cfn-lint vs Molecule
cfn-lint
github.comMolecule
docs.ansible.comSide by side
| Figure | cfn-lint | Molecule |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Infrastructure Testing Tools | 8.1 (#8) | 7.1 (#23) |
| Installation | The project documents installation with pip, Homebrew for macOS, or Docker. | The documentation names pip as the only supported installation method and recommends installing Molecule through the ansible-dev-tools package. |
| Integrations | The project lists editor integrations for Atom, Emacs, NeoVim/Vim, Sublime, Visual Studio Code, and IntelliJ IDEA, plus a GitHub Action and pre-commit hook. | Molecule uses Ansible features such as inventory, playbooks, and collections, and community drivers are available through molecule-plugins. |
| License | The repository identifies its license as MIT No Attribution, which grants use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale without restriction. | The project GitHub page identifies Molecule as MIT licensed. |
| Purpose | cfn-lint validates AWS CloudFormation YAML and JSON templates against resource provider schemas and additional checks, including valid property values and best practices. | Molecule is an Ansible testing framework for developing and testing collections, playbooks, and roles. |
| Support | The project invites users to join its Discord community to discuss cfn-lint and get help. | The project directs users to the Ansible community forum for questions and help, and says possible security bugs can be reported to [email protected]. |
Plans
In their own words
cfn-lint
cfn-lint is a free, open-source validator for AWS CloudFormation YAML and JSON templates. It checks templates against resource provider schemas and applies additional rules, including validation of property values and best practices. AWS Serverless Application Model templates are processed after transformation with AWS SAM. Users can configure built-in checks through command-line options, configuration files, or CloudFormation template metadata, and can add custom rules. Results can be emitted as quiet, parseable, JSON, JUnit, pretty, or SARIF output. Installation options documented by the project include pip, Homebrew for macOS, and Docker; supported Python versions are 3.10 through 3.14. Listed integrations include Atom, Emacs, NeoVim/Vim, Sublime, Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, GitHub Actions, and pre-commit. The project treats complex template-value validation as best effort and does not fail merely because it cannot interpret or translate a value. The repository identifies its license as MIT No Attribution, and the plan costs nothing.
Molecule
Molecule has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.