What’s the Best Tool for Infrastructure as Code on AWS?

For complex serverless needs, I'd go with SAM. For simpler serverless tasks, CDK is fantastic. Overall, Terraform excels for general services. However, you can't rely on just one tool for all scenarios; it truly depends on your requirements.

For serverless applications, I’d recommend SAM for Lambda functions. For everything else, like VPCs and EKS clusters, Terraform or OpenTofu works great.

I use Terraform for nearly everything, but I stick with SAM for Lambda functions. It just fits better for that use case.

There's really no 'best' option. Terraform and OpenTofu are popular for a reason, but if you prefer JSON and structure, CloudFormation can work well too. It's all about personal preference.

Honestly, compared to Terraform, CloudFormation is quite lacking. Terraform's flexibility and user-friendliness really set it apart.

I prefer Terraform because of its popularity and the ability to manage various vendors. It's great to handle everything within the same tool. Pulumi is another option that might work well, though I haven't used it much myself.

Given your experience, I’d suggest sticking with Terraform while exploring tfcdk for third-party providers, and from there, you can branch out to CDK for AWS needs. If your cloud team isn’t familiar with coding, Terraform’s a good route; for devs, learning something like CDK might be beneficial. At work, we've had success using Terraform for shared infrastructure because the team isn't as comfortable with TypeScript. I initiated some CDK projects, and the transition has been smooth, with the dev team taking over without complaints.

I've been using Terraform for over a decade, and honestly, it's the top choice for AWS in my experience. Google even phased out their own tool in favor of Terraform. It's powerful and straightforward for managing resources.

Choosing the right tool depends on your specific use case and scale. Terraform can work well for small to medium projects, but for large setups, it requires extra care. Tools like Pulumi or Crossplane are interesting for tight integrations with Kubernetes or for automating infrastructure with Flux or Argo. Just remember that as your workspace grows, refresh and plan times can become an issue, so consider your workspace structure.

I really like the Serverless Framework combined with CloudFormation. If you lean toward JavaScript and JSON, this setup is awesome. CDK feels overly complex for my taste, and I'm not a fan of Terraform either; it seems unnecessary when so many solutions are already present. Ansible might be older tech, but it still has its place as it integrates well into many setups.

I'm all about using CloudFormation. Terraform's ownership by IBM raises concerns for me regarding future changes and viability. If you need more power, consider using CDK alongside it.