π General-Purpose IaC Tools
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terraform | Open-source, cloud-agnostic; declarative config; integrates with AWS, Azure, GCP, VMware, etc.; state management | Free / Enterprise (Custom Pricing) | terraform.io |
| Pulumi | Supports multiple languages (Python, Go, JavaScript, TypeScript); cloud-native and Kubernetes focused; GitOps support | Free / Teams $50/user/mo | pulumi.com |
| AWS CloudFormation | AWS-native; declarative templates in JSON/YAML; drift detection; seamless AWS integration | Pay-as-you-go (Based on AWS usage) | aws.amazon.com/cloudformation |
| Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates | Native IaC for Azure resources; JSON templates; policy compliance; integrated with Azure DevOps | Pay-as-you-go (Based on Azure usage) | azure.microsoft.com/arm |
| Google Cloud Deployment Manager | Native IaC for GCP; YAML/Python/Jinja2 templates; integrates with GCP IAM, Cloud Build, etc. | Pay-as-you-go (Based on GCP usage) | cloud.google.com/deployment-manager |
βοΈ Configuration Management & IaC Tools
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ansible | Agentless automation; playbooks in YAML; config management, app deployment, multi-cloud support | Free / Tower (AWX): Enterprise Pricing | ansible.com |
| Chef Infra | Ruby DSL for infrastructure automation; compliance scanning; test-driven development | Open Source / Enterprise Custom Pricing | chef.io |
| Puppet | Model-driven configuration management; automated provisioning; declarative language | Free / Enterprise Pricing | puppet.com |
| SaltStack (Salt) | Event-driven automation; configuration management; remote execution engine | Open Source / Enterprise (SaltStack Enterprise) | saltproject.io |
| Rudder | Continuous compliance; configuration drift management; automated remediation | Free (up to 10 nodes) / Enterprise Pricing | rudder.io |
π³ Kubernetes & Container IaC Tools
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm | Kubernetes package manager; reusable templates; simplifies K8s app deployment | Open Source | helm.sh |
| Kustomize | Kubernetes-native configuration management; layered customizations; integrates with kubectl | Open Source | kustomize.io |
| Crossplane | Control plane framework for Kubernetes; multi-cloud support; GitOps integration | Open Source | crossplane.io |
| CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s) | Define Kubernetes apps using familiar programming languages (TypeScript, Python, Java) | Open Source | cdk8s.io |
π Policy as Code (PaC) & Compliance
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Policy Agent (OPA) | General-purpose policy engine; policy enforcement for APIs, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD | Open Source | openpolicyagent.org |
| HashiCorp Sentinel | Policy as code framework; works with Terraform Enterprise, Vault, Nomad | Enterprise (Terraform Cloud/Enterprise) | hashicorp.com/sentinel |
| Conftest | Validate your configuration files against policy; works with YAML, JSON, TOML | Open Source | conftest.dev |
π¦ GitOps & Continuous Delivery (IaC-focused)
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArgoCD | Kubernetes-native GitOps CD tool; declarative config; automated syncing | Open Source | argo-cd.readthedocs.io |
| FluxCD | GitOps toolkit for Kubernetes; automatic reconciliation; helm controller support | Open Source | fluxcd.io |
| Jenkins X | Kubernetes-native CI/CD for cloud-native applications; GitOps pipelines | Open Source | jenkins-x.io |
π IaC Testing & Security
| Tool Name | Features | Pricing | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkov | Static code analysis for Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes; detects security misconfigurations | Open Source / Enterprise | bridgecrew.io/checkov |
| Terrascan | Static analysis for Terraform; security and compliance checks | Open Source | github.com/accurics/terrascan |
| tfsec | Security scanner for Terraform code; checks AWS, Azure, GCP best practices | Open Source | aquasec.com/tfsec |
ποΈ Summary of Categories
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| General-Purpose IaC | Multi-cloud, declarative provisioning (Terraform, Pulumi) |
| Native Cloud IaC | IaC tools tightly integrated with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) |
| Configuration Management | Maintain consistency across servers (Ansible, Chef, Puppet) |
| Kubernetes & Containers | Containerized and K8s infrastructure automation (Helm, Kustomize) |
| Policy as Code | Compliance and security policies (OPA, Sentinel) |
| GitOps & CD | CI/CD pipelines with GitOps principles (ArgoCD, FluxCD) |
| Testing & Security | Validate infrastructure and security best practices (Checkov, tfsec) |
