# AWS CloudFormation vs Terragrunt

| Attribute | AWS CloudFormation | Terragrunt |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.3 (73% (medium)) | 65.2 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 9,807 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | An open-source orchestrator that streamlines Infrastructure as Code management for Terraform and OpenTofu. Includes free managed CI/CD capabilities to automate and accelerate infrastructure deployment pipelines. |
| 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":false,"provider_ecosystem":true,"gitops_reconciliation":true,"managed_saas_offering":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","language":"Go","paradigm":"declarative_dsl","multicloud":true,"state_management":"self_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"gitops_reconciliation":true,"managed_saas_offering":true}` |
| integrations.count | 21 | 2 |
| 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":"OpenTofu"},{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"AWS"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":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":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","description":"Free open-source version for up to 25 infrastructure units","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Terragrunt Scale","description":"Managed cloud platform with unlimited runs and resources","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open source; managed Terragrunt Scale offering available","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://terragrunt.gruntwork.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T15:23:22.953Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 7 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.3","date":"2026-08-13T14:48:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.2","date":"2026-07-29T18:24:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.1","date":"2026-07-14T14:31:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2026-07-01T08:49:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.0-rc3","date":"2026-06-26T14:28:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.0-rc2","date":"2026-06-17T17:27:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.1.0-rc1","date":"2026-06-12T14:58:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.8","date":"2026-06-10T19:50:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.7","date":"2026-06-01T14:54:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.6","date":"2026-05-25T12:21:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.5","date":"2026-05-18T17:06:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.4","date":"2026-05-07T13:54:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.3","date":"2026-04-27T14:17:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.2","date":"2026-04-21T12:24:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.1","date":"2026-04-13T14:16:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/alpha-2026040801","date":"2026-04-08T12:59:17Z","type":"prerelease","version":"alpha-2026040801"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v1.0.0","date":"2026-03-30T18:05:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/v0.99.5","date":"2026-03-26T13:36:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.99.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/alpha-2026032001","date":"2026-03-20T20:20:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"alpha-2026032001"},{"url":"https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/tag/alpha-2026031901","date":"2026-03-19T09:00:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"alpha-2026031901"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.2 |

## Capabilities (Infrastructure as Code Tools)

| Capability | AWS CloudFormation | Terragrunt |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | Declarative DSL | Declarative DSL |
| Language | JSON, YAML, TypeScript, Python, Java, .NET | Go |
| **Portability** |  |  |
| Multicloud / cloud-agnostic | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| State management | Vendor-managed | Self-managed |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Pluggable provider ecosystem | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Governance** |  |  |
| Policy as code | ✓ | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Drift detection | ✓ | - |
| GitOps continuous reconciliation | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Managed SaaS offering | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Self-hosted only |
| **Adoption** |  |  |
| Import existing resources | ✓ | - |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source engine | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:17:41.199Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*