Top 10 Most Useful Terraform Tools To Use in 2024

Terraform is a popular Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool used for automating the provisioning and management of infrastructure resources.

While Terraform itself provides a robust set of features, there are several additional tools and plugins available that enhance its functionality. Here are ten useful Terraform tools, along with their definitions and common usage scenarios:

• Brainboard.co:

  Brainboard.co is a AI driven platform designed to simplify and enhance cloud infrastructure management through visual design and collaboration. It allows users to create and manage cloud infrastructures using Terraform, which automates the creation of infrastructure as code (IaC). This platform supports multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure​.

• Terraform Cloud:

  Terraform Cloud is a managed service provided by HashiCorp that helps with remote state management, collaboration, and version control for Terraform projects. It provides a central location to store Terraform configurations, manage state, and collaborate with team members.

• Terragrunt:

  Terragrunt is a thin wrapper around Terraform that simplifies the management of multiple Terraform configurations and modules. It provides additional features like remote state management, locking, and dependency management. Terragrunt helps in reducing duplication and enforcing best practices across multiple Terraform projects.

• Atlantis:

  Atlantis is a self-hosted Terraform pull request automation tool that integrates with popular code hosting platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. It enables automated testing, validation, and deployment of Terraform changes through a collaborative pull request workflow. Atlantis helps in enforcing code quality, review processes, and maintaining a clean and auditable infrastructure.

  

• tfenv:

  tfenv is a version manager for Terraform that allows you to easily switch between different versions of Terraform. It helps in managing multiple projects with different Terraform versions and ensures consistent behavior across environments.

• Terratest:

  Terratest is a testing framework for Terraform that provides a way to write automated tests for infrastructure code. It allows you to write unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests for your Terraform configurations. Terratest helps in validating infrastructure changes and ensuring that your infrastructure is working as expected.

  

• Terraform Validator:

  Terraform Validator is a tool that performs static analysis on Terraform configurations to detect potential issues and enforce best practices. It can validate syntax, check for resource naming conventions, detect unused variables, and more. Terraform Validator helps in improving the quality of your Terraform code and preventing common mistakes.

• Terrascan:

  Terrascan is a static code analyzer for Terraform that scans your Terraform code and identifies security and compliance issues. It can detect misconfigurations, insecure resource settings, and policy violations based on predefined rules. Terrascan helps in ensuring that your infrastructure deployments adhere to security and compliance standards.

  

• TFLint:

  TFLint is another static code analysis tool for Terraform that focuses on identifying errors, best practices, and common pitfalls in your Terraform configurations. It can detect issues such as unused variables, missing or incorrect resource dependencies, and non-idiomatic code patterns. TFLint helps in improving the reliability and maintainability of your Terraform code.

• tfmask:

  tfmask is a command-line tool that helps in obfuscating sensitive information, such as passwords and access keys, in Terraform configurations. It replaces sensitive values with masked placeholders, making it safer to share or version control your Terraform code without exposing sensitive data.

Special Mention

• Terraform Registry:

  The Terraform Registry is a repository of publicly available Terraform modules, providers, and other extensions. It provides a centralized location to discover and reuse community-contributed modules, allowing you to leverage existing infrastructure code to accelerate your own projects.

These tools can significantly enhance your Terraform workflows by providing additional capabilities for testing, validation, collaboration, version management, security, and efficiency.