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Head-to-head · Infrastructure Testing Tools

Terratest vs KICS

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Terratest #2 in Infrastructure Testing Tools 9.2/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Terratest
KICS #5 in Infrastructure Testing Tools 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit KICS

Terratest leads on 0 checks, KICS 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 scoreTerratest · 9.2/10
  • Free planonly KICS
  • Most featuresTerratest · 4 of 4

Terratest scores higher on our rubric for infrastructure testing tools: 9.2 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #5.

Terratest is the better fit for multi-cloud end-to-end infrastructure testing. KICS is the better fit for multi-format IaC security scanning.

  • Terratest fits best

    Multi-cloud end-to-end infrastructure testing

  • KICS fits best

    Multi-format IaC security scanning

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Side by side

Feature Terratest 9.2/10 Visit ↗ KICS 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 8.8
Ranking #2 in Infrastructure Testing Tools #5 in Infrastructure Testing Tools
Best for Multi-cloud end-to-end infrastructure testing Multi-format IaC security scanning
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Open source Free plan
Free plan Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted Self-hosted
Support Community, Docs Email, Community, Docs
Integrations 11 integrations 16 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Terratest 4/4 · KICS 0/4
Config compliance ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Provisioning tests ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Deployed checks ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Policy as code ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
IaC support Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, Packer, Helm Not checked yet
Execution model Local Not checked yet
Cloud support AWS, Azure, GCP Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Tests Terraform, OpenTofu, Packer, Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm
  • Provides AWS, Azure, and GCP API helpers
  • Supports OPA policies and infrastructure cleanup after tests
  • Scans Terraform, Kubernetes, CloudFormation, Pulumi, and many other formats
  • Customizable OPA Rego queries support policy testing and tailored checks
  • CI/CD integrations and reports in JSON, SARIF, HTML, PDF, CSV, and more
Cons
  • Requires Go-based development workflows
  • Runs locally rather than as a hosted application
  • Best suited to teams comfortable testing real environments
  • CLI-first workflows may not suit teams seeking a hosted SaaS interface
  • Broad format coverage can require different policies across technologies
  • Automatic remediation is provided as a command rather than a managed workflow
Our verdict

Terratest is an open-source Go library for testing infrastructure code. It is designed for teams working with Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, Packer, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, AWS, Azure, GCP, and OPA. Rather than limiting checks to…

Read the review →

KICS, or Keeping Infrastructure as Code Secure, is an open-source command-line tool from Checkmarx for infrastructure-as-code security scanning. It is designed for engineering and security teams that need to identify vulnerabilities,…

Read the review →
  1. TerratestInfrastructure Testing Tools 9.2Open source
  2. KICSInfrastructure Testing Tools 8.8Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Terratest — where it wins

    • Tests Terraform, OpenTofu, Packer, Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm
    • Provides AWS, Azure, and GCP API helpers
    • Supports OPA policies and infrastructure cleanup after tests

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires Go-based development workflows
    • Runs locally rather than as a hosted application
    • Best suited to teams comfortable testing real environments

  • KICS — where it wins

    • Scans Terraform, Kubernetes, CloudFormation, Pulumi, and many other formats
    • Customizable OPA Rego queries support policy testing and tailored checks
    • CI/CD integrations and reports in JSON, SARIF, HTML, PDF, CSV, and more

    Where it doesn't

    • CLI-first workflows may not suit teams seeking a hosted SaaS interface
    • Broad format coverage can require different policies across technologies
    • Automatic remediation is provided as a command rather than a managed workflow

More comparisons

All infrastructure testing tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update