Stackorder vs HCP Terraform: a Terraform Cloud alternative for GitHub and S3

In short

Both: Plan on pull requests and apply dependent work in order.
HCP Terraform: A SaaS that runs Terraform on HashiCorp's VMs or your agents, hosts state and a private registry, has policy built in and drift detection on Standard and Premium; priced per managed resource.
Stackorder: Free and self-hosted; runs on your GitHub Actions runners, stores no state and holds no cloud credentials; GitHub and S3 only.

HCP Terraform, called Terraform Cloud until April 2024, is HashiCorp's commercial platform for running Terraform; HashiCorp has been an IBM company since February 2025. It runs Terraform on HashiCorp-hosted VMs or on self-hosted agents, is the state backend, and has a private module registry, policy as code and drift detection built in. Terraform Enterprise is the self-hosted distribution of the same application.

Stackorder takes a narrower approach. It is open source and self-hosted, stores neither state nor modules, and runs nothing itself: GitHub Actions runs every plan and apply on your runners, and a small server decides which stacks run and in what order.

Last reviewed 2026-09-30 against HCP Terraform's own repository, documentation or pricing page.

Stackorder and HCP Terraform side by side

Numbers link to the sources. A dash means we haven't verified it, not that it's missing.

Feature	Stackorder	HCP Terraform
License	Apache-2.0, open source³²	Proprietary, commercial; the Terraform CLI itself is under BSL 1.1 since version 1.6.0^{1, 3}
Deployment	Self-hosted; setup mode creates the GitHub App from a manifest^{25, 29}	SaaS, with a separate HCP Europe region; Terraform Enterprise is the self-hosted distribution^{4, 6}
Pricing	Free and open source; you run the server³²	Per managed resource, billed hourly: Free up to 500 resources; Essentials from $0.10, Standard from $0.47 and Premium from $0.99 per resource a month; Terraform Enterprise custom^{1, 2, 6}
Maturity	v0.1.0, first released 2026-09-30; tested end to end against LocalStack, not yet against real AWS or a real GitHub organization by default^{30, 31}	—not verified
Where Terraform runs	Your GitHub Actions runners, GitHub-hosted or self-hosted; it manages no runners or agents²¹	Disposable VMs in HashiCorp's cloud by default, or self-hosted agents that need only outbound access; a workspace can also run locally^{6, 7}
State backend	Bring your own S3; never takes or releases the state lock²¹	Built in: HCP Terraform is the state backend⁶
Modules	No registry; lists each module's consumers, and for git modules the version each pins and how far behind it is²¹	Built-in private registry versioned by Git tags; the Explorer shows module usage across workspaces¹¹
Self-hosted footprint	One container of about 30 MB and Postgres; actions that use no Docker²¹	SaaS. Terraform Enterprise runs as containers with PostgreSQL, S3-compatible storage and Vault, plus Redis for active-active^{19, 20}
Cross-stack dependencies	A graph of stacks and modules from `depends_on`, module sources and `terraform_remote_state` reads, including cross-repository edges; applies in waves^{22, 23}	Run triggers between workspaces, up to 20 sources each; Stacks, with linked Stacks, on RUM plans^{8, 9}
Cloud credentials	Not held by the server; the runner assumes your IAM role with its own GitHub OIDC token²⁴	Held by the service: static credentials as variables, or short-lived OIDC credentials it receives for each run^{17, 18}
Human sign-in	GitHub OAuth through the App, `read:org` scope only²⁵	—not verified
Git hosts	GitHub only, by design²¹	GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps, hosted and self-managed; an API-driven workflow for others¹⁵
OpenTofu	Yes, with `tool: tofu`; tested end to end with OpenTofu 1.12^{28, 30}	Not documented; it runs the Terraform CLI¹⁶
Drift detection	Scheduled per stack with `drift.schedule`; with `open_issue`, one GitHub issue per drifted stack, closed when the drift is gone; never applies to fix drift²⁶	Health assessments on Standard and Premium, for workspaces in remote or agent execution¹²
Policy checks	Not a policy engine; run OPA, conftest, Checkov or Infracost in hooks, and `stackorder check` records a named check the apply gate honors²⁷	Built in: Sentinel, OPA, and HCL-based Terraform policy in beta¹³
Pull request workflow	A check per stack, one sticky comment, and `stackorder plan`, `apply` and `unlock` comments; applies before merge by default, or on merge²²	Speculative plans posted as pull request checks; merges trigger plans; manual or automatic apply per workspace⁶

Why look for a Terraform Cloud alternative

Pricing is per managed resource, billed hourly, above a free tier of 500 resources.^{1, 2}
The Terraform CLI it runs has been under BSL 1.1 since version 1.6.0.³
OpenTofu support is not documented; it runs the Terraform CLI.¹⁶
Runs execute on HashiCorp's VMs or your agents, and the service holds your cloud credentials or receives short-lived ones for each run.^{6, 17, 18}

Key differences

Hosted service or a server you run

HCP Terraform is SaaS. Its self-hosted distribution, Terraform Enterprise, runs as containers on Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, Nomad or Podman, with PostgreSQL, S3-compatible object storage and Vault, plus Redis for active-active mode. Stackorder is one container and a Postgres database that you run.

State and modules

HCP Terraform is the state backend, has a private module registry versioned by Git tags, and its Explorer shows module, provider and Terraform versions across workspaces. Stackorder stores neither state nor modules: state stays in your S3 bucket and modules stay in git. It records module consumers and, for git modules, how far behind each one pins.

Where Terraform runs and who holds credentials

HCP Terraform runs on disposable VMs in HashiCorp's cloud or on self-hosted agents. It holds static credentials as variables, or, with dynamic provider credentials, receives short-lived credentials for each run and places them in the run environment. Stackorder runs on your GitHub Actions runners, which assume your AWS roles with their own OIDC token; its server has no cloud access.

GitHub Actions

HCP Terraform does not need GitHub Actions. HashiCorp publishes optional actions that drive runs through its API, and those runs still execute in HCP Terraform or on its agents. With Stackorder, GitHub Actions is where every plan and apply runs.

Dependencies

HCP Terraform connects workspaces with run triggers: a successful apply in a source workspace queues a run downstream, which applies automatically only if you enable it. Terraform Stacks, generally available since September 2025 on RUM plans, deploy components across many deployments, and linked Stacks trigger downstream Stacks when outputs change. Stackorder builds a graph of stacks and modules, including inferred terraform_remote_state edges, and applies the affected stacks in waves.

OpenTofu and pricing

HashiCorp's documentation describes HCP Terraform running the Terraform CLI and documents no OpenTofu support; Stackorder runs either. HCP Terraform is priced per managed resource, with a free tier up to 500 resources. Stackorder is free and open source under Apache-2.0.

Where HCP Terraform is strong

A managed service: HashiCorp runs the platform, the state backend and the run infrastructure.⁶
State, a private module registry, and an Explorer of module, provider and Terraform versions, all built in.^{6, 11}
Policy as code built in, with Sentinel, OPA and the HCL-based Terraform policy in beta.¹³
Drift detection and continuous validation through health assessments on Standard and Premium.¹²
GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps, hosted and self-managed, plus an API-driven workflow.¹⁵
Dynamic provider credentials through OIDC for AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Vault, HCP and Tencent Cloud.¹⁸
Terraform Stacks, which deploy the same components across many deployments, with linked Stacks between them.^{9, 10}
A self-hosted edition, Terraform Enterprise, on Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, Nomad or Podman.¹⁹
A free tier of up to 500 managed resources with unlimited users.²

When to choose which

Choose Stackorder when

Your code is on GitHub and you want Terraform or OpenTofu to run on your own GitHub Actions runners, under AWS roles the runner assumes with its own GitHub OIDC token.
You have many stacks that depend on each other or on shared modules, and you want a change planned everywhere it lands and applied in dependency waves.
You want a small open-source server you host yourself, which holds no cloud credentials and no state, and whose outage pauses applies but not pull request plans.

Choose HCP Terraform when

You are standardized on HashiCorp Terraform and want one vendor-managed platform with hosted state, a private registry, built-in policy and drift detection.
Your code is on GitLab, Bitbucket or Azure DevOps. Stackorder is GitHub only, by design.
You want HashiCorp-hosted run infrastructure, or agents in your network, rather than GitHub Actions runners.
You want a self-hosted edition from the same vendor: Terraform Enterprise.
You want a tool with more production use: Stackorder's first release, v0.1.0, came out on 2026-09-30.

Try Stackorder on your own repositories

Free and open source under the Apache License 2.0. The getting started guide takes one repository from nothing to a first stackorder apply; the local demo runs on one machine with no GitHub App and no AWS account.

Get started Try the local demo

Star stackorder on GitHub to follow releases.

Frequently asked questions

Is Terraform Cloud now HCP Terraform?

Yes. Terraform Cloud was renamed HCP Terraform on April 22, 2024, and Terraform Enterprise is its self-hosted distribution. IBM completed its acquisition of HashiCorp on February 27, 2025.

Is Stackorder a Terraform Cloud alternative?

Yes, for pull request plans and dependency-ordered applies on GitHub: Stackorder is free, open source and self-hosted, and runs on your GitHub Actions runners. It does not replace HCP Terraform's hosted state, module registry or policy engine: Stackorder uses your S3 bucket for state and leaves modules in git.

Does HCP Terraform support OpenTofu?

HashiCorp's documentation describes HCP Terraform running the Terraform CLI, with a Terraform version per workspace, and documents no OpenTofu support. Stackorder runs Terraform or OpenTofu, chosen with tool at the root or per stack.

Does Stackorder store Terraform state?

No. State stays in your own S3 bucket. Stackorder never takes or releases the state lock; it stores only the S3 key of each stack, to link to it.

How do their prices compare?

On 2026-09-30, HCP Terraform was priced per managed resource, billed hourly: free up to 500 resources, then from $0.10 (Essentials), $0.47 (Standard) or $0.99 (Premium) per resource a month, with Terraform Enterprise at custom prices. Stackorder is free under the Apache License 2.0; you run one container and a Postgres database, and Terraform runs in your GitHub Actions jobs.