driftctl review
A free, on-demand Terraform drift scanner with manual remediation and limited ongoing support.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
driftctl is an open-source command-line tool for comparing cloud resources with infrastructure-as-code configurations. It is aimed at teams that want to check Terraform coverage, identify drift, and find resources that are not managed through IaC. It supports AWS, Azure, GCP, and GitHub, and is available for Windows and Linux. Its self-hosted, CLI-based approach fits teams comfortable running infrastructure checks from their own environments.
The core workflow focuses on visibility rather than automatic correction: driftctl maps cloud resources to Terraform configurations, analyzes differences, and reports drift or unmanaged resources. Teams can ignore selected resources and produce results in multiple output formats. This makes it useful for auditing coverage and investigating discrepancies, but detection is on-demand and remediation remains manual. Teams seeking continuous monitoring or automatic fixes should consider a tool built around those functions instead.
The tool is described as free and open source, with no listed price. Its published project information places it in maintenance mode, and maintainers say they cannot promise to review contributions. Support channels are community and documentation, so organizations should account for limited ongoing development and support when assessing it for production workflows. driftctl is a fit for teams that want an inspectable, no-cost Terraform coverage check and can own its operation; teams needing active product development or stronger support commitments may prefer an alternative.
driftctl pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Maps cloud resources to Terraform configurations and flags differences
- Finds unmanaged resources and measures IaC coverage
- Supports ignored resources and multiple output formats
- Where it doesn't
- Detection is on-demand rather than continuous
- Remediation is manual
- Maintenance mode limits expectations for ongoing development and support
driftctl fact sheet, pricing and score →
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