HCP Terraform vs Spacelift
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of HCP Terraform and Spacelift built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose HCP Terraform if…
Running the reference implementation with a bill that starts at nothing and then tracks inventory: 500 managed resources free, and $0.0001359 per resource per hour after that with no plan fee to clear first.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Spacelift if…
Orchestrating more than one IaC tool under one policy engine — Terraform, OpenTofu and Pulumi together — with drift detection, policy as code and an audit trail as the product rather than an add-on.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- HCP Terraform: Your infrastructure churns. Billing follows the peak resource count within each hour, so a preview environment built and destroyed inside that hour is charged as though it had run the whole time — Scalr's per-run price and Spacelift's per-worker price both leave ephemeral estates alone.
- Spacelift: You need to know what it costs. The first paid tier shows $20,000 with no period attached anywhere on the page, and what a plan buys is features and private workers rather than a volume you can forecast.
4 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
HCP Terraform 0
Spacelift 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | HCP Terraform | Spacelift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| What the free plan includes | 500 managed resources. The cap is stated as a condition of downgrading rather than as a description of the plan — an organisation above it cannot move down to free — and the documentation names no other free allowance, so runs, users and concurrency are not known to be capped from this page. | Described only as 'always free for small teams', with no credit card and no time limit; the page puts no number on what small means. |
| Entry paid plan | $0.0001359 per managed resource per hour on the Essentials plan, with no monthly plan fee to clear first. HashiCorp's own worked example is 1,000 resources held continuously for a month, which it totals at $97.85. | $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason. |
| Pricing model | Per managed resource, per hour. The charge follows the peak resource count within each hour, so resources created and destroyed inside one hour are still billed for it: HashiCorp's own example bills an hour at a peak of 2,000 after 1,000 were added and 500 destroyed. Contract plans are offered at lower rates for larger organisations. | By concurrent private worker: Starter + includes one, and what a plan buys beyond that is features rather than volume — Spaces, workflow customization, policy, drift detection and cloud cost estimation. |
| Auth | ||
| SAML single sign-on | Supported — SAML 2.0, both SP- and IdP-initiated, with just-in-time provisioning | Supported — SAML 2.0 and OIDC, from the Business tier |
| Audit logs | Yes, on the Standard and Premium editions, with 14 days of retention, read through a dedicated Audit Trails API that needs an organisation or audit trail token rather than a user token. The documentation disagrees with itself on the tier: the audit trails reference says Standard and Premium, while the plan-management page lists audit logging among Premium-only features. Recorded as the audit page states it. Not available on self-hosted Terraform Enterprise. | Supported — In the Business tier, alongside 5-30 private workers |
Where they differ.
What the free plan includes
- HCP Terraform
- 500 managed resources. The cap is stated as a condition of downgrading rather than as a description of the plan — an organisation above it cannot move down to free — and the documentation names no other free allowance, so runs, users and concurrency are not known to be capped from this page.
- Spacelift
- Described only as 'always free for small teams', with no credit card and no time limit; the page puts no number on what small means.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Manage your HCP Terraform plan ↗
“Free plans are limited to 500 managed resources. Verify that you have 500 or fewer managed resources before downgrading.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official docs
- Spacelift Pricing ↗
“Always free for small teams NO CREDIT CARD, NO TIME LIMIT”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- HCP Terraform
- $0.0001359 per managed resource per hour on the Essentials plan, with no monthly plan fee to clear first. HashiCorp's own worked example is 1,000 resources held continuously for a month, which it totals at $97.85.
- Spacelift
- $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Estimate HCP Terraform cost ↗
“1,000 managed resources × $0.0001359 = $0.14”
Read 2026-09-15 · official docs
- Spacelift Pricing ↗
“Starter + For growing teams looking to optimize team workflows with infrastructure automation. $20,000 Start your trial”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- HCP Terraform
- Per managed resource, per hour. The charge follows the peak resource count within each hour, so resources created and destroyed inside one hour are still billed for it: HashiCorp's own example bills an hour at a peak of 2,000 after 1,000 were added and 500 destroyed. Contract plans are offered at lower rates for larger organisations.
- Spacelift
- By concurrent private worker: Starter + includes one, and what a plan buys beyond that is features rather than volume — Spaces, workflow customization, policy, drift detection and cloud cost estimation.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Estimate HCP Terraform cost ↗
“HashiCorp calculates your bill depending on the number of resources the plaform manages per hour.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official docs
- Spacelift Pricing ↗
“INCLUDED IN STARTER PLUS: 1 private worker Spaces IaC support Workflow customization VCS integration Resource visualization Cloud cost estimation”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Audit logs
- HCP Terraform
- Yes, on the Standard and Premium editions, with 14 days of retention, read through a dedicated Audit Trails API that needs an organisation or audit trail token rather than a user token. The documentation disagrees with itself on the tier: the audit trails reference says Standard and Premium, while the plan-management page lists audit logging among Premium-only features. Recorded as the audit page states it. Not available on self-hosted Terraform Enterprise.
- Spacelift
- Supported — In the Business tier, alongside 5-30 private workers
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Audit trails API reference ↗
“Note: Audit trails are available in HCP Terraform Standard and Premium editions.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official docs
- Spacelift Pricing ↗
“5-30 private workers Concurrent-VCS connections Audit trail SSO integration with SAML 2.0 OIDC API Keys Internal source control system”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: HCP Terraform or Spacelift?
HCP Terraform: $0.0001359 per managed resource per hour on the Essentials plan, with no monthly plan fee to clear first. HashiCorp's own worked example is 1,000 resources held continuously for a month, which it totals at $97.85.
Spacelift: $20,000 for Starter +, printed with no period attached — the plan card shows the figure beside the tier name and a trial button, and nothing on the page says whether it is monthly or annual. Recorded without a magnitude for that reason.
Should I choose HCP Terraform or Spacelift?
Pick HCP Terraform if Running the reference implementation with a bill that starts at nothing and then tracks inventory: 500 managed resources free, and $0.0001359 per resource per hour after that with no plan fee to clear first.
Pick Spacelift if Orchestrating more than one IaC tool under one policy engine — Terraform, OpenTofu and Pulumi together — with drift detection, policy as code and an audit trail as the product rather than an add-on.