Side by side
Open Policy Agent vs terraform-compliance
Both stand on infrastructure policy as code tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
OPA provides a flexible policy engine with multiple evaluation interfaces and integrations for software infrastructure. Teams securing its API need to configure authentication, authorization, and TLS rather than assume those protections are enabled by default.
Visit Open Policy AgentPick terraform-compliance if you need free policy tests for Terraform and want rules expressed in readable scenarios. Look elsewhere if you need runtime enforcement or policy testing for infrastructure formats beyond Terraform plan and state output.
Visit terraform-complianceThe facts
| Open Policy Agent | terraform-compliance | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows | Linux, Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | openpolicyagent.org | terraform-compliance.com |
| On infrastructure policy as code tools | #12 of 25 | #16 of 25 |
Open Policy Agent: what it does well
- Free and open source under Apache License 2.0.
- Evaluates policies over structured input and returns structured output.
- Supports REST, Go, WebAssembly, and custom evaluators.
- Management interfaces include health checks and decision logs.
- Installation options include macOS, Linux/Unix, Windows, and Docker.
What to know first
- API authentication and authorization are off by default.
- Kubernetes admission control documentation recommends OPA Gatekeeper.
- Commercial support listings are not vetted endorsements.
terraform-compliance: what it does well
- Free to use and distributed under the MIT license.
- Works with any Terraform provider.
- Policies use behavior-driven feature files.
- Feature files can be loaded from directories or Git repositories.
- Documentation includes CircleCI and GitHub Actions examples.
What to know first
- Checks Terraform plan or state output rather than other listed IaC formats.
- Runtime enforcement is not supported.
- The pip installation route requires Python 3.x.
Alternatives to Open Policy Agent Alternatives to terraform-compliance The whole list