), and GCP (via community tools). It allows the infrastructure to be written in a familiar programming language, which is then converted into declarative formats under the hood. 

• Pricing: Free and open-source (AWS CDK); pricing depends on cloud resource usage.
• Best for: Developers who prefer imperative code and want to integrate infrastructure into application logic.

7. SaltStack

SaltStack is owned by VMware and is a Python-based configuration management and automation tool. It is scalable, which makes it an excellent Terraform alternative and supports real-time remote task execution. 

• Pricing: Open-source core; VMware vRealize Automation SaltStack Config is enterprise-focused and priced by nodes.
• Best for: Enterprises needing advanced event-driven automation at scale.

8. Chef

Chef is quite an old configuration management tool that supports Ruby DSL and cookbooks to define the infrastructure and application states. 

• Pricing: Open source under the Chef Infra product. Enterprise features (Chef Automate) are licensed commercially.
• Best for: Large organizations with compliance needs and mature DevOps pipelines.

How To Choose The Best Terraform Alternative For Your Business

Choosing the best Terraform alternatives for your team can be challenging, but with the right approach you can shortlist the best candidates to choose from. 

1. Ease of Use

While selecting the right alternative, you should look for tools that come with a learning curve so that your team can get used to the new addition easily. Similarly, find a tool that best suits your setup and maintenance budgets, otherwise it can be hard to maintain it. Tools like Ansible are easy to deploy. 

2. Cloud Provider Support

If you’re committed to a single cloud provider:

• Use CloudFormation for AWS,
• Bicep for Azure,
• Or Pulumi/Terraform if you need cross-cloud support.

3. Community & Documentation

Tools that are community driven are generally more beneficial due to active advice and transparent development. Terraform still has the biggest community but others are also catching up to speed now. 

4. Cost & Licensing

Lastly, it is better to go with open source tools since they do not have confusing licensing. If you need features like RBAC, audit logs, or policy enforcement, check if vendors offer cloud-hosted platforms with enterprise support.

When You Start Looking For Terraform Alternatives?

As much as it is important to find the right alternative, it is also crucial to know when is the right time to start the hunt. You should ideally start looking for a backup when you come across one of the following problems: 

• You need a completely open source IaC tool with BSL restrictions. 
• Your team prefers writing infrastructure in languages like Python. 
• You want integration with Kubernetes.
• You need configuration management features as well. 
• The tool is exceeding your budget. 

Wrapping Up – What Are The Best Terraform Alternatives For My Company?

The best Terraform alternatives depend on your team needs and the configuration that best suits your project. This guide will help you find the best fit from all the options available. Most tools have exceptional customer service, therefore, you can easily test them all!

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