Overview

Terraform defines and manages infrastructure in HCL, a human-readable configuration language. Its workflow separates proposed changes from execution: write configuration, inspect an execution plan, then apply approved changes. That review step gives teams a chance to catch unintended infrastructure changes before applying them.

Providers connect configurations to services through APIs, with Registry options for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, GitHub, and Splunk. Modules package reusable configurations that teams can find or publish in the Registry. Terraform also supports importing existing resources, drift detection, policy as code, and both local and remote state management.

Community Edition is a downloadable command-line tool. HCP Terraform adds hosted remote runs and collaboration, while Terraform Enterprise is a self-hosted distribution. Terraform is a strong choice for teams that need a consistent workflow across infrastructure providers; it is a less straightforward fit when provider and module trust cannot be managed carefully.

Key features

Plans, providers, and modules

Reviewing a plan before applying changes makes the workflow useful for teams that need deliberate infrastructure changes rather than direct, unreviewed execution. Providers extend Terraform to services through APIs, and modules let teams reuse infrastructure configurations instead of rebuilding them for each project. That ecosystem broadens Terraform’s reach, but it also makes selecting trusted providers and modules an operational security concern.

Hosted collaboration and governance

HCP Terraform can run Terraform remotely, connect to GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, and trigger plans when repository changes arrive. Its API provides another integration point. Remote state is encrypted at rest; workspaces, single sign-on, and role-based access controls support shared administration. HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise also support Sentinel policies for enforcing infrastructure standards and security rules.

Sentinel policies are guardrails, not a security boundary. Providers and modules may access workspace variables and state, so governance controls do not remove the need to vet the code teams rely on.

Editing and deployment

Downloads and installation instructions cover Windows, macOS, and Linux. A Visual Studio Code extension and a language server for Language Server Protocol-compatible editors give developers editor support. Teams that need to run the collaboration layer themselves can choose Terraform Enterprise, which supports customizable resource limits and installation options including air-gapped and active-active architectures.

Pricing

Terraform has a freemium model and a free trial. Community Edition is a free downloadable CLI for provisioning infrastructure on any cloud provider; it suits practitioners who want the core tool without hosted collaboration. HCP Terraform Free costs 0.00 USD per free and allows up to 500 managed resources, with one remote run and one agent run concurrently. That cap makes it a practical starting point for small teams, but not an unlimited hosted tier.

HCP Terraform Essentials starts at 0.10 USD per month per resource, rated hourly at $0.00013 per hour, and uses pay-as-you-go pricing. It includes unlimited managed resources, three concurrent remote runs, and one concurrent agent run. Standard starts at 0.47 USD per month per resource, rated hourly at $0.00064 per hour; it raises concurrency to 10 remote runs and 10 agent runs and includes HCP Waypoint. Contact sales for pricing details. Premium starts at 0.99 USD per month per resource, at $0.00135 per hour, with 200 concurrent remote runs and 300 concurrent agent runs, plus HCP Waypoint; contact sales for pricing details. These higher tiers suit organizations with heavier parallel workloads, but per-resource billing and sales-led pricing details warrant careful cost planning.

Terraform Enterprise has custom pricing and requires contacting sales. It is self-managed, offers customizable resource limits, and includes premium support, making it the option for organizations that need deployment control beyond hosted service. Essentials, Standard, and Premium also appear with resource and concurrency limits but no price; the published per-resource rates above apply to the corresponding HCP Terraform plans.

Platforms

Terraform supports API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows. The CLI is downloadable for Windows, macOS, and Linux, while HCP Terraform provides hosted web collaboration and remote execution. Terraform Enterprise supplies the self-hosted deployment path.

Who it's for

Community Edition is aimed at individual practitioners who want a downloadable infrastructure-as-code tool. HCP Terraform Free is suitable for small teams within its 500-resource cap and concurrency limits. Paid HCP plans fit organizations that need more managed resources and parallel runs, with Standard and Premium including HCP Waypoint. Terraform Enterprise is for teams that need self-managed deployment, customizable resource limits, or premium support.

Pros and cons

Pros: The plan-then-apply workflow gives teams a review point before infrastructure changes are made.
Pros: Providers, reusable modules, and resource import support work across a broad set of services and existing infrastructure.
Pros: Hosted and self-managed options let teams choose between HCP Terraform collaboration and Terraform Enterprise deployment control.
Cons: HCP Terraform Free is capped at 500 managed resources and one concurrent run of each type, which constrains larger or busier teams.
Cons: Provider and module code can access workspace variables and state, so ecosystem breadth brings a trust obligation.
Cons: Paid HCP plans bill per managed resource, and Standard and Premium require contacting sales for pricing details.

Alternatives

AWS CloudFormation is a reasonable alternative for teams centered on AWS that prefer its free CloudFormation service; underlying AWS resources are billed at their own rates, and it has no free trial.

Cloudify offers a free, no-time-limit Community option that requires Docker or a VM and access to a cloud provider to run workloads, making it worth considering for teams comfortable with that setup.

env0 may suit teams prioritizing run quotas and user access: its Free Tier allows 250 runs per month, 30 active environments, one concurrent run, and unlimited users and agents.

HashiCorp Nomad is another freemium HashiCorp platform with self-managed and multi-year plan options.

Pulumi is a free-trial freemium alternative whose Free plan includes one user, unlimited projects, stacks, and environments, plus up to 500 workflow minutes.

Spacelift offers a free plan for two users and one public worker; its Starter+ plan costs 20000.00 USD per year and includes unlimited users and two public workers.

Terramate has a free Community plan for up to two users and 1,000 resources, with 30-day data retention and community support. It may fit small teams whose resource count stays within that cap.

OpenTofu is a free, open-source infrastructure-as-code tool for teams seeking that model.

Browse more options in Infrastructure as Code Tools, Platform Engineering Software, Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools, Cloud Orchestration Software, Cloud Management Software, and IT Configuration Management Software.

Verdict

Choose Terraform if your team wants a plan-based infrastructure workflow, a broad provider and module ecosystem, and the option to move from a downloadable CLI to hosted or self-managed collaboration. Look elsewhere if provider trust is difficult to govern, or if HCP Terraform’s resource-based pricing and concurrency limits do not fit your workload.

	OpenTofu	Terraform
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	Free	$0.10/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Windows	api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes

OpenTofu vs Terraform

OpenTofu

Terraform