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Head-to-head · Infrastructure as Code Tools

Scalr vs AWS CloudFormation

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Scalr #6 in Infrastructure as Code Tools 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Scalr
AWS CloudFormation #8 in Infrastructure as Code Tools 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit site

Scalr leads on 0 checks, AWS CloudFormation on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreScalr · 8.7/10
  • Free planboth

Scalr scores higher on our rubric for infrastructure as code tools: 8.7 against 8.5 out of 10; our editors rank them #6 and #8.

On configuration language, AWS CloudFormation gives you Yaml/json where Scalr offers Hcl. On state management, Scalr gives you Both where AWS CloudFormation offers Managed.

Scalr is the better fit for governed Terraform and OpenTofu operations. AWS CloudFormation is the better fit for AWS-native infrastructure teams.

  • Scalr fits best

    Governed Terraform and OpenTofu operations

  • AWS CloudFormation fits best

    AWS-native infrastructure teams

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Scalr 8.7/10 Visit ↗ AWS CloudFormation 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.7 8.5
Ranking #6 in Infrastructure as Code Tools #8 in Infrastructure as Code Tools
Best for Governed Terraform and OpenTofu operations AWS-native infrastructure teams
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $0.99/unit usage-based Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud
Platforms Web Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Tickets, Email, Community, Docs · 24/7 Docs
Integrations 19 integrations 7 integrations
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Scalr 4/4 · AWS CloudFormation 4/4
Policy as code ✓ ✓
Drift detection ✓ ✓
Import existing resources ✓ ✓
Self-hosted execution ✓ ✓
Specs
Configuration language Hcl Yaml/json
Supported clouds AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform AWS
State management Both Managed
Our review
Pros
  • Remote execution, drift detection, policy enforcement, and GitOps approvals
  • Business includes 50 free runs monthly and unlimited users and environments
  • Supports managed or customer-owned state plus self-hosted agent pools
  • Free native AWS resource providers with managed state
  • Change sets, drift detection, imports, and rollback support
  • StackSets deploy across multiple AWS accounts and Regions
Cons
  • Enterprise starts at 20,000 runs per year and uses quote-based pricing
  • Scalr is not open source
  • AI assistance is disabled by default and requires administrator enablement
  • Supports AWS rather than multiple cloud providers
  • Provisioning runs in AWS; self-hosted execution is unavailable
  • Some third-party providers and custom hooks incur usage-based charges
Our verdict

Scalr is a hosted infrastructure-as-code platform for platform engineering teams working with Terraform or OpenTofu. It centralizes remote execution, state management, GitOps workflows, policy enforcement, drift detection, provider…

Read the review →

AWS CloudFormation is a managed infrastructure-as-code service for defining, provisioning, updating, and deleting AWS resources as stacks. Teams author declarative templates in YAML or JSON and manage deployments through the AWS Management…

Read the review →
  1. ScalrInfrastructure as Code Tools 8.7Free plan
  2. AWS CloudFormationInfrastructure as Code Tools 8.5Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Scalr — where it wins

    • Remote execution, drift detection, policy enforcement, and GitOps approvals
    • Business includes 50 free runs monthly and unlimited users and environments
    • Supports managed or customer-owned state plus self-hosted agent pools

    Where it doesn't

    • Enterprise starts at 20,000 runs per year and uses quote-based pricing
    • Scalr is not open source
    • AI assistance is disabled by default and requires administrator enablement

  • AWS CloudFormation — where it wins

    • Free native AWS resource providers with managed state
    • Change sets, drift detection, imports, and rollback support
    • StackSets deploy across multiple AWS accounts and Regions

    Where it doesn't

    • Supports AWS rather than multiple cloud providers
    • Provisioning runs in AWS; self-hosted execution is unavailable
    • Some third-party providers and custom hooks incur usage-based charges
  • Scalr8.7/10 · Free plan

    A governed remote-execution platform for teams standardizing Terraform and OpenTofu.

    Visit ScalrFull verdict →
  • AWS CloudFormation8.5/10 · Free plan

    A mature, free AWS-native service for managed stack-based infrastructure automation.

    Visit siteFull verdict →

More comparisons

All infrastructure as code tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update