Comparison

AWS CloudFormation vs Terraform

No clear leader: Terraform (64.2) 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.

AWS CloudFormation full profile →Terraform full profile →

Machine formatsJSON Markdown GraphQLor send Accept: application/json

AWS CloudFormation60

Terraform64

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	AWS CloudFormation	Terraform
Vioscale score	60 / 100medium · 73%updating	64 / 100medium · 54%updating
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	21	10
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	✓
Fedrampsecurity.fedramp	✓	-
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Hipaasecurity.hipaa	✓	-
Iso27001security.iso27001	-	✓
Pcisecurity.pci	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	-	6.2
Soc2security.soc2	-	✓
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	-	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
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	-	1,108
Github starsadoption.github_stars	-	49,541
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	-	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	6
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	-	Go
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · HQ US	-

Score

Vioscale score

AWS CloudFormation60 / 100medium · 73%updating

Terraform64 / 100medium · 54%updating

Pricing

Free tier

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Model

AWS CloudFormationfreemium

Terraformcommercial

Price level

AWS CloudFormationlow

Terraformfree

Transparent

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform–

Integrations

Count

AWS CloudFormation21

Terraform10

Security

Disclosure policy

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Fedramp

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform–

Gdpr

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform–

Hipaa

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform–

Iso27001

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform✓

Pci

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform–

Scorecard

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform6.2

Soc2

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform✓

Vulnerabilities

AWS CloudFormation–

TerraformCount: 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

Reliability

Status page

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform1,108

Github stars

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform49,541

Activity

Commits last 30d

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform100

Release

Cadence days

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform6

History

AWS CloudFormation–

Terraform20 items

Language

Primary

AWS CloudFormation–

TerraformGo

Market

Availability

AWS CloudFormationAvailable worldwide · HQ US

Terraform–

Capabilities

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

Capability comparison for Infrastructure as Code Tools
Capability	AWS CloudFormation	Terraform
Core
Paradigm	Declarative DSL	Declarative DSL
Language	JSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET	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 only	-
Adoption
Import existing resources	✓	✓
Licensing
Open-source engine	✗	✓
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity	-	-

Core

Paradigm

AWS CloudFormationDeclarative DSL

TerraformDeclarative DSL

Language

AWS CloudFormationJSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET

TerraformHCL

Portability

Multicloud / cloud-agnostic

AWS CloudFormation✗

Terraform✓

Architecture

State management

AWS CloudFormationVendor-managed

TerraformVendor-managed

Extensibility

Pluggable provider ecosystem

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Governance

Policy as code

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Ops

Drift detection

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform-

GitOps continuous reconciliation

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform-

Deployment

Managed SaaS offering

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform-

Hosting

AWS CloudFormationCloud only

Terraform-

Adoption

Import existing resources

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Licensing

Open-source engine

AWS CloudFormation✗

Terraform✓

Ecosystem

CNCF maturity

AWS CloudFormation-

Terraform-

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.

Independently observed

Terraform

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.

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

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 2026-08-14verify ↗

Terraform

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	AWS CloudFormation	Terraform
WebPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✗

CLI

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

AWS CloudFormation✓

Terraform✗

Self-hosted

AWS CloudFormation✗

Terraform✓

Integrations

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

AWS CloudFormation

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

Terraform

10 total

AWS
Azure
Google Cloud Platform
Oracle Cloud
Docker
Consul
Packer
Vault
Boundary
GitHub

Independently observed

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