vioscaleAI
Comparison

AWS CDK vs AWS CloudFormation

On the evidence we track, AWS CDK leads this comparison with a composite score of 70/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

AWS CDK full profile →AWS CloudFormation full profile →
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★AWS CDK70
AWS CloudFormation53
Score
vioscaleAI score
AWS CDK70 / 100high · 75%
AWS CloudFormation53 / 100medium · 73%
Pricing
Free tier
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Model
AWS CDKopen_source
AWS CloudFormationfree
Price level
AWS CDKfree
AWS CloudFormationfree
Transparent
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✗
Integrations
Count
AWS CDK5
AWS CloudFormation9
Security
Disclosure policy
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Fedramp
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Gdpr
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Hipaa
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Pci
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Scorecard
AWS CDK5.9
AWS CloudFormation–
Soc2
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation–
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
AWS CDK4,665
AWS CloudFormation–
Github stars
AWS CDK12,933
AWS CloudFormation–
Package downloads weekly
AWS CDK1,569,573
AWS CloudFormation–
Activity
Commits last 30d
AWS CDK99
AWS CloudFormation–
Release
Cadence days
AWS CDK6
AWS CloudFormation–
History
AWS CDK20 items
AWS CloudFormation–
License
Spdx
AWS CDKApache-2.0
AWS CloudFormation–
Language
Primary
AWS CDKTypeScript
AWS CloudFormation–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
AWS CDK8 items
AWS CloudFormation7 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for infrastructure as code tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Paradigm
AWS CDKGeneral language
AWS CloudFormationDeclarative DSL
Language
AWS CDKTypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go
AWS CloudFormationJSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET
Portability
Multicloud / cloud-agnostic
AWS CDK✗
AWS CloudFormation✗
Architecture
State management
AWS CDKVendor-managed
AWS CloudFormationVendor-managed
Extensibility
Pluggable provider ecosystem
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Governance
Policy as code
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Ops
Drift detection
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
GitOps continuous reconciliation
AWS CDK-
AWS CloudFormation✓
Deployment
Managed SaaS offering
AWS CDK✗
AWS CloudFormation✓
Hosting
AWS CDK-
AWS CloudFormationCloud only
Adoption
Import existing resources
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Licensing
Open-source engine
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity
AWS CDK-
AWS CloudFormation-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

AWS CDK

Leader

A development framework that lets you define AWS cloud resources and infrastructure using standard programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, and Go. CDK compiles your code into CloudFormation templates for deployment.

Independently observed

AWS CloudFormation

A service for defining and deploying AWS cloud infrastructure using declarative code templates, enabling automated provisioning, updates, and management of resources at scale across multiple accounts and regions.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

AWS CDK

Leader
Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

AWS CloudFormation

from $0.00/moUsage-basedFree tier

Usage-based: $0.0009/handler operation + $0.00008/sec overage. 1,000 free operations/month. Data transfer at AWS rates.

  • Third-party Resources & Custom Hooks$0.0009/handler operation after 1,000 free ops/month
    • Unlimited AWS::* and Alexa::* resource operations (no handler charges)
    • Third-party resource provisioning
    • Custom hook support
    • Handler operation billing after free tier
    • Duration overage billing
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
AWS CDK✗
AWS CloudFormation✓
CLI
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
AWS CDK✓
AWS CloudFormation✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

AWS CDK

Leader
5 total
  • AWS CloudFormation
  • AWS Lambda
  • AWS SNS
  • AWS Step Functions
  • AWS EC2
Independently observed

AWS CloudFormation

23 total
  • MongoDB
  • Datadog
  • Atlassian Opsgenie
  • JFrog
  • Trend Micro
  • Splunk
  • Aqua Security
  • FireEye
  • Sysdig
  • Snyk
  • Check Point
  • Spot by NetApp
  • Gremlin
  • Stackery
  • Iridium
  • AWS CDK
  • AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model)
  • Visual Studio
  • Kiro
  • AWS CloudFormation Registry
  • AWS Partner Network (APN)
  • Serverless Application Model (SAM)
  • Git repositories
Independently observed
Still deciding?

AWS CDK or AWS CloudFormation: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.