vioscaleAI
Comparison

AWS CloudFormation vs Spacelift

On the evidence we track, AWS CloudFormation leads this comparison with a composite score of 53/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

AWS CloudFormation full profile →Spacelift full profile →
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★AWS CloudFormation53
Spacelift47
Score
vioscaleAI score
AWS CloudFormation53 / 100medium · 73%
Spacelift47 / 100medium · 74%
Pricing
Free tier
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Model
AWS CloudFormationfree
Spaceliftfreemium
Price level
AWS CloudFormationfree
Spacelifthigh
Starting price
AWS CloudFormation–
Spacelift$20,000
Transparent
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✗
Integrations
Count
AWS CloudFormation9
Spacelift22
Security
Certifications
AWS CloudFormation–
SpaceliftSOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP
Disclosure policy
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Fedramp
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Gdpr
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift–
Hipaa
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift–
Pci
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift–
Soc2
AWS CloudFormation–
Spacelift✓
Trust center
Reliability
Status page
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
AWS CloudFormation7 items
Spacelift7 items

Capabilities

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

Core
Paradigm
AWS CloudFormationDeclarative DSL
SpaceliftDeclarative DSL
Language
AWS CloudFormationJSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET
SpaceliftTerraform HCL, Kubernetes YAML, CloudFormation JSON, Pulumi Python, Ansible
Portability
Multicloud / cloud-agnostic
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓
Architecture
State management
AWS CloudFormationVendor-managed
SpaceliftVendor-managed
Extensibility
Pluggable provider ecosystem
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Governance
Policy as code
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Ops
Drift detection
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
GitOps continuous reconciliation
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Deployment
Managed SaaS offering
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Hosting
AWS CloudFormationCloud only
SpaceliftCloud + self-hosted
Adoption
Import existing resources
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Licensing
Open-source engine
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✗
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity
AWS CloudFormation-
Spacelift-

What each one is

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

AWS CloudFormation

Leader

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

Spacelift

Spacelift is an orchestration platform for managing infrastructure-as-code workflows. It supports multiple IaC tools including Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, and Kubernetes, with policy enforcement, drift detection, and multiple deployment models ranging from cloud-hosted SaaS to on-premises installations.

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 CloudFormation

Leader
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 ↗

Spacelift

from $20000/yrSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier available. Starter+ from $20,000/year. Higher tiers available by quote.

  • FreeFree
    • IaC support
    • VCS integration
    • Resource visualization
    • 1 public worker
  • Starter+$20,000/year, includes 2 public workers and 1-2 private workers
    • IaC support
    • Workflow customization
    • VCS integration
    • Resource visualization
    • Cloud cost estimation
    • +4 more
  • BusinessContact sales
    • All Starter+ features
    • Private provider registry
    • Targeted replans
    • Dedicated Slack support channel
    • Dedicated Customer Success Manager
    • +1 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • All Business features
    • Audit trail
    • SSO integration with SAML 2.0
    • OIDC API Keys
    • Internal source control system
    • +2 more
  • Enterprise+Contact sales
    • All Enterprise features
    • MFA
    • Self-hosted option
    • FedRAMP authorization
    • On-premises/air-gapped environments
    • +1 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
CLI
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Self-hosted
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓
On-premise
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓
Hybrid
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓
Air-gapped
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓

Integrations

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

In common (2)
  • Datadog
  • AWS CDK

AWS CloudFormation

Leader
23 total - 21 not shared
  • MongoDB
  • Atlassian Opsgenie
  • JFrog
  • Trend Micro
  • Splunk
  • Aqua Security
  • FireEye
  • Sysdig
  • Snyk
  • Check Point
  • Spot by NetApp
  • Gremlin
  • Stackery
  • Iridium
  • AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model)
  • Visual Studio
  • Kiro
  • AWS CloudFormation Registry
  • AWS Partner Network (APN)
  • Serverless Application Model (SAM)
  • Git repositories
Independently observed

Spacelift

26 total - 24 not shared
  • Terraform
  • OpenTofu
  • CloudFormation
  • Pulumi
  • Kubernetes
  • Ansible
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Slack
  • Infracost
  • Checkov
  • Wiz
  • OPA
  • ServiceNow
  • Terragrunt
  • Serverless Framework
  • Bitbucket Cloud
  • Bitbucket Datacenter
  • Azure DevOps
  • Microsoft Teams
Independently observed
Still deciding?

AWS CloudFormation or Spacelift: 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.