Pulumi vs Terraform
Compare Pulumi vs Terraform features, pricing, and performance metrics side-by-side to find the optimal platform for your engineering workflow.
Feature Comparison Matrix
| Feature | Pulumi | Terraform |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Cloud Support | ✓ AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and 100+ providers | ✓ 2000+ providers across all major clouds |
| Kubernetes-Native | ✗ Not K8s-native, but strong K8s provider support | ✗ Not K8s-native, separate Kubernetes provider |
| State Management | ✓ Managed (Pulumi Cloud) or self-managed state | ✓ Local and remote state (Terraform Cloud, S3, etc.) |
| Programming Languages | ✓ TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java, YAML | ✗ HCL DSL only |
| Module/Package Registry | ✓ Pulumi Registry with packages for each language | ✓ Terraform Registry (public and private) |
| Policy as Code | ✓ CrossGuard policy as code with policy packs | ✓ Sentinel (enterprise) and OPA integration |
| Drift Detection | ✓ Pulumi refresh and drift detection via preview | ✓ Terraform plan detects drift, Terraform Cloud notifications |
| Preview/Plan | ✓ pulumi preview with detailed diff output | ✓ Terraform plan output before apply |
| Secret Management | ✓ Encrypted configuration with Pulumi ESC | ✓ Variables with sensitive flag, Vault integration |
| Team Collaboration | ✓ Pulumi Cloud with stacks, RBAC, team collaboration | ✓ Terraform Cloud with RBAC, runs, workspaces |
| Get Started | Deploy Pulumi | Deploy Terraform |
About Pulumi
Pulumi is a modern Infrastructure as Code platform that lets you define cloud infrastructure using general-purpose programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Go, and C# instead of a domain-specific language. This enables using loops, functions, and existing package ecosystems within infrastructure code. Pulumi supports all major cloud providers, offers state management, secrets handling, and automation API for embedding infrastructure provisioning in applications.
Explore PulumiAbout Terraform
Terraform by HashiCorp is the industry-standard Infrastructure as Code tool that enables teams to provision and manage cloud infrastructure across 2000+ providers using declarative HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language). It maintains state files to track resource changes, supports modules for reusable infrastructure patterns, and offers workspaces for environment management. Terraform Cloud adds remote state management, policy enforcement, and team collaboration features.
Explore Terraform