Nullstone

Nullstone is a cloud application platform for teams that want deployment, temporary previews and Terraform-based infrastructure workflows in one place. It is best suited to teams deploying through GitHub to AWS or GCP who are comfortable with a hosted service. Its strongest appeal is customer-owned infrastructure; teams that require a self-hosted platform should look elsewhere.

Overview

Nullstone can launch containers, serverless applications, static sites and software running on servers. It provisions infrastructure with Terraform modules that teams can use, fork and customize, or create from scratch. The managed control plane works with infrastructure in the customer’s cloud account, and Nullstone says it does not access customer data.

Its documented Git source is GitHub, and deployments can target AWS, GCP, Kubernetes, ECS or Lambda. Preview environments can be created from a pull request or branch and removed after review or testing, giving teams a way to evaluate changes in temporary deployments. Nullstone is hosted-only: its terms do not permit customers to possess, run or install the SaaS service independently.

Key features

Previews and infrastructure

Pull-request and branch previews make Nullstone a practical fit for teams that want to inspect changes before merging or testing them further. The option to destroy previews afterward matters when temporary environments would otherwise linger. Startup includes three active preview environments; Individual does not include a preview quota, while Growth has unlimited environments.

Terraform modules give teams room to adapt infrastructure rather than accept a fixed set of building blocks. That flexibility suits teams with infrastructure expertise, though it makes less sense for groups seeking a platform that avoids Terraform work altogether. The open-source CLI supports deployments, infrastructure provisioning, data retrieval and module management, with installation instructions for macOS, Windows and Linux.

Security and integrations

Nullstone states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified. Its security page says secrets are stored in a vault such as AWS Secrets Manager and stay in the customer’s cloud account; role-based access controls help enforce least-privilege access. RBAC is included in Growth, making that plan more relevant than the lower tiers for teams that need access controls as part of the plan.

Documented integrations include Datadog, NewRelic and SumoLogic for logging and metrics, and CircleCI, Jenkins and GitHub Actions for CI/CD. These connect Nullstone with named observability and delivery tools, while GitHub is the documented source for code.

Pricing

The Individual plan is free and limited to one user, one environment and 10 deploys per week. It supports AWS or GCP and includes community forum support. That makes it a constrained starting point for an individual, but the single-environment and weekly deployment caps limit its usefulness for a growing team.

Startup costs $50 a month for two users, two environments, 30 deploys per week and three active preview environments. It adds custom domains, supports AWS or GCP and retains community forum support. It suits a small team that can work within those caps; the seat, environment and deployment limits are meaningful constraints for busier workflows.

Growth is $100 a month, with billing starting at $500/month. It covers 5 to 100 users, unlimited environments and deploys, bring-your-own Terraform, RBAC, AWS or GCP, and a dedicated Slack channel. Its higher starting bill is difficult to justify for a small team that does not need those expanded limits, but its scale and support are better matched to teams outgrowing Startup.

Enterprise has custom pricing and includes unlimited users, single sign-on, multi-cloud support, self-hosted runners, a self-hosted state backend and SLAs. It is the tier for organizations needing those enterprise controls and options. Nullstone also offers a 14-day trial; the Individual plan is the free option.

Platforms

Nullstone is available through its web service and API, and its CLI has installation instructions for Linux, macOS and Windows. These platform options apply to the interface and tooling, not to independent hosting of the SaaS service, which is hosted-only. The documented cloud choices for Individual, Startup and Growth are AWS or GCP; Enterprise adds multi-cloud support.

Who it's for

Nullstone is a strong candidate for teams that deploy applications from GitHub, use AWS or GCP, and want temporary previews alongside customizable Terraform infrastructure. Startup fits small teams needing custom domains and a modest preview quota; Growth is more appropriate when deployment and environment caps, RBAC or dedicated Slack support become priorities. Teams that require self-hosted control of the platform itself should not choose Nullstone’s hosted service.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Supports containers, serverless apps, static sites and server workloads, giving teams flexibility across application types.
• Pros: Pull-request and branch previews can be removed after review or testing, and Startup includes three active previews.
• Pros: Terraform modules can be customized or built from scratch, while infrastructure and secrets remain in the customer’s cloud account.
• Cons: The SaaS service cannot be independently run or installed, ruling it out for teams that require a self-hosted platform.
• Cons: Individual is capped at one user, one environment and 10 deploys per week; Startup is capped at two users, two environments and 30 deploys per week.
• Cons: Growth’s billing starts at $500/month despite its stated $100 a month price, so its entry cost is substantial for teams that need only a few of its expanded features.

Alternatives

For a different deployment model, consider GitOps Tools or Preview Environment Software. Among the named products, Argo CD is a free, self-managed option for declarative GitOps delivery for Kubernetes; choose it when Kubernetes-focused delivery and managing the installation yourself matter more than Nullstone’s application and Terraform workflows. Flux CD is a free open-source Kubernetes delivery project that requires a Kubernetes cluster, making it a better fit for teams already operating one.

KubeVela is a free, Apache-2.0-licensed, self-hosted Kubernetes control plane, a more suitable direction when self-hosting and Kubernetes are central requirements. Plural offers a free 14-day Sandbox trial and a paid Pro plan; consider it when evaluating that platform instead. Pulumi has a free plan for one user with unlimited projects, stacks, environments, updates and history, plus up to 500 workflow minutes; it suits an individual prioritizing those infrastructure workflow allowances.

GitLab Package Registry’s free plan covers five users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes per month and 10 GiB adjustable storage, so it is the more relevant choice for teams focused on package registry limits. PipeCD is a free Apache 2.0-licensed option for those seeking an open-source alternative. Portainer offers a free Business Edition tier for up to three nodes with full features and no time limit, and may suit teams whose needs align with that node-based allowance.

Verdict

Choose Nullstone if your team wants GitHub-driven application delivery, disposable previews and Terraform-based infrastructure in customer-owned AWS or GCP accounts. The combination is its clearest reason to choose it, particularly for teams that value customizable modules and do not need to host the platform themselves. Look elsewhere if self-hosting is mandatory or if the free and Startup caps do not match your deployment volume; Growth’s stated billing start also makes careful plan selection important.