# AWS CloudFormation vs Pulumi

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Pulumi

| Attribute | AWS CloudFormation | Pulumi |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 52.6 (73% (medium)) | 69.4 (75% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 2,143 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 25,758 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 1,440,025 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A cloud service that lets you provision and manage AWS resources by defining them in template files, supporting both AWS-native and third-party resources through a pluggable ecosystem. It is indexed under Infrastructure as Code Tools.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"What is AWS CloudFormation?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS CloudFormation offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.00. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"Is AWS CloudFormation free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS CloudFormation supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"What platforms does AWS CloudFormation support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for AWS CloudFormation, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"Can AWS CloudFormation be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 23 integrations for AWS CloudFormation, including MongoDB, Datadog, Atlassian Opsgenie, JFrog, Trend Micro, Splunk, Aqua Security and FireEye, plus 15 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"What does AWS CloudFormation integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA and GDPR for AWS CloudFormation. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AWS CloudFormation not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/security/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does AWS CloudFormation have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"AWS CloudFormation is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","question":"Where is AWS CloudFormation available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"A platform for defining and managing cloud infrastructure using TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java, or HCL instead of domain-specific languages, with built-in policy enforcement, compliance tracking, and AI-powered resource discovery. It is indexed under Infrastructure as Code Tools.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"What is Pulumi?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pulumi is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Paid editions are also offered: Team Edition, Enterprise and Business Critical, priced on request. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"Is Pulumi free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Pulumi supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"What platforms does Pulumi support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Pulumi can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise, air-gapped and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"Can Pulumi be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 12 integrations for Pulumi, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, GitHub and Slack, plus 4 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"What does Pulumi integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for Pulumi. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Pulumi not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/tutorials/eval-compliance-terraform/","question":"What security certifications does Pulumi have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. Pulumi 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/pulumi/pulumi","question":"Is Pulumi open source?","confidence":0.99},{"answer":"Pulumi is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","question":"Where is Pulumi available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | An infrastructure-as-code system that lets you define, deploy, and manage cloud resources across multiple providers using Go, Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, .NET, and YAML, with declarative provisioning, policy enforcement, and integrated state management. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","language":"JSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET","paradigm":"declarative_dsl","multicloud":false,"policy_as_code":true,"drift_detection":true,"import_existing":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"gitops_reconciliation":true,"managed_saas_offering":true}` | `{"hosting":"cloud","language":"TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java, YAML","paradigm":"general_language","multicloud":true,"policy_as_code":true,"drift_detection":true,"import_existing":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"gitops_reconciliation":false,"managed_saas_offering":true}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | 20 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"MongoDB"},{"name":"Datadog"},{"name":"Atlassian Opsgenie"},{"name":"JFrog"},{"name":"Trend Micro"},{"name":"Splunk"},{"name":"Aqua Security"},{"name":"FireEye"},{"name":"Sysdig"},{"name":"Snyk"},{"name":"Check Point"},{"name":"Spot by NetApp"},{"name":"Gremlin"},{"name":"Stackery"},{"name":"Iridium"},{"name":"AWS CDK"},{"name":"AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model)"},{"name":"Visual Studio"},{"name":"Kiro"},{"name":"AWS CloudFormation Registry"},{"name":"AWS Partner Network (APN)"},{"name":"Serverless Application Model (SAM)","native":true,"category":"framework"},{"name":"Git repositories","native":true,"direction":"inbound"}]` | `[{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud"},{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"CloudFormation"},{"name":"Azure Resource Manager"},{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true,"category":"container","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"vcs","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Slack","native":false,"category":"chat","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Backstage","native":true,"category":"devops","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"npm","native":false,"category":"package_manager","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"PyPI","native":false,"category":"package_manager","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"NuGet","native":false,"category":"package_manager","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Helm","native":true,"category":"cloud-native"},{"name":"AWS Secrets Manager","native":true,"category":"secrets"},{"name":"Azure Key Vault","native":true,"category":"secrets"},{"name":"Vault","native":true,"category":"secrets"},{"name":"1Password","native":true,"category":"secrets"},{"name":"Cloudflare","native":true,"category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"MongoDB","native":true,"category":"database"},{"name":"Snowflake","native":true,"category":"database"},{"name":"GitHub Actions","native":true,"category":"ci-cd"},{"name":"GitLab Pipelines","native":true,"category":"ci-cd"},{"name":"Jenkins","native":true,"category":"ci-cd"},{"name":"CircleCI","native":true,"category":"ci-cd"},{"name":"Atlassian Bitbucket","native":true,"category":"ci-cd"},{"name":"External Secrets Operator","native":true,"category":"secrets"},{"name":"Secrets Store CSI Driver","native":true,"category":"secrets"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Third-party Resources & Custom Hooks","summary":"$0.0009/handler operation after 1,000 free ops/month","features":["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"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"handler operation"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0009,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"second"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.00008,"currency":"USD","description":"Duration overage beyond 30 seconds per operation"}],"description":"Pay-per-operation model for third-party resource providers and custom hooks","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"free_handler_operations":"1,000/month","free_duration_per_operation":"30 seconds"}}],"summary":"Usage-based: $0.0009/handler operation + $0.00008/sec overage. 1,000 free operations/month. Data transfer at AWS rates.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:36:19.015Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.00008,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Team Edition","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Metered pricing per resource-hour and deployment-minute. Contact sales for bulk discounts on annual commitments over $20,000.","currency":"USD","sourceUrl":"https://www.pulumi.com/blog/pricing-calculator-blog/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T11:12:11.575Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | free | quote |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 5 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.267.0","date":"2026-10-01T11:49:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.267.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.266.0","date":"2026-09-30T11:33:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.266.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.265.0","date":"2026-09-25T22:34:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.265.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.264.0","date":"2026-09-23T09:54:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.264.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.263.0","date":"2026-09-16T11:16:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.263.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.262.0","date":"2026-09-10T11:37:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.262.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.261.0","date":"2026-09-02T16:55:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.261.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.260.0","date":"2026-08-28T11:06:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.260.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.259.0","date":"2026-08-19T20:04:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.259.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.258.0","date":"2026-08-17T19:04:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.258.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.257.0","date":"2026-08-13T14:42:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.257.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.256.0","date":"2026-08-04T19:34:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.256.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.255.0","date":"2026-07-28T13:37:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.255.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.254.0","date":"2026-07-23T15:10:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.254.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.253.0","date":"2026-07-14T11:30:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.253.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.252.0","date":"2026-07-13T12:34:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.252.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.251.0","date":"2026-07-08T12:41:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.251.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.250.0","date":"2026-07-02T00:47:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.250.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.249.0","date":"2026-07-01T14:20:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.249.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/releases/tag/v3.248.0","date":"2026-06-24T14:50:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.248.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.1 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | https://www.pulumi.com/tutorials/eval-compliance-terraform/ |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40pulumi%2Fpulumi&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Infrastructure as Code Tools)

| Capability | AWS CloudFormation | Pulumi |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | Declarative DSL | General language |
| Language | JSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET | TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java, YAML |
| **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 only | Cloud only |
| **Adoption** |  |  |
| Import existing resources | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source engine | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:04:31.103Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*