Terraform Cloud vs Pulumi Cloud vs Spacelift: Real Infrastructure-as-Code Cost for a 100-Engineer Team in 2026
Prices checked: October 2, 2026.
DIRECT ANSWER
Short answer
None of these three charge per engineer. HCP Terraform (Terraform Cloud) and Pulumi Cloud bill per managed resource, and Spacelift sells flat plans sized by workers (concurrency). For a 100-engineer team, the number of resources you manage decides the bill:
| Platform / tier | 10,000 resources | 50,000 resources | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spacelift Starter+ | ~$1,667/month ($20,000/year) | ~$1,667/month | OFFICIAL price; concurrency-limited for a 100-engineer team |
| HCP Terraform Standard | $4,700 | $23,500 | REPORTED rate |
| Pulumi Cloud Pro | ≤ $3,650 | ≤ $18,250 | OFFICIAL starting rate (volume discounts lower it) |
| HCP Terraform Essentials | $1,000 | $5,000 | REPORTED rate |
| Pulumi Cloud Essentials | $1,825 | $9,125 | OFFICIAL |
| HCP Terraform Premium | $9,900 | $49,500 | REPORTED rate |
| Pulumi Cloud Enterprise | ≤ $5,475 | ≤ $27,375 | OFFICIAL starting rate |
| Spacelift Business / Enterprise | Quote | Quote | QUOTE-ONLY |
All figures are ILLUSTRATIVE.
Per-resource pricing scales with your infrastructure, not your team. Going from 10,000 to 50,000 resources multiplies HCP Terraform and Pulumi bills by 5×. Spacelift's flat price doesn't move, but 1–2 private workers is too little concurrency for 100 active engineers, so most teams that size end up on a quoted Business or Enterprise plan.
Native billing units
| Platform | Billed on | Rates | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCP Terraform Free | Managed resources | $0 up to 500 resources; 1 concurrent run | OFFICIAL |
| HCP Terraform Essentials / Standard / Premium | Peak managed resources per hour; each partial hour billed as a full hour | Essentials $0.10, Standard $0.47, Premium $0.99 per resource per month | OFFICIAL (billing method); REPORTED (rates, updated Sept 24, 2026) |
| HCP Terraform concurrency | Included per plan | Essentials 3 runs; Standard 10 runs + 10 agent runs; Premium 200 runs + 300 agent runs; more purchasable on Standard and Premium | OFFICIAL |
| HCP Terraform legacy free plan | — | Ended March 31, 2026; replaced by the current Free tier | REPORTED |
| Pulumi Cloud Free | — | $0; 1 user; 500 workflow minutes | OFFICIAL |
| Pulumi Cloud Essentials | Resource-hours (partial hours billed as full) | $40/month (40 credits, $1 each); $0.00025 per resource-hour = $0.1825/month; unlimited users | OFFICIAL |
| Pulumi Cloud Pro | Resource-hours | $400/month (400 credits); from $0.0005 per resource-hour = $0.365/month, with volume discounts; SAML/SSO | OFFICIAL |
| Pulumi Cloud Enterprise | Resource-hours | $2,000/month (2,000 credits); from $0.00075 per resource-hour = $0.5475/month | OFFICIAL |
| Pulumi extras | Usage | Workflow minutes $0.01/min; API calls $0.10 per 10K after 10K free; ESC secrets $0.50–$1.00/month each | OFFICIAL |
| Spacelift Free | Plan | $0; 2 users; 1 public worker | OFFICIAL |
| Spacelift Starter+ | Annual plan | $20,000/year; unlimited users; 1–2 private + 2 public workers | OFFICIAL |
| Spacelift Business / Enterprise / Enterprise+ | Annual plan | Custom; Business 3 private workers; Enterprise 5–30 | QUOTE-ONLY |
What "100 engineers" means for the bill
The team size mostly sets your concurrency needs, meaning how many plans and applies run at once:
- HCP Terraform Essentials allows only 3 concurrent runs. That causes queues for 100 engineers, so Standard (10 runs, more purchasable) or Premium is the realistic tier.
- Pulumi has unlimited users on every paid tier. Concurrency is tied to deployment workflows, and workflow minutes are billed at $0.01/min beyond the included amount.
- Spacelift concurrency is your worker count. Starter+'s 1–2 private workers would queue heavily at 100 engineers, so Business or Enterprise (QUOTE-ONLY) is the realistic tier.
Scenario totals (ILLUSTRATIVE)
Assumption: a 100-engineer platform team managing 10,000 resources (mid-size) or 50,000 resources (large), steady all month.
| Realistic tier for 100 engineers | 10,000 resources | 50,000 resources |
|---|---|---|
| HCP Terraform Standard | $4,700 | $23,500 |
| HCP Terraform Premium | $9,900 | $49,500 |
| Pulumi Cloud Pro (starting rate) | $3,650 | $18,250 |
| Pulumi Cloud Enterprise (starting rate) | $5,475 | $27,375 |
| Spacelift Starter+ (concurrency-limited) | $1,667 | $1,667 |
| Spacelift Business / Enterprise | Quote | Quote |
Per engineer per month at 10,000 resources:
- HCP Terraform Standard: $47
- Pulumi Pro: $36.50
- Spacelift Starter+: $16.67
Where the cost catches you
- Resource counts are bigger than you think. Both HCP Terraform and Pulumi count every declared resource: IAM policy attachments, DNS records, security-group rules, and on Pulumi also component resources and stacks. A "small" service can be 100+ resources.
- Ephemeral environments bill by the hour. Preview or test stacks that create thousands of resources for a few hours each still add resource-hours. Partial hours round up on both platforms.
- Pulumi's "starting" rates fall with volume, but the discount tiers aren't on the pricing page. At 50,000 resources, negotiate.
- HCP Terraform rates are not on HashiCorp's page. The pricing page directs you to an IBM pay-as-you-go table, and its docs confirm only the per-resource-hour method. Verify the rate in your HCP billing console.
- Spacelift's flat price hides a worker ceiling. Additional private workers mean upgrading to a quoted plan. Get the Business quote before assuming $20,000/year covers a 100-person team.
- Secrets and environments on Pulumi. Pulumi ESC secrets cost $0.50–$1.00 each per month. 2,000 secrets on Pro adds $1,500/month.
Which one fits
- Large infrastructure, many resources per engineer: Spacelift (flat plans) avoids per-resource scaling. Budget for Business or Enterprise.
- Pulumi users, or anyone preferring general-purpose languages: Pulumi Cloud Pro. It's cheaper per resource than HCP Terraform Standard at list price.
- Terraform-native shops with modest resource counts: HCP Terraform Standard. Watch resource growth at each renewal.
- Cost floor for small, slow-growing estates: HCP Terraform Essentials ($0.10/resource), if 3 concurrent runs is enough.
Assumptions
- 100 engineers; 10,000 or 50,000 resources under management all month
- List prices; no volume or multi-year discounts
- Excludes self-hosted runner infrastructure and taxes
Pricing sources
- HCP Terraform plans and billing method: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/cloud-docs/overview
- HashiCorp pricing: https://www.hashicorp.com/en/pricing
- HCP Terraform per-resource rates (updated Sept 24, 2026): https://scalr.com/learning-center/terraform-cloud-pricing-changes
- Pulumi pricing: https://www.pulumi.com/pricing/
- Spacelift pricing: https://spacelift.io/pricing