Terraform is a powerful Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool which is developed by HashiCorp. This tool is particularly used by the DevOps team to automate the different infrastructure tasks. Therefore, terraform is a cloud-agnostic open-source provisioning tool that is written in the Go.

Therefore, in this article, a detailed overview has been provided about the Terraform tools and the top 10 Terraform tools that are used by DevOps developers to automate the infrastructure provisioning using the shareable, reusable, and human-readable configuration files. Terraform tools can also automate the infrastructure provisioning in both the cloud environment and premises. Learn how Terraform can streamline your infrastructure management and improve efficiency in deploying and managing resources.”

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What are Terraform Tools?

Terraform is a popular software tool where the users define and provide the data center infrastructure by using the declarative configuration language which is mainly known as the HashiCorp configuration language. Terraform tools are used by the DevOps teams to automate multiple infrastructure tasks. The provisioning of the cloud resource is one of the most important use cases of terraform.

Choosing the Right Terraform Tool

Consider these factors when selecting a Terraform tool:

• Project Complexity: For smaller projects, basic workflow management tools might suffice. Complex projects might require a combination of tools for security, cost optimization, and visualization.
• Security Requirements: If security is paramount, prioritize tools like Checkov and Regula that offer robust vulnerability scanning and policy enforcement.
• Budget: Some tools are open-source and free, while others offer premium features with paid subscriptions. Consider your budget and project needs when making a choice.

Remember, the best approach often involves combining multiple tools to address different aspects of your IaC workflow.

10 Best Terraform Tools To Use In 2024

There are multiple terraform tools that are available in the market and are used by software developers to automate infrastructure provisioning. Some of the 10 best terraform tools that every developer should know are mentioned below:

1. Digger

Digger is one of the open-source IaC management platforms that allows developers to orchestrate Terraform or OpenTofu in the CI/CD system. Digger helps to reuse the async jobs infrastructure with the compute logs, orchestration, and so on for the existing CI. It “brings your own computer” type of philosophy which makes sure that the users have a private runner by default and don’t have to pay any additional money for it.

Key Features

• Digger also consists of a pro version which is built on top of the Digger’s community edition.
• The pro version of Digger provides multiple features such as team leads, manager, Drift detection, RBAC via the OPA policies, and concurrency so that it will help to guide the whole team

2. Former 2

Former2 is another popular terraform tool that is used to automate the creation of the Infrastructure as Code(IaC) scripts from the existing AWS resources. Former2 uses the AWS JavaScript SDK to scan the user’s AWS infrastructure and also identify all the already available resources.

Key Features

• The developers can then select on the list which resources they want to include in the IaC input.
• This particular process simplifies the writing of tasks in the complicated environment by directly converting the current AWS configuration into ready-to-use code.
• This tool is useful for documenting the existing infrastructure.

3. Terragrunt

Terragrunt is mainly developed and maintained by the Gruntwork. Terragrunt is a type of tool that is designed to enhance the terraform capabilities which act as a thin wrapper around terraform by offering additional features to streamline and optimize the usage of Terraform.

Key Features

• Some of the features of terragrunt are to help the developers to keep their terraform configuration DRY, effectively manage the multiple terraform modules, and handle the remote state management.
• Terragrunt is used for reducing repetition in the terraform code and also by simplifying the management of the complex module dependencies.

4. Pretty Plan

Pretty is one of the famous terraform tools that is designed to simplify the review of large terraform plan outputs. Pretty Plan helps in enhancing readability by providing an online interface where the users can paste the terraform plan output which further gets reorganized into a more manageable format.

Key Features

• The main key features of the pretty plan consist of collapsible and expandable sections for a detailed view, and a tabular layout is there for the straightforward comparison of new and old values.
• It has a fully improved display formatting for the multiline string like the JSON documents.

5. Terraboard

Terraboard is a web-based dashboard which was designed for querying and visualizing the terraform states this tool offers multiple features such as the overview page of the terraboard tool lists the most recently updated state files all along with the other activities, this detailed state page shows the version and the resource of state files.

Key Features

• Terraboard also supports multiple remote state backend providers which includes the AWS S3 for the DynamoDB for the locking facilities.
• Some of the S3 Compatible backends like the Google Cloud Storage, GitLab, and Terraform Cloud make this tool more versatile for understanding and managing the Terraform state files.

6. Checkov

Checkov is one of the famous static code analysis tools that is designed for the infrastructure as code and software composition analysis. This tool supports a large range of technologies which includes CloudFormation, Terraform and Kubernetes, Docker, and many more.

Key Features

• Checkov also performs SCA scans and helps in identifying the vulnerabilities in the open-source packages and images by checking the Common vulnerabilities and the exposures.
• It integrates into the Prisma cloud application security, a platform that helps the software developers to secure the identification, and rectification throughout the developmental phase.

7. Infracost

Infracost is another terraform tool that provides a cloud cost that is estimated for the infrastructure and managed by the terraform. Infracost enables the software developers to understand the financial impact of the infrastructure which changes before they are applied.

Key Features

• It integrates directly into the workflow which offers the cost breakdowns in multiple environments like the Visual Studio code, terminal, or directly within the pull requests.
• Infracost provides more informed decisions regarding the infrastructure modifications which further promotes the budget management in the earlier stages of development.

8. Sato

Sato is one of the conversion tools that is designed to translate the ARM templates and Cloud Formation into Terraform configurations. It is developed in Go and Sato is completely different from other terraform tools by its speed and efficiency in the process of conversion.

Key Features

• By automating the translation process of the existing templates into the syntax of Terraform, Sato helps in facilitating a quicker and smoother migration to the ecosystem of Terraform.
• Seto is used to maintain the speed and efficiency in the process of conversion.

9. Regula

Regula is one of the dynamic tools that is designed for pre-deployment security to check the infrastructure as a code for the various cloud providers and Kubernetes. Regula provides support to an array of file types which includes terraform source code and JSON plans, cloud formation JSON/YAML templates, and Azure resource manager (ARM) JSON templates.

Key Features

• Regula integrates seamlessly with famous CI/CD tools like AWS CodePipelines, Jenkins, and so on.
• The policies of Regula are perfectly aligned with the CIS Benchmarks for Azure, Kubernetes, and Google Cloud.

10. Tfmigrate

Tfmigrate is one of the Terraform state migration tools that is used for the GitOps workflows and it helps to enhance the Terraform state management by allowing the users to write state move (mv), remove (rm), and also import the commands in HCL which helps them enabling to plan and apply the changes in a structured version-controlled manner.

Key Features

• Tfmigrate tool also supports the mono repo styles by facilitating the movement of the resources between the other terraform states which is important in managing and refactoring complex infrastructures.
• It also offers a feature of dry run which further allows the developers to stimulate state operations with a temporary local state and verify the impact of migration without even affecting the remote state.

Comparison Table for Top Terraform Tools