# Crossplane vs Terraform

| Attribute | Crossplane | Terraform |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 69.7 (31% (low)) | 64.2 (54% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 24 | 1,108 |
| adoption.github_stars | 11,979 | 49,541 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A Kubernetes-based platform engineering framework that allows organizations to create declarative APIs exposing infrastructure capabilities. It enables safe self-service provisioning for users, automation systems, and AI agents while enforcing policies and governance through a centralized control plane. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","language":"YAML","paradigm":"declarative_dsl","multicloud":true,"policy_as_code":true,"drift_detection":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true,"gitops_reconciliation":true,"managed_saas_offering":false}` | `{"language":"HCL","paradigm":"declarative_dsl","multicloud":true,"policy_as_code":true,"import_existing":true,"state_management":"vendor_managed","open_source_engine":true,"provider_ecosystem":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 10 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud Platform"},{"name":"Oracle Cloud"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Consul"},{"name":"Packer"},{"name":"Vault"},{"name":"Boundary"},{"name":"GitHub"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.crossplane.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T21:31:56.894Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.terraform.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T09:37:57.093Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | - | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.5","date":"2026-08-21T17:17:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.2.5","date":"2026-08-21T17:21:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v1.20.12","date":"2026-08-21T17:24:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.4.0","date":"2026-08-20T14:42:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.4.0-rc.1","date":"2026-08-14T16:06:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.4.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.4","date":"2026-07-23T14:12:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.2.4","date":"2026-07-23T14:12:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.1.8","date":"2026-07-23T14:11:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v1.20.11","date":"2026-07-23T14:11:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.3","date":"2026-06-22T17:32:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.2.3","date":"2026-06-22T16:58:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.1.7","date":"2026-06-22T16:40:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v1.20.10","date":"2026-06-22T16:39:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.2","date":"2026-06-09T16:51:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v1.20.9","date":"2026-06-05T22:07:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.1","date":"2026-05-22T19:59:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.2.2","date":"2026-05-22T16:52:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.1.6","date":"2026-05-22T16:53:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v1.20.8","date":"2026-05-22T17:22:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/crossplane/crossplane/releases/tag/v2.3.0","date":"2026-05-21T18:16:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0","date":"2026-08-26T13:05:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-rc2","date":"2026-08-19T12:08:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.9","date":"2026-08-19T14:29:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-alpha20260812","date":"2026-08-12T12:01:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-alpha20260812"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-rc1","date":"2026-08-12T15:22:32Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-beta2","date":"2026-08-05T18:07:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-beta2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.17.0-alpha20260729","date":"2026-07-29T19:38:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.17.0-alpha20260729"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-beta1","date":"2026-07-23T16:51:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-beta1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260715","date":"2026-07-15T12:44:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260715"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260708","date":"2026-07-08T09:19:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260708"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.8","date":"2026-07-08T17:45:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260706","date":"2026-07-06T14:49:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260706"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260701","date":"2026-07-01T19:49:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260701"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260626","date":"2026-06-26T09:03:31Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260626"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260624","date":"2026-06-24T14:07:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260624"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.7","date":"2026-06-24T16:47:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260617","date":"2026-06-17T14:07:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260617"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.6","date":"2026-06-10T11:52:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.16.0-alpha20260603","date":"2026-06-03T13:24:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.16.0-alpha20260603"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases/tag/v1.15.5","date":"2026-05-27T14:52:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.15.5"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 9.6 | 6.2 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":5,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcrossplane%2Fcrossplane&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | `{"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"}` |

## Capabilities (Infrastructure as Code Tools)

| Capability | Crossplane | Terraform |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | Declarative DSL | Declarative DSL |
| Language | YAML | 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 | Self-hosted only | - |
| **Adoption** |  |  |
| Import existing resources | - | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source engine | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:16:23.006Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*