Terraform: Pricing, Features & Alternatives
Terraform's HCL and its provider registry are still what most cloud documentation assumes. Two changes matter when you are choosing it today. The licence moved from MPL to the Business Source License in 2023, and HashiCorp is now part of IBM. And HCP Terraform, the hosted runner with remote state and policy, retired its legacy unlimited Free plan on 31 March 2026. The free tier now stops at 500 managed resources, which one EKS cluster with its networking and IAM can use up on its own. Beyond that it is $0.10 per resource per month on Essentials, $0.47 on Standard and $0.99 on Premium.
Category
Infrastructure as Code
Pricing
Free tier available
Free tier
Yes
Best for
Infrastructure as Code — iac, terraform
Terraform Pricing Plans (2026)
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Terraform CLI | $0 (BUSL-licensed CLI) |
| HCP Terraform Free | $0 up to 500 managed resources |
| HCP Terraform EssentialsPopular | $0.10 / managed resource / month |
| HCP Terraform Standard | $0.47 / managed resource / month |
| HCP Terraform Premium | $0.99 / managed resource / month |
Pricing summary: Free · then usage-based. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.
Key Terraform Features
- Pay per resource under management
- $500 trial credit
Pros
- +The largest provider and module ecosystem in IaC
- +HCL is what cloud docs and hiring managers expect
- +The CLI works fine with a plain S3 backend and CI
Cons
- −BUSL licence restricts building competing products on it
- −Per-resource pricing punishes granular infrastructure
- −Legacy free plan is gone; 500 resources goes quickly
Best Terraform Alternatives
Compare all
Terraform Compared
Terraform FAQ
What is Terraform used for?⌄
Terraform is a infrastructure as code tool. The default language for infrastructure as code. The CLI is free. HCP Terraform, the managed runner, bills per managed resource, and the unlimited free plan ended in March 2026.
Is Terraform free?⌄
Yes — Terraform has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.
How much does Terraform cost?⌄
Terraform is free to use, with usage-based pricing on some features.
What are the best Terraform alternatives?⌄
Popular Terraform alternatives include OpenTofu, Pulumi, AWS CloudFormation. Compare pricing and features on our Terraform alternatives page.
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