Terraform is one of the most widely adopted Infrastructure as Code (IaC) platforms in the world, known for transforming how organizations provision and manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers. It brings infrastructure definitions, automation workflows, and resource management into a single declarative interface where deployments actually get done. Many IT, DevOps, and platform engineering teams use Terraform not just for provisioning, but for standardizing infrastructure patterns and scaling operations efficiently.
What Is Terraform?
Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp (now part of IBM, as of September 2025) that lets users define, provision, and manage infrastructure resources across cloud providers, on-premises environments, and hybrid setups using declarative configuration files. Users describe the desired end-state of resources (virtual machines, networks, storage, DNS entries, or SaaS configurations) without specifying step-by-step procedures.
Terraform then generates an execution plan, handles dependencies automatically, and applies changes to align reality with the configuration. Originally designed for cloud simplification, Terraform now supports multi-cloud and hybrid scenarios, making it a natural fit for organizations managing complex distributed systems across AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-premises infrastructure.
What is Terraform used for?
Terraform addresses diverse infrastructure management challenges across organizations of all sizes:
- Multi-Cloud Provisioning: Manages resources across AWS, Azure, GCP from one codebase, allowing parallel deployments and avoiding provider-specific tools while reducing vendor lock-in risks.
- Application Infrastructure Deployment: Orchestrates multi-tier applications by defining resources, dependencies, and scaling rules, automatically sequencing deployments like databases before web servers.
- Environment Automation: Replicates dev, staging, production setups consistently using workspaces and variable overrides, supporting disaster recovery by reapplying code in new regions.
- Kubernetes Orchestration: Provisions clusters like Amazon EKS, Azure AKS, Google GKE, including node pools, networking, and IAM configurations through native provider integrations.
- Self-Service Infrastructure: Lets teams provision standardized infrastructure without operations bottlenecks, using reusable modules and integrations with service catalogs like ServiceNow.
- CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Automates infrastructure provisioning in pipelines for reproducible deployments, supporting GitOps workflows with pull request previews and approval gates.
- Compliance and Governance: Codifies organizational standards in modules, enforces policies through Sentinel or OPA integration, and maintains audit trails through version control.
- Disaster Recovery: Rebuilds infrastructure from code and state backups, minimizing downtime through reproducible environment recreation in alternate regions.
Key Features of Terraform
Terraform's feature set addresses enterprise infrastructure management needs:
Multi-Provider Ecosystem supports over 3,000 providers, including AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and SaaS platforms, allowing unified workflows across diverse infrastructure without vendor lock-in.
Declarative Configuration Language uses HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) for human-readable infrastructure definitions, supporting variables, modules, and conditional logic for complex deployments.
State Management tracks real-world infrastructure via state files, supporting drift detection, change previews, and consistent resource updates across team environments with remote backend support.
Plan-Apply Workflow provides safe, predictable deployments through terraform plan previews and terraform apply execution, automatically resolving dependencies and preventing configuration conflicts.
Module System supports reusable infrastructure components for standardization, letting organizations package best practices into shareable modules with version control and registry distribution.
Version Control Integration treats infrastructure as code with Git compatibility, supporting branching strategies, peer reviews, and automated workflows through platforms like GitHub Actions.
Enterprise Capabilities include policy-as-code enforcement, private module registries, audit logging, and role-based access control through HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise. Remote state management is available starting in the free HCP Terraform tier.
Terraform Pros & Cons
Terraform delivers significant advantages while presenting certain operational challenges organizations should consider.
Terraform Pros
- Multi-Cloud Flexibility: Unified infrastructure management across providers reduces operational overhead and supports hybrid cloud strategies without learning provider-specific tools.
- Declarative Approach: Focuses on desired outcomes rather than procedural steps, automatically handling resource dependencies and ordering.
- Strong Community Ecosystem: Extensive provider support, pre-built modules, thorough documentation, and active community contributions accelerate implementation.
- Infrastructure as Code Benefits: Version control, reproducible deployments, audit trails, and collaborative development workflows similar to application code management.
- Automation and Scalability: Idempotent operations, automated dependency resolution, and CI/CD integration reduce manual effort and support continuous deployment.
Terraform Cons
- State Management Complexity: Requires careful handling of state files, proper locking mechanisms for team environments, and backup strategies to prevent infrastructure drift or corruption.
- Learning Curve: Demands understanding of HCL syntax, provider-specific resources, module design patterns, and operational best practices for complex enterprise deployments.
- Provider Dependency: Relies on third-party provider maintenance and updates, potentially limiting access to newest cloud services until providers are updated.
- Debugging Challenges: Can produce complex error messages and troubleshooting difficulties, particularly for large configurations with intricate resource dependencies.
- Enterprise Limitations: The open-source version lacks advanced governance features, requiring paid tiers for policy enforcement, advanced collaboration, and enterprise security controls.
Terraform Pricing
Terraform operates on a multi-tier pricing model supporting different organizational needs and scales.
The open-source version remains free under the Business Source License (BUSL-1.1), supporting core IaC functionality including providers, modules, state management, and CLI operations.
HCP Terraform (formerly Terraform Cloud) uses a Resources Under Management (RUM) pricing model, billed hourly based on peak managed resource counts:
Every security group rule, IAM policy, and S3 lifecycle configuration counts as a managed resource. Teams frequently discover their actual resource count is 30-50% higher than expected.
The legacy Free tier reaches end-of-life on March 31, 2026. Remaining organizations will be automatically transitioned to the enhanced Free tier (up to 500 managed resources, unlimited users).
Terraform Enterprise offers custom pricing for self-hosted deployments with air-gapped environments, advanced security controls, and dedicated support for organizations with specific compliance requirements.
Automate the Service Workflows Around Your Infrastructure Changes
Terraform handles what gets provisioned. But the requests, approvals, and cross-team coordination that trigger those changes still rely on manual handoffs between developers, IT, Security, and Finance.
Here's what Siit adds to organizations running Terraform:
- Smart Request Routing — When employees need infrastructure access or cloud resources, Siit automatically routes these requests to the appropriate DevOps or platform engineering teams with full context about user requirements and approval workflows.
- Cross-Team Coordination — Infrastructure changes that require Security review, Finance sign-off on cloud spend, or manager approval get routed through the proper channels automatically. Siit manages the handoffs between departments so nothing stalls in someone's inbox.
- Self-Service Access Requests — Developers requesting access to cloud environments, CI/CD pipelines, or infrastructure dashboards can submit requests through Slack. Siit routes approvals and provisions access through your identity provider once approved.
- Operational Visibility — Siit provides a centralized view for internal teams managing infrastructure requests, connecting with identity systems like Okta and asset management tools to provide full context around access and provisioning workflows.
Try It With Siit
Terraform handles infrastructure provisioning. Siit orchestrates the operational workflows around infrastructure requests: routing approvals, coordinating teams, and automating the service desk workflows that keep your operations running.
Book a demo to see how Siit automates IT, HR, and Operations workflows alongside your DevOps stack.
Terraform Alternatives
Organizations seeking Infrastructure as Code solutions have several alternatives depending on their specific requirements and constraints:
- OpenTofu: Direct Terraform fork maintaining full compatibility with identical syntax and workflows, providing fully open-source licensing without vendor restrictions.
- Pulumi: Programming-language-based IaC using JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or Go instead of HCL, offering stronger type safety and IDE integration for developer-focused teams.
- AWS CloudFormation: Native AWS infrastructure management using JSON/YAML templates, providing tight AWS integration but limited to single-cloud deployments.
- Azure Resource Manager/Bicep: Microsoft's declarative infrastructure management for Azure resources, with Bicep offering simpler syntax than ARM templates but Azure-only functionality.
- Crossplane: Kubernetes-native infrastructure management using custom resources, well-suited for container-orchestrated environments but requiring Kubernetes expertise.
Each tool serves different architectural preferences and organizational constraints, with OpenTofu providing the closest migration path for existing Terraform users.
