Best Infrastructure as Code Tools in 2026
Updated
In short: Terraform is ranked #1 of 23 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Pulumi and OpenTofu. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Pulumi. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Terraform at $0.10/mo.
Managing infrastructure through configuration means considering how a tool handles changes, state, and the environments under management. Compared on configuration language, drift detection, import of existing resources, and state management, these options also vary in policy-as-code support and self-hosted execution. Supported clouds, free-plan availability, and paid-from pricing add further comparison points. Terraform, Pulumi, and OpenTofu are among the tools to consider. Weigh the cloud environments and existing resources you need to work with, along with how you want to manage state and detect drift. The listed capabilities help frame those tradeoffs when comparing infrastructure as code approaches.
23 infrastructure as code tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Recognised 40% · Phone app 26% · Documented 20% · Free plan 14% of the score
- 1 Terraform No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 8.3$0.10/mo Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud InfrastructureState management: both
- 2 Pulumi No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 8.1$40/mo Configuration language: general-purpose languageSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, KubernetesState management: both
- 3 OpenTofu No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.9Free Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, Helm, GitHub, Splunk, DatadogState management: both
- 4 Spacelift No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.9$1666.67/mo Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, GCPState management: both
- 5 Scalr No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.7Free Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud PlatformState management: both
- 6 AWS CloudFormation No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.6Free Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: AWSState management: managed
- 7 Cloudify No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.3Free Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OpenStackState management: both
- 8 Terramate No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.9$449/mo Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Google Cloud, AzureState management: self-hosted
- 9 AWS CDK No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.6 Configuration language: general-purpose languageSupported clouds: AWSState management: managed
- 10 Terrateam No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.5 Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
- 11 Crossplane No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, Google CloudState management: self-hosted
- 12 Azure Bicep No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.2 Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AzureState management: managed
- 13 Terragrunt No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.1 Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and other OpenTofu/Terraform-supported platformsState management: self-hosted
- 14 Kusion No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.1Free Supported clouds: AWS, AliCloud, Azure, Google Cloud
- 15 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Registry No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.0Free Supported clouds: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
- 16 Firefly No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.9$2,499/mo Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Nebius, Kubernetes
- 17 Google Cloud Infrastructure Manager No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8 Configuration language: hclSupported clouds: Google CloudState management: managed
- 18 Azure Service Operator No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: Azure
- 19 AWS Controllers for Kubernetes No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: AWSState management: self-hosted
- 20 Google Config Connector No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.5 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: Google CloudState management: self-hosted
- 21 Sceptre No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: AWS
- 22 CDK8s No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.0Free Configuration language: general-purpose language
- 23 OpenStack Heat No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 4.9 Configuration language: yaml/jsonSupported clouds: OpenStackState management: self-hosted
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which infrastructure as code tool is ranked first on Samsung Mobile US Press?
Terraform is ranked #1 of 23 with a score of 8.3. Pulumi is second and OpenTofu third.
How many of these have a free plan?
11 of the 23 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Terraform has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.10/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation. Paid placements never change a rank.