Atlantis vs Terragrunt
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Atlantis
Terraform pull request automation
VS
Terragrunt
Thin wrapper that keeps Terraform configurations DRY
| Feature | Atlantis | Terragrunt |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, helm | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,223 | ★ 9,766 |
| First released | 2017 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Terraform Cloud, Spacelift | Terraform Cloud |
Why pick each one
Choose Atlantis if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose Terragrunt if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 9.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Atlantis or Terragrunt better?
Neither is universally better. Terragrunt has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Atlantis and Terragrunt free and open-source?
Yes. Atlantis is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Terragrunt under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Atlantis and Terragrunt with Docker?
Atlantis: yes. Terragrunt: check the project docs for container support.