# AWS CDK vs Terraform

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** AWS CDK

| Attribute | AWS CDK | Terraform |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 70 (75% (high)) | 62.4 (53% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 99 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4,665 | 1,108 |
| adoption.github_stars | 12,933 | 49,829 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 1,569,573 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Infrastructure as Code Tools.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","question":"What is AWS CDK?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS CDK is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","question":"Is AWS CDK free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS CDK supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","question":"What platforms does AWS CDK support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. AWS CDK can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","question":"Can AWS CDK be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for AWS CDK, including AWS CloudFormation, AWS Lambda, AWS SNS, AWS Step Functions and AWS EC2. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_ec2","question":"What does AWS CDK integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA for AWS CDK. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AWS CDK not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/trust-center/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does AWS CDK have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. AWS CDK is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk","question":"Is AWS CDK open source?","confidence":0.99},{"answer":"AWS CDK is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","question":"Where is AWS CDK available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"Terraform is an infrastructure as code tool that lets you build, change, and version infrastructure safely and efficiently. It manages low-level components like compute, storage, and networking as well as high-level components like DNS entries and SaaS features. It is indexed under Infrastructure as Code Tools.","source":"https://www.terraform.io","question":"What is Terraform?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Terraform is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.terraform.io","question":"Is Terraform free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Terraform supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.terraform.io","question":"What platforms does Terraform support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Terraform can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.terraform.io","question":"Can Terraform be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 10 integrations for Terraform, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud, Docker, Consul, Packer and Vault, plus 2 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.terraform.io","question":"What does Terraform integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Terraform. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Terraform not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.terraform.io/security","question":"What security certifications does Terraform have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code platform that lets teams define, provision, and manage cloud and on-premise infrastructure through declarative configuration files. It generates execution plans before making changes, manages resource dependencies, and enables version control and collaboration on infrastructure definitions. |
| features.capabilities | `{"language":"TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go","paradigm":"general_language","multicloud":false,"policy_as_code":true,"drift_detection":true,"import_existing":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"managed_saas_offering":false}` | `{"hosting":"both","language":"HCL","paradigm":"declarative_dsl","multicloud":true,"policy_as_code":true,"import_existing":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"managed_saas_offering":true}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | 10 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS CloudFormation"},{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"AWS SNS"},{"name":"AWS Step Functions"},{"name":"AWS EC2"}]` | `[{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud Platform"},{"name":"Oracle Cloud"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Consul"},{"name":"Packer"},{"name":"Vault"},{"name":"Boundary"},{"name":"GitHub"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_hub","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T21:53:47.459Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.terraform.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T09:37:57.093Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 6 | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.273.0","date":"2026-10-08T20:09:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.273.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.272.0","date":"2026-09-30T14:12:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.272.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.271.0","date":"2026-09-25T18:49:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.271.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.270.0","date":"2026-09-17T18:35:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.270.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.269.0","date":"2026-09-10T21:09:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.269.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.268.0","date":"2026-09-02T19:42:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.268.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.267.0","date":"2026-08-27T18:35:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.267.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.266.0","date":"2026-08-19T19:02:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.266.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.265.0","date":"2026-08-13T19:48:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.265.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.264.0","date":"2026-08-10T18:02:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.264.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.263.0","date":"2026-07-31T16:57:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.263.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.262.2","date":"2026-07-29T14:24:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.262.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.262.1","date":"2026-07-24T14:54:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.262.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.262.0","date":"2026-07-22T20:53:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.262.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.261.0","date":"2026-07-02T16:42:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.261.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.260.0","date":"2026-06-16T23:45:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.260.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.259.0","date":"2026-06-12T09:53:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.259.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.258.1","date":"2026-06-09T09:30:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.258.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.258.0","date":"2026-06-04T20:43:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.258.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.257.0","date":"2026-05-21T20:24:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.257.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.5","date":"2026-10-02T13:04:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-beta2","date":"2026-09-23T15:48:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-beta2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.4","date":"2026-09-23T12:44:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.3","date":"2026-09-16T14:33:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-beta1","date":"2026-09-09T17:13:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-beta1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.2","date":"2026-09-09T13:22:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.1","date":"2026-09-02T14:49:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-alpha20260827","date":"2026-08-27T10:30:11Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-alpha20260827"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0","date":"2026-08-26T13:05:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-rc2","date":"2026-08-19T12:08:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.9","date":"2026-08-19T14:29:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-alpha20260812","date":"2026-08-12T12:01:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-alpha20260812"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-rc1","date":"2026-08-12T15:22:32Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-beta2","date":"2026-08-05T18:07:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-beta2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-alpha20260729","date":"2026-07-29T19:38:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-alpha20260729"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-beta1","date":"2026-07-23T16:51:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-beta1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260715","date":"2026-07-15T12:44:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260715"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260708","date":"2026-07-08T09:19:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260708"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.8","date":"2026-07-08T17:45:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260706","date":"2026-07-06T14:49:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260706"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 5.9 | 6.6 |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/?nc2=h_dsc_aa_cmp | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":8,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=aws-cdk-lib&per_page=100","last_12m":3,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":2,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fhashicorp%2Fterraform&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Infrastructure as Code Tools)

| Capability | AWS CDK | Terraform |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | General language | Declarative DSL |
| Language | TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go | HCL |
| **Portability** |  |  |
| Multicloud / cloud-agnostic | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| State management | Vendor-managed | Vendor-managed |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Pluggable provider ecosystem | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Governance** |  |  |
| Policy as code | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Drift detection | ✓ | - |
| GitOps continuous reconciliation | - | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Managed SaaS offering | ✗ | ✓ |
| Hosting | - | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Adoption** |  |  |
| Import existing resources | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source engine | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:28:36.585Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*