vioscale
Comparison

AWS CloudFormation vs Spacelift

On the evidence we track, AWS CloudFormation leads this comparison with a composite score of 60/100. 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 CloudFormation60
Spacelift47
Score
Vioscale score
AWS CloudFormation60 / 100medium · 73%updating
Spacelift47 / 100medium · 73%updating
Pricing
Free tier
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Model
AWS CloudFormationfreemium
Spaceliftfreemium
Price level
AWS CloudFormationlow
Spacelifthigh
Transparent
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✗
Integrations
Count
AWS CloudFormation21
Spacelift17
Security
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✓
Reliability
Status page
AWS CloudFormation✓
Spacelift✓
Market
Availability

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 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.

Independently observed

Spacelift

Platform for orchestrating infrastructure-as-code workflows across multiple tools and clouds. Integrates provisioning, configuration management, and policy enforcement in a unified interface, with GitOps-based automation and AI-assisted capabilities for managing infrastructure at scale.

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/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier for small teams. Starter Plus from $20,000. Business and Enterprise plans require quote.

  • FreeFree
    • 2 public workers
    • Unlimited users
    • Webhooks
    • Terraform provider
    • Spacectl CLI
    • +2 more
  • Starter Plus$20,000
    • 1 private worker (2 available)
    • Spaces
    • IaC support (OpenTofu, Terraform, Terragrunt, Pulumi, Kubernetes)
    • Workflow customization
    • VCS integration
    • +11 more
  • BusinessContact sales
    • 3 private workers
    • Blueprints
    • Templates
    • Advanced scheduling
    • Private provider registry
    • +4 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • 5-30 private workers
    • Concurrent-VCS connections
    • Audit trail
    • SSO integration with SAML 2.0
    • OIDC API Keys
    • +4 more
  • Enterprise PlusContact sales
    • 12-30 private workers
    • Self-hosted deployment
    • FedRAMP certification
    • On-premises deployment
    • 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✓
Air-gapped
AWS CloudFormation✗
Spacelift✓

Integrations

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

AWS CloudFormation

Leader
21 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)
Independently observed

Spacelift

17 total
  • Terraform
  • OpenTofu
  • CloudFormation
  • Pulumi
  • Kubernetes
  • Ansible
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Slack
  • Infracost
  • Checkov
  • Wiz
  • OPA
Independently observed

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