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Head-to-head · Infrastructure Automation

Terraform vs AWS CDK

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 3 checks side by side
Higher score Terraform #1 in Infrastructure Automation 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit Terraform
AWS CDK #7 in Infrastructure Automation 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit AWS CDK

Terraform leads on 0 checks, AWS CDK on 0, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 3 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreTerraform · 9.4/10
  • Free planboth

Terraform scores higher on our rubric for infrastructure automation: 9.4 against 8.5 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #7.

Terraform is the better fit for teams managing infrastructure across multiple clouds. AWS CDK is the better fit for AWS developers defining infrastructure in code.

  • Terraform fits best

    Teams managing infrastructure across multiple clouds

  • AWS CDK fits best

    AWS developers defining infrastructure in code

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Side by side

Feature Terraform 9.4/10 Visit ↗ AWS CDK 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 8.5
Ranking #1 in Infrastructure Automation #7 in Infrastructure Automation
Best for Teams managing infrastructure across multiple clouds AWS developers defining infrastructure in code
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price — Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud
Support Docs Docs
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Terraform 2/4 · AWS CDK 2/4
Infrastructure as code Not checked yet Not checked yet
Configuration management Not checked yet Not checked yet
Policy as code ✓ ✓
Drift detection ✓ ✓
Specs
Deployment model Not checked yet Not checked yet
Cloud providers Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Write, plan, and apply changes from declarative HCL configuration
  • Manage state locally or remotely, with locking and drift detection
  • Import existing resources and enforce policies with Sentinel or OPA
  • Reusable constructs help organize AWS infrastructure definitions.
  • Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#/.NET, and Go.
  • Includes diffing, resource imports, drift detection, and validation.
Cons
  • The Free plan caps managed resources at 500
  • Advanced governance and compliance capabilities require Standard
  • Custom RBAC, audit logging, and priority support are on Premium
  • Supports AWS rather than multiple cloud providers.
  • Deployments are synthesized into AWS CloudFormation templates.
  • AWS CDK is open source, but provisioned AWS resources are billed separately.
Our verdict

Terraform lets practitioners and platform teams define, provision, change, and manage cloud, on-premises, and service resources through human-readable HCL configuration. Its provider-based approach connects to platforms through APIs, and…

Read the review →

AWS CDK is an open-source infrastructure-as-code framework for developers and teams that want to define AWS resources alongside application code. It uses reusable constructs written in general-purpose languages and synthesizes them into…

Read the review →
  1. TerraformInfrastructure Automation 9.4Free plan
  2. AWS CDKInfrastructure Automation 8.5Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Terraform — where it wins

    • Write, plan, and apply changes from declarative HCL configuration
    • Manage state locally or remotely, with locking and drift detection
    • Import existing resources and enforce policies with Sentinel or OPA

    Where it doesn't

    • The Free plan caps managed resources at 500
    • Advanced governance and compliance capabilities require Standard
    • Custom RBAC, audit logging, and priority support are on Premium

  • AWS CDK — where it wins

    • Reusable constructs help organize AWS infrastructure definitions.
    • Supports TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#/.NET, and Go.
    • Includes diffing, resource imports, drift detection, and validation.

    Where it doesn't

    • Supports AWS rather than multiple cloud providers.
    • Deployments are synthesized into AWS CloudFormation templates.
    • AWS CDK is open source, but provisioned AWS resources are billed separately.

More comparisons

All infrastructure automation comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update