OpenTofu vs Terraform

OpenTofu vs Terraform: the short answer

The workflow is nearly the same: HCL files, plan, apply, state. Stay on Terraform if you use HCP Terraform or the license doesn't affect you. Pick OpenTofu if you embed the tool in a product, or you don't want a single vendor deciding the terms. For most solo builders, either works, and switching is mostly swapping the binary.

What is OpenTofu?

OpenTofu is a community-driven, open source fork of Terraform, created after HashiCorp moved Terraform away from a fully open license in 2023. The Linux Foundation governs it. It aims to stay compatible with existing Terraform configurations, providers and state files.

What is Terraform?

Terraform is the original declarative infrastructure-as-code tool. You describe cloud resources in HCL and it plans the changes needed to match. It has a huge provider ecosystem and public module registry, and it's now owned by IBM after the HashiCorp acquisition.

OpenTofu vs Terraform pricing

OpenTofu:

• Free and open source under MPL-2.0.
• The project has no paid tier. You pay only for the infrastructure it provisions and any third-party tooling you add.

Terraform:

• The open source CLI is free to use.
• HCP Terraform, the hosted product, is priced per managed resource per month: Essentials $0.10, Standard $0.47, Premium $0.99. Enterprise is custom, for self-managed IBM Terraform.
• New users get a $500 trial credit. A separate permanent free tier wasn't confirmed on the pricing page, so check it.

Pricing checked November 2026. Running the CLI yourself costs nothing with either tool. OpenTofu is cheaper only in the sense that there's no vendor product to buy. If you rely on HCP Terraform for hosted state and runs, that flips, because OpenTofu has no first-party equivalent.

Key differences

• License. OpenTofu is MPL-2.0. Terraform is controlled by IBM under a license that restricts some uses. This matters most if you build a product on top of the tool.
• Governance. OpenTofu sits under the Linux Foundation with a multi-vendor steering committee. Terraform's direction is set by one company.
• Compatibility. OpenTofu reads existing Terraform configurations and state files and works with the same provider ecosystem, so migration is low effort.
• Hosted product. Terraform has HCP Terraform and self-managed enterprise options. OpenTofu has none of its own, so you add third-party tooling.
• Features. OpenTofu has shipped features the community pushed for that hadn't landed in Terraform. Check the release notes for the ones you need.
• Docs and mindshare. Terraform still has more tutorials and answers online, though most carry over to OpenTofu unchanged.

When to pick OpenTofu

• You're building an internal platform or SaaS tooling on top of the tool.
• You want open governance and no single-vendor license risk.
• You're already on Terraform and want to avoid licensing uncertainty.
• You don't use HCP Terraform.

When to pick Terraform

• You use HCP Terraform or plan to.
• The license change doesn't affect you.
• You want the original, with the most documentation.
• Your team or employer has standardized on HashiCorp and IBM tooling.

Other options

If you'd rather write infrastructure in TypeScript, Python or Go, try Pulumi. For configuring servers once they exist, use Ansible.

Verdict

If you don't use HCP Terraform, OpenTofu is the safer long-term bet: same workflow, open license, neutral governance. If you do use HCP Terraform, or none of this affects you, staying on Terraform costs nothing. Either way, you can switch later without rewriting your code.