TG
Tech Guide

Terraform vs Pulumi: Which IaC Tool Is Right for Your Team?

Bonnie E.
Bonnie E
two icons on a purple background with the words vs

Terraform vs Pulumi: Which IaC Tool Is Right for Your Team?

Choosing the right tool for Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a critical decision for any engineering team. It determines how you define, deploy, and manage your cloud resources. The Terraform vs Pulumi debate is central to this choice, as both are powerful, cloud-agnostic tools that aim to solve the same problem but with fundamentally different approaches.

This guide provides a clear, evidence-based comparison to help you select the right tool for your specific needs. We'll examine their core philosophies, key features, and performance, based on this site's independent analysis.

This article may include affiliate links. If you click and purchase, the site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our recommendations are based on independent testing and analysis.

TL;DR: Who Should Pick Which?

  • Choose Terraform if: Your team prefers a mature, widely-adopted tool with a declarative, domain-specific language (DSL) and a massive community. It is the industry standard for platform and operations teams.
  • Choose Pulumi if: Your team consists of developers who prefer using general-purpose programming languages like Python, TypeScript, or Go to define infrastructure with access to loops, logic, and software engineering patterns.

(Table of contents auto-inserted here)

At-a-Glance Comparison: Terraform vs Pulumi

FeatureTerraformPulumiPrimary LanguageHashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL)TypeScript, Python, Go, Chttps://www.google.com/search?q=%23, Java, YAMLApproachDeclarative DSLImperative & Declarative (using code)State ManagementLocal, Terraform Cloud, S3, etc.Pulumi Cloud (default), S3, etc.Provider EcosystemExcellent (Largest collection of providers)Good (Can use Terraform providers)Learning CurveModerate (Must learn HCL)Varies (Easy for devs, harder for Ops)CommunityMassiveGrowingBest ForPlatform teams, multi-cloud operationsApplication developers, teams wanting code reuseExport to Sheets

What Is the Main Difference Between Terraform and Pulumi?

The main difference between Terraform and Pulumi is the language used to define infrastructure. Terraform uses its own domain-specific language, HCL, which is designed exclusively for declaring resources. Pulumi allows you to use familiar, general-purpose programming languages like Python, TypeScript, and Go to accomplish the same task.

This core distinction influences everything from developer experience and testing to team structure and project complexity.

Evaluation Criteria

To provide a practical comparison, this guide evaluates both tools on the following criteria:

  1. Language and Developer Experience: How are resources defined, and what is the day-to-day workflow like?
  2. State Management: How does each tool track the state of deployed resources?
  3. Ecosystem and Community: How extensive are the available providers, modules, and community support?
  4. Testing and Validation: What capabilities exist for testing infrastructure code before deployment?
  5. Pricing and Tiers: What are the costs associated with their managed service offerings?

Head-to-Head Comparison

Here, we dive deep into how Terraform and Pulumi stack up against each other in each category.

Language and Developer Experience

Terraform uses HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). It is a declarative language, meaning you describe the desired end state of your infrastructure, and Terraform figures out how to get there.

Terraform HCL Example (AWS S3 Bucket):

Terraform

# main.tf
provider "aws" {
region = "us-west-2"
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket" "b" {
bucket = "my-unique-tf-bucket-2025"
acl = "private"
}

The syntax is simple and purpose-built for infrastructure. However, it lacks complex logic. For-loops and conditionals are available but can feel less intuitive than in a standard programming language.

Pulumi embraces general-purpose languages. This allows developers to use familiar tools, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and software patterns like classes, functions, and loops to build infrastructure.

Pulumi TypeScript Example (AWS S3 Bucket):

TypeScript

// index.ts
import * as aws from "@pulumi/aws";

// Create an AWS resource (S3 Bucket)
const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket("my-pulumi-bucket-2025", {
acl: "private",
});

// Export the name of the bucket
export const bucketName = bucket.id;

This approach empowers developers to write highly dynamic and reusable infrastructure code.

Alt text: Diagram comparing Terraform's HCL-based workflow to Pulumi's general-purpose language workflow.

Verdict:

  • Terraform: Excellent for operations teams who value a clear, declarative DSL.
  • Pulumi: Excellent for development teams who want to leverage existing programming skills and tools.

State Management

Both tools rely on a state file to map defined resources to real-world infrastructure.

  • Terraform: By default, Terraform stores state in a local file (terraform.tfstate). For team collaboration, it’s best practice to use remote backends like an AWS S3 bucket, Azure Blob Storage, or HashiCorp's own Terraform Cloud. Managing remote state requires explicit configuration.
  • Pulumi: Pulumi uses its managed service, Pulumi Cloud, as the default backend for state storage. This provides a seamless out-of-the-box experience with features like deployment history and secrets management. Self-managed backends (like S3) are also an option for those who need it.

Verdict:

  • Terraform: Good, but requires manual setup for collaborative remote state.
  • Pulumi: Excellent, with a more integrated default experience for teams.

Ecosystem and Community

A tool's ecosystem of providers (integrations with cloud services) is crucial.

  • Terraform: With over a decade of development, Terraform's ecosystem is unmatched. It has the largest collection of official and community-contributed providers, covering nearly every cloud and SaaS provider imaginable. Its community is vast, with extensive documentation, tutorials, and open-source modules.
  • Pulumi: Pulumi has a smaller native provider ecosystem but cleverly mitigates this with a "bridge" that allows it to use any Terraform provider. This gives it access to the same breadth of resources, though sometimes with a slight delay for new provider versions. Its community is smaller but active and growing rapidly.

Verdict:

  • Terraform: Excellent. The gold standard for IaC ecosystems.
  • Pulumi: Good. Leverages Terraform's ecosystem effectively, but native support is less comprehensive.

Testing and Validation

Testing infrastructure code helps prevent costly errors.

  • Terraform: Testing has traditionally been a weak point. Basic validation is done with terraform validate and terraform plan. More advanced testing often required third-party tools like Terratest. Recent versions have introduced a native test command, which is a significant improvement.
  • Pulumi: Because Pulumi uses standard programming languages, you can use standard testing frameworks (e.g., Pytest for Python, Jest for TypeScript) to write unit tests for your infrastructure. This is a major advantage for teams with a strong software engineering culture.

Verdict:

  • Terraform: Mixed. Native testing is improving but remains less mature.
  • Pulumi: Excellent. Enables familiar, robust software testing practices.

Use-Case Picks: When to Choose One Over the Other

  • If you are a platform or central IT team managing foundational cloud infrastructure...
    • Choose Terraform. Its simple, declarative nature makes it ideal for defining stable, long-lived resources like networks, Kubernetes clusters, and IAM policies. HCL is easy for non-programmers to read.
  • If you are an application team deploying services with complex, dynamic infrastructure...
    • Choose Pulumi. The ability to use a language like Python or TypeScript to programmatically generate resources, share code, and create abstractions is invaluable for microservices, serverless functions, and containerized applications.
  • If your organization has a mix of Ops and Dev skills...
    • Consider both. Many organizations use Terraform for the core infrastructure layer and Pulumi for the application-specific layer on top. The tools can coexist.

Where to Get Started

Terraform by HashiCorpPulumiThe industry standard for declarative, multi-cloud infrastructure as code. Ideal for platform teams.A modern IaC platform that lets you use real programming languages to manage cloud infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Pulumi just a wrapper around Terraform? No. While Pulumi can use Terraform providers via a bridge, its core engine for planning and deploying resources is completely independent and built from the ground up.

Is HCL hard to learn? No, HCL is relatively easy to learn for its primary purpose. The syntax is straightforward, and most engineers can become productive within a few days. The complexity comes from understanding cloud provider resources, not the language itself.

Can I migrate from Terraform to Pulumi? Yes, Pulumi provides a tool called tf2pulumi that can convert HCL code into Pulumi code in your language of choice. While not always perfect, it provides a solid starting point for migration.

Sources & Further Reading