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Mohammed Fareed - PeerSpot reviewer
Azure DevOps Lead at DXC Technology
Real User
It speeds up the process of replicating infrastructure between environments, but it could support more user-friendly languages
Pros and Cons
  • "We frequently need to create and replicate infrastructure from various environments like dev and QA. The QA resources need to be identical to those in the dev environment. With a Terraform script, we can replicate the same 50 in the dev environment to the testing environment. This is tedious to do manually, and Terraform speeds up the process."
  • "Terraform should also support YAML language, which is more user-friendly than HCL. They should also add a GUI, so you don't need to memorize all the commands. A GUI would enable us to do everything with a click of a button."

What is our primary use case?

We use Terraform to create infrastructure. We get the name of the resource provider, and the Terraform script is returned in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). 

We can find readily available code from the HashiCorp community to create a virtual machine or Kubernetes service cluster. We take that code, provide the resource provider name, and run the script using Terraform commands to create the infrastructure

We currently use Terraform in our Azure pipelines in the cloud. Our team has 10 developers, and we will increase our usage as the team grows. 

How has it helped my organization?

We frequently need to create and replicate infrastructure from various environments like dev and QA. The QA resources need to be identical to those in the dev environment. With a Terraform script, we can replicate the same 50 in the dev environment to the testing environment. This is tedious to do manually, and Terraform speeds up the process. 

What is most valuable?

Infrastructure replication is Terraform's most valuable feature. 

What needs improvement?

Terraform should also support YAML language, which is more user-friendly than HCL. They should also add a GUI, so you don't need to memorize all the commands. A GUI would enable us to do everything with a click of a button. 

Buyer's Guide
HashiCorp Terraform
June 2025
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For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Terraform for the last three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Terraform seven out of 10 for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate Terraform eight out of 10 for scalability.`

How are customer service and support?

I rate HashiCorp seven out of 10 for technical support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

I rate Terraform eight out of 10 for ease of setup. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Terraform is an open-source solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate HashiCorp Terraform seven out of 10. It's interesting to see how the infrastructure is created rather than creating it manually.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Bruno Baldo - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Growth at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Top 20
An affordable and scalable solution that provides a self-service infrastructure
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution helps us save a lot of costs."
  • "The product must improve DevOps features."

What is our primary use case?

I am using the solution on AWS to scale our operations using Infrastructure as Code.

How has it helped my organization?

Terraform is the most useful product for creating Infrastructure as Code. It has a lot of consistency, and we can control it in code. It provides a self-service infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

The solution helps us save a lot of costs. The product’s integrations help us a lot.

What needs improvement?

The product must improve DevOps features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I never had any stability issues. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easy to scale the product. I rate the scalability a ten out of ten.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We use other solutions for security in DevOps.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is deployed on the cloud. It is easy to deploy the solution. The documentation helps us a lot.

What was our ROI?

The tool has a lot of value. It pays for itself. We save a lot of time using the automation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is fairly priced.

What other advice do I have?

We're still learning how to use DevOps with our SOC. We need to improve our use cases. The tool is helpful for us to keep the same standards throughout the cloud. Currently, I'm only using AWS. I'm planning to use Azure in a few months. I would advise people to start using the solution. It is a cheap tool and saves us a lot of work. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
HashiCorp Terraform
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about HashiCorp Terraform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Llazar Gjermeni - PeerSpot reviewer
Pipeline Specialist at MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company
Real User
No cost, easy to deploy, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the solution does not need installation."
  • "The solution is missing a lot of properties for specific resources."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for provisioning.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the solution does not need installation.

What needs improvement?

The solution is missing a lot of properties for specific resources.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

How was the initial setup?

We just need to download the installer from HashiCorp. We don't need to install the solution; we just need to place the file on our system, point it to the enrollment variables, and then we can run Terraform. There are three or four commands that must be executed before we can start using the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is open-source.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution eight out of ten.

The solution is the most popular for provision in the cloud, not only in Azure.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2098713 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Trustee and CTO at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees
Real User
Reliable, useful for automation, and helps provide for multiple hybrid cloud implementations
Pros and Cons
  • "It allows for the abstraction of the work away from the developer into automated processes."
  • "The user interface could be easier for non-technical people."

What is our primary use case?

It enables us to create our cloud implementations without a technician needing to sign on to the cloud.

What is most valuable?

We are able to do multiple hybrid cloud implementations for clients that need to support Azure and AWS. 

It allows for the abstraction of the work away from the developer into automated processes. 

The reuse simplification is very good. 

It can enforce DevOps. 

It is stable. 

Technical support has been fine. 

What needs improvement?

The workflow and automation could be better.

The user interface could be easier for non-technical people. 

There's a learning curve involved with the setup; however, it is low to medium. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for a long time. I've used it for 12 years at least. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is excellent. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's not a customer-facing solution. We've never had an issue with it. However, it is not a primary concern of ours in terms of the ability to expand. 

Most business analysts and sometimes architects use the solution. We have 1700 people in our organization, and we are doing 100 projects at a time. Almost all of the projects require the use of the product. Half of the people are engaged in the solution in one way or another. We have about 750 people using it. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple for the most part. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is expensive. It's more for enterprise implementations. The cost is above average in general. 

What other advice do I have?

We're a consulting company. 

I'd advise other users to automate to the greatest extent possible to get the best ROI.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten, even though the workflow is not the strongest on the market. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Patryk Golabek - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Translucent Computing Inc
Real User
Suited for managing complex environments, useful shared collaboration, but has testing issues
Pros and Cons
  • "The valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are the infrastructure can be written, shared, and collaborated on using code, which speeds up deployment. Additionally, bugs and issues can be fixed in the code and redeployed, making it less risky. It is a more efficient method compared to the traditional approach of writing scripts to set up infrastructure."
  • "HashiCorp Terraform is an open-source tool that relies on external developers to create plugins to expand its capabilities. However, this approach can be problematic as not all plugins are created by professionals and some may have security vulnerabilities. In the case of GKE, Google has created a solid plugin, but for other services, one must search for plugins on the HashiCorp Terraform registry, which can be hit or miss, as many plugins are created by students or hobbyists, who may not continue to maintain or update them. This model of open-sourced plugins may not be the most reliable or secure way of expanding the tool's capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

HashiCorp Terraform is a system solution that allows for infrastructure to be managed as code. allows for the efficient creation and management of infrastructure by packaging everything together in one package. This includes the networking, security, and encryption for Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) deployment.

How has it helped my organization?

By using HashiCorp Terraform, the infrastructure is all in one place and can be easily tested and checked for security vulnerabilities before deployment.

What is most valuable?

The valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are the infrastructure can be written, shared, and collaborated on using code, which speeds up deployment. Additionally, bugs and issues can be fixed in the code and redeployed, making it less risky. It is a more efficient method compared to the traditional approach of writing scripts to set up infrastructure.

The infrastructure is transparent, as it is stored in a source control system, such as Bitbucket, making it easy for all team members to access and review. Furthermore, Terraform enables the creation of a deployment pipeline using tools, such as Atlantis, which automates the process of scanning and deploying the code. This streamlines the deployment process and adds features, such as auditing, risk management, and security scanning to the deployment process. Terraform provides a more organized and secure way of managing infrastructure, compared to the traditional ad-hoc method.

What needs improvement?

HashiCorp Terraform is an open-source tool that relies on external developers to create plugins to expand its capabilities. However, this approach can be problematic as not all plugins are created by professionals and some may have security vulnerabilities. In the case of GKE, Google has created a solid plugin, but for other services, one must search for plugins on the HashiCorp Terraform registry, which can be hit or miss, as many plugins are created by students or hobbyists, who may not continue to maintain or update them. This model of open-sourced plugins may not be the most reliable or secure way of expanding the tool's capabilities. 

It is possible that when using a plugin with HashiCorp Terraform, there may be security issues or the plugin may become outdated in the future. HashiCorp Terraform only takes responsibility for the infrastructure and code of the program itself, not the plugin. This is a point of concern as it is the responsibility of the user to police and manage the plugins, which can be a significant overhead. Additionally, the solution requires plugins for modules, so without them, Terraform cannot communicate with certain resources.

To improve this, it would be beneficial if HashiCorp Terraform had a system in place where they certify and test the plugins. This would take the burden off of users and reduce the cost of using the solution. The current system relies heavily on open-source plugins which may not be fully developed, lack features, or may not be secure. It is not uncommon for users to have to fork or manage these plugins themselves, which can be a significant undertaking.

The module system in the solution is not the best, as it forces users to rely on third-party developers who may not be qualified from a security or engineering standpoint. This can create a problem for users as they may not have access to all the features they need, and may have to fork or manage the plugins themselves. HashiCorp Terraform, as the creators of this system, should take more responsibility for the management and security of these third-party plugins.

The use of open-source code, such as that used in this solution, can present issues as it may not always be fully supported or maintained by its creators. This publicly traded, multi-billion dollar company, may not want to take full responsibility for the plugins and modules that are created by third parties. This can be problematic for users, as they may have to police the plugins themselves to ensure they are secure and functional. Furthermore, while some companies such as Google may have the resources to create their own Terraform plugin and take responsibility for it, many other companies and developers do not have the same resources and may not take responsibility for maintaining their own plugins. This can lead to a broken system where users may have to pay extra to have broken plugins fixed. Overall, this highlights the need for a better system of support and maintenance for open-source code and plugins.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for approximately four years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. It is well suited to managing complex cloud environments, such as Google Kubernetes Engine, that require various services and configurations.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

HashiCorp Terraform is a cost-effective solution.

What other advice do I have?

HashiCorp Terraform has issues with testing and the modules. Overall, the concept is great. What they did works well. However, the extension to it is not the greatest.

I rate HashiCorp Terraform a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Stephen Adeniyi - PeerSpot reviewer
Kubernetes Consultant, Cloud Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
It's easy to use and set up, but the error logging and documentation could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "With Terraform, you don't need to understand the console of your cloud providers. You only need to understand how Terraform works, and you manage your infrastructure tools in Terraform."
  • "The error logging could be better. Sometimes, when you try to set something on Terraform, it gives you an error, but you don't understand how the error has been logged."

What is our primary use case?

We have about 50 users.

What is most valuable?

With Terraform, you don't need to understand the console of your cloud providers. You only need to understand how Terraform works, and you manage your infrastructure tools in Terraform.

What needs improvement?

In Terraform, there's a file called main.tf, where everything starts. In the main.tf, you need to specify the provider you're using. For example, maybe you want to use GCP, but you don't want to work on GCP. That's where you will list everything you need. It's like a key for you to access GCP. 

Sometimes, it can be challenging to undo. Let's say I'm using the provider here, and you want to use it on your site over there. You have to delete the provider you are using before switching providers. It doesn't sync well. The providers don't sync well. And also the documentation sometimes, they need to work on the documentation of Terraform. They're not concise.

The error logging could be better. Sometimes, when you try to set something on Terraform, it gives you an error, but you don't understand how the error has been logged. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using Terraform two years ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Terraform is one of the most stable products HashiCorp provides

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Terraform is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Terraform is an open-source product, so we rely on documentation. I rate the Terraform documentation five out of 10. It should provide more examples about the way you should write some resources or models.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Terraform is straightforward. You only need to deploy the binary. I rate it 10 out of 10 for ease of setup. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Terraform seven out of 10. There aren't many products that do what Terraform does. It's easy to use and set up.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Maxim-Chepukov - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at IOTANS
Real User
Useful automation, advantageous managerial capabilities, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are automation and management capabilities."
  • "HashiCorp Terraform could improve the integration with the VCloud Director. When we manage the VCloud Director we end up wasting our time when creating virtual machines. HashiCorp Terraform knows about these issues and I think there might be a workaround but they should incorporate the fix in an upcoming release."

What is our primary use case?

HashiCorp Terraform is a binary executable file, that you can download to your PC and manage any cloud solution in the world, such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, OpenStack, CloudStack, or VMware. When you use DevOps in your company, it's a useful tool for it.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are automation and management capabilities.

What needs improvement?

HashiCorp Terraform could improve the integration with the VCloud Director. When we manage the VCloud Director we end up wasting our time when creating virtual machines. HashiCorp Terraform knows about these issues and I think there might be a workaround but they should incorporate the fix in an upcoming release.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

HashiCorp Terraform is a stable solution. We did not have any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of HashiCorp Terraform is good.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the technical support from HashiCorp Terraform.

How was the initial setup?

HashiCorp Terraform tool is pre-installed on our DevOps engineer's laptops, and in our GitLab Servers. We assign it to a selection of virtual machines. We just run it, and then we perform some functions, such as creating systems or modifying CPUs or RAM.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation of HashiCorp Terraform in-house. We have a good team of three programmers and DevOps engineers with experience.

We used one engineer for the implementation of HashiCorp Terraform. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

HashiCorp Terraform is a free solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate HashiCorp Terraform a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Rakib Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at The White House
Real User
Provides automation which is a huge cost saver
Pros and Cons
  • "Provides automation which has increased our efficiency."
  • "Terraform lacks in running script."

What is our primary use case?

A primary use case of Terraform is for deploying a VM on a cloud using Terraform script. If I then want to deploy a third-party toolset, a solution such as Aviatrix can create an overlay on top of each of the cloud providers and you can connect the clouds together. I'm a solutions architect and we are customers of HashiCorp. 

How has it helped my organization?

The solution has made a huge difference to us because the automation it provides has given us improved cost efficiency, security and saved many man-hours. It's created once and then that's pretty much it. When you next want to deploy something, you run it and it deploys. 

What is most valuable?

Terraform removes the manual process; you run it for a specific purpose, destroy it when you're done, and it removes all the associated components. The other good feature is that Terraform is idempotent; if something is already out there, it's not going to try to duplicate another installation of that environment.

One of the other major features of terraform is in its ability to act as a Disaster Recovery tool. Since terraform is an Infrastructure-As-A-Service tool, it can be used as part of the rest of the DR toolset to restore affected infrastructure to its original state without any variation. 

The Terraform manifests can be stored in a version control repository separate from the application code base and can be a single source of truth for an organization's infrastructure. The automation and the efficiency that Terraform brings to the SDLC lifecycle adds to the overall integrity of the infrastructure and provides a value added to the DevSecOps workflow.   

What needs improvement?

I've noticed that although Terraform is very good at deploying, it lacks in running script. For example, if you wanted to run multiple deployments such as a VM, and then install different softwares and create a full-blown infrastructure within that virtual machine, Terraform would probably lack certain features. I don't think it's very robust in running scripts or going from one sequence to another. You're likely to end up running a huge Terraform code base, where you'd probably get lost in terms of knowing where things are coming from and where they're going. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable without too many bugs. If we're deploying on top of a current deployment, there can be some issues and that could be improved. If you need a fully idempotent solution, you deploy your infrastructure without touching any existing infrastructure. Unfortunately, Terraform fails when it finds an existing infrastructure and things become complicated. In terms of stability, this is probably one of the biggest deficiencies of Terraform. 

How are customer service and support?

HashiCorp provides very good documentation so we haven't needed to contact technical support. They also have GitHub repository against each of those tutorials, so we can actually clone and tweak those according to our needs. There's also a large open-source community out there and a lot of blogs that complement the documentation. 

How was the initial setup?

Deployment is just about downloading the plug-in. To run it requires each of the cloud environments on the CLI tool downloaded so that they both work together with all the credentials in place so that it can connect to each of the clouds. We are a small organization and still experimenting with Terraform so we only have one dedicated person helping out with the solution. That said, all of the team members are more or less skilled with Terraform.

What was our ROI?

We're definitely seeing cost savings from a man-hour point of view but I can't quantify it. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We are using the free version of Terraform. Terraform Cloud has some kind of pricing and enterprise-level model which we haven't moved to yet. I think  Terraform has a pretty reasonable pricing structure. It allows the open-source community to use it as they please, so I'm pretty happy about it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

AWS has a code solution called CloudFormation which I think is a little slower than Terraform although I think CloudFormation is probably a bit more secure and foolproof.

What other advice do I have?

This is a solid product and one of the leaders in this space. Terraform is used across the board as an Infrastructure-as-Code solution. 

There could be some improvements so I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
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