Terraform
Declarative infrastructure as code across cloud providers
Terraform is profiled here as a DevOps tool for engineering teams. Read about features, pricing, and how it compares to related options in the tools directory.
Description
Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code tool created by HashiCorp, now part of IBM following the acquisition that closed in February 2025. Engineers describe cloud and service infrastructure in HashiCorp Configuration Language, and Terraform plans the changes and applies them through provider plugins that cover thousands of services. Since 2023 Terraform has shipped under the Business Source License, a source-available license that keeps it free for internal use while restricting competing managed services, and HashiCorp offers HCP Terraform with a free tier for teams.
Key Capabilities:
Declarative configuration in HCL that defines infrastructure as version-controlled code
A provider ecosystem covering thousands of cloud and SaaS services
Plan and apply steps that preview changes before they touch live infrastructure
State management that tracks real resources against declared configuration
Reusable modules that package infrastructure patterns for sharing
HCP Terraform for remote state, runs, and policy enforcement
Alternative tools
- Crossplane
Control-plane infrastructure as code built on Kubernetes
- Ansible
Agentless automation for configuration and provisioning
- OpenTofu
Open-source infrastructure as code, a Terraform-compatible fork
- Argo CD
Declarative GitOps continuous delivery for Kubernetes
- Pulumi
Infrastructure as code in general-purpose programming languages
- Harness
AI-powered software delivery platform for the post-code lifecycle.