AWS CloudFormation vs Google Deployment Manager
No clear leader: Google Deployment Manager (62.9) and AWS CloudFormation (60.3) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for infrastructure as code tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
AWS CloudFormation
A managed service for provisioning and managing AWS and third-party cloud resources through declarative templates (JSON/YAML) or programmatic languages. Automates infrastructure deployment across regions and accounts, detects configuration drift, and provides automatic rollback on errors.
Google Deployment Manager
Automates the provisioning and configuration of Google Cloud resources using declarative templates. Organizations define infrastructure as YAML or JSON files that specify which cloud services to create and how they should be configured, then use Deployment Manager to instantiate those resources as coordinated deployments.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
AWS CloudFormation
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
Google Deployment Manager
Free as part of Google Cloud. $300 free credit for new accounts.
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
AWS CloudFormation
- 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)
Google Deployment Manager
- Cloud Storage
- Compute Engine
- Cloud SQL
- Cloud Load Balancing
- Cloud Logging
- Cloud Monitoring
- Cloud VPN
- Cloud Interconnect
- Cloud HSM
- Secret Manager
- Cloud KMS
- Confidential Computing
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.