Top 10 Best Cloud Automation Software of 2026

Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp that allows users to define, provision, and manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers and services using declarative configuration files written in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). It maintains a state file to track the current infrastructure state and applies changes idempotently, enabling safe, repeatable deployments. Terraform supports a vast ecosystem of providers, modules, and integrations, making it ideal for multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

Ansible is an open-source IT automation platform renowned for configuration management, application deployment, orchestration, and provisioning. It uses simple, human-readable YAML playbooks to define idempotent tasks executed agentlessly over SSH or WinRM. For cloud automation, Ansible provides extensive modules and collections for AWS, Azure, GCP, and other providers, enabling declarative management of infrastructure across hybrid environments.

Pulumi is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) platform that lets developers define, deploy, and manage cloud infrastructure using general-purpose programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java, and YAML. It supports over 60 providers including AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and more, enabling multi-cloud and hybrid deployments with real code features such as loops, conditionals, functions, and third-party packages. Pulumi provides plan/preview capabilities, state management, and automation via CLI, CI/CD integrations, and its cloud service for team collaboration.

Puppet is a powerful IT automation platform designed for configuration management, orchestration, and compliance across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. It uses a declarative DSL (Domain Specific Language) to define the desired state of infrastructure, ensuring consistent provisioning, configuration, and ongoing management of servers and applications. Ideal for enterprise-scale deployments, Puppet supports multi-cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP through extensive modules and integrations.

Chef is a powerful infrastructure automation platform that uses Ruby-based cookbooks and recipes to manage configurations, deploy applications, and ensure compliance across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. It enables teams to treat infrastructure as code, supporting idempotent operations for consistent state management. Chef Automate adds enterprise-grade features like continuous compliance scanning, policy enforcement, and analytics dashboards.

Salt (saltproject.io) is an open-source automation platform specializing in configuration management, remote execution, orchestration, and cloud provisioning. It uses a master-minion architecture with ZeroMQ for high-speed, event-driven automation across thousands of nodes. For cloud automation, Salt Cloud supports multi-provider orchestration, including AWS, Azure, GCP, and others, enabling VM provisioning, scaling, and integration with cloud APIs. Its Python-based states and modules provide flexible, declarative infrastructure management.

Crossplane is an open-source Kubernetes add-on that transforms the Kubernetes API into a universal control plane for provisioning and managing infrastructure across multiple cloud providers like AWS, GCP, and Azure. It uses custom resource definitions (CRDs), providers, and compositions to enable declarative, GitOps-friendly infrastructure as code (IaC) workflows. This allows teams to abstract cloud-specific details into portable, reusable configurations while maintaining Kubernetes-native tooling and observability.

AWS CDK (Cloud Development Kit) is an open-source software development framework that enables developers to define, provision, and manage AWS cloud infrastructure using familiar programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Java, and C#. It synthesizes high-level code into AWS CloudFormation templates for repeatable and version-controlled deployments. CDK provides reusable constructs that abstract complex AWS services, facilitating scalable infrastructure as code (IaC) practices.

AWS CloudFormation is a native Infrastructure as Code (IaC) service that allows users to model, provision, and manage AWS resources using declarative templates in JSON or YAML formats. It automates the deployment of entire stacks of resources, handling updates, deletions, and rollbacks in a repeatable and consistent manner. Key capabilities include change sets for previewing modifications, drift detection to identify unplanned changes, and integration with other AWS services for scalable infrastructure management.

Argo CD is a declarative continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes that implements GitOps by continuously monitoring Git repositories and automatically syncing cluster states to match desired configurations. It provides features like automated drift detection, rollouts, rollbacks, and multi-cluster management, ensuring applications are deployed consistently across environments. As part of the Argo ecosystem, it integrates seamlessly with other Kubernetes-native tools for CI/CD pipelines.