Pulumi Has a Free Infrastructure-as-Code Tool — Use TypeScript Instead of YAML

Terraform uses HCL. Pulumi uses TypeScript, Python, Go, or C#. Loops, conditionals, functions — real programming for real infrastructure.

What is Pulumi?

Pulumi is an infrastructure-as-code platform that lets you define cloud resources using general-purpose programming languages. No YAML, no HCL — just code you already know.

Why Pulumi

1. Real Programming Languages

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as aws from "@pulumi/aws";

// Create a VPC
const vpc = new aws.ec2.Vpc("main", { cidrBlock: "10.0.0.0/16" });

// Create subnets with a loop
const subnets = ["a", "b", "c"].map((az, i) =>
  new aws.ec2.Subnet(`subnet-${az}`, {
    vpcId: vpc.id,
    cidrBlock: `10.0.${i}.0/24`,
    availabilityZone: `us-east-1${az}`,
  })
);

// Conditionally create resources
if (pulumi.getStack() === "production") {
  new aws.rds.Instance("db", {
    engine: "postgres",
    instanceClass: "db.r5.large",
    allocatedStorage: 100,
    vpcSecurityGroupIds: [dbSg.id],
  });
}

2. Multi-Cloud Support

// AWS
const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket("data");

// Google Cloud
const gcsBucket = new gcp.storage.Bucket("data");

// Azure
const container = new azure.storage.BlobContainer("data");

// Cloudflare
const worker = new cloudflare.WorkerScript("api", { content: script });

// Kubernetes
const deployment = new k8s.apps.v1.Deployment("app", { /* ... */ });

3. Reusable Components

// Create reusable infrastructure components
class WebService extends pulumi.ComponentResource {
  public readonly url: pulumi.Output<string>;

  constructor(name: string, args: { port: number; image: string }) {
    super("custom:WebService", name);

    const lb = new aws.lb.LoadBalancer(`${name}-lb`, { /* ... */ });
    const service = new aws.ecs.Service(`${name}-svc`, {
      taskDefinition: createTask(args.image, args.port),
      loadBalancers: [{ targetGroupArn: tg.arn, containerPort: args.port }],
    });

    this.url = lb.dnsName;
  }
}

// Use it
const api = new WebService("api", { port: 3000, image: "myapi:latest" });
const web = new WebService("web", { port: 80, image: "myweb:latest" });

4. Testing Infrastructure

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";

describe("infrastructure", () => {
  it("should create bucket with tags", async () => {
    const bucket = new aws.s3.Bucket("test", {
      tags: { Environment: "test" },
    });

    const tags = await pulumi.output(bucket.tags).apply(t => t);
    expect(tags?.Environment).toBe("test");
  });

  it("should not expose ports publicly", async () => {
    const sg = new aws.ec2.SecurityGroup("test", { /* ... */ });
    // Verify no 0.0.0.0/0 ingress rules
  });
});

5. State Management

# Pulumi Cloud (free for individuals)
pulumi login

# Self-managed (S3, Azure Blob, GCS, local)
pulumi login s3://my-state-bucket
pulumi login file://~/.pulumi

Pulumi vs Terraform vs CDK

	Pulumi	Terraform	AWS CDK
Language	TS, Python, Go, C#	HCL	TS, Python, Java
Cloud support	100+ providers	3000+ providers	AWS only
Loops/conditions	Native	Limited	Native
Testing	Standard test frameworks	terratest	CDK assertions
State	Cloud or self-managed	Cloud or self-managed	CloudFormation
License	Apache 2.0	BSL	Apache 2.0

Free Tier

Feature	Free (Individual)
Projects	Unlimited
Resources	Unlimited
State management	Included
Deployments	Unlimited
Team members	1

Getting Started

# Install
curl -fsSL https://get.pulumi.com | sh

# Create project
pulumi new typescript

# Deploy
pulumi up

# Destroy
pulumi destroy

The Bottom Line

Pulumi lets you use real programming languages for infrastructure. If you've ever wished Terraform had proper loops and functions, Pulumi is the answer.

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