AWS CDK vs Terraform

AWS CDK is a framework for defining AWS cloud application infrastructure with familiar programming languages and deploying it through AWS CloudFormation. Stable bindings are available for TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, C#/.NET, and Go. The AWS Construct Library supplies reusable constructs for AWS services and features. CDK Pipelines supports CI/CD deployment to testing, integration, and production environments. In Visual Studio Code, the AWS CDK Explorer preview can browse projects, stacks, resources, and policies. The tool supports AWS only and provides managed state, policy as code, drift detection, importing existing resources, and self-hosted execution. CDK itself has no charge, although deployed AWS resources may incur charges. Developers need Node.js 22.x or later regardless of application language. Deployments use configured AWS credentials and IAM roles. AWS recommends IAM security practices, and custom constructs cannot guarantee compliance because general-purpose code can bypass their checks.

Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code tool for defining, provisioning, and managing cloud and on-premises resources through human-readable configuration files. Its core process is to write a configuration, review an execution plan, then apply approved changes. Providers connect Terraform to services through APIs, and the Terraform Registry lists providers for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, GitHub, and Splunk. Modules package reusable infrastructure configurations that users can find or publish in the Registry. The free Community Edition is a downloadable command-line tool. HCP Terraform adds remote execution, repository connections to GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket that can trigger plans after changes, and an API. It stores state remotely with encryption at rest and offers workspaces, single sign-on, and role-based access controls. HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise support Sentinel policies. HashiCorp cautions that policy-as-code is a guardrail, not a security boundary, and trusted providers and modules matter because they can access workspace variables and state. Downloads are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.