# Alternatives to Crossplane Crossplane is an open source framework, hosted by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, for building cloud native control planes that install directly into a Kubernetes cluster. Teams define custom APIs (Composite Resource Definitions) and Compositions that map declarative desired state to Providers, which continuously reconcile managed resources against external services such as AWS, Azure, and GCP. It is released under the Apache 2.0 license. Crossplane ranks #2 of 8 in Infrastructure as Code, with an Alt Score of 81. It is licensed under Apache License 2.0 and open source with paid hosting from Free. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/crossplane/ Category: Infrastructure as Code ## Where Crossplane stands out - **Kubernetes-native** — 2 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this - **General-purpose language support** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this - **Declarative configuration language** — 4 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Platform engineering teams building self-service, Kubernetes-native control planes for provisioning cloud infrastructure and applications. - **What you get**: A Kubernetes extension installed via Helm that adds Providers (mapping external cloud APIs to managed resources), a Composition engine for building custom APIs, an Operations component for one-off/scheduled tasks, and a package manager for distributing Providers, Functions, and Configurations as OCI images. - **How it works**: Crossplane extends an existing Kubernetes cluster with CustomResourceDefinitions; Provider controllers watch the desired state expressed in those resources and continuously reconcile it against the external service, reverting any out-of-band change back to what is configured in the resource spec. ## Profile - **License**: Apache License 2.0 (verified 2026-08-03) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-08-03) - **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-08-03) - **Status**: active (verified 2026-08-03) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Pulumi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pulumi.md) | 93 | Apache License 2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 2 | [env zero](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/env0.md) | 81 | Proprietary | Web | | 3 | [Terraform](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/terraform.md) | 81 | Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL-1.1) | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | | 4 | [OpenTofu](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/opentofu.md) | 74 | Mozilla Public License, version 2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 5 | [Spacelift](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/spacelift.md) | 74 | Proprietary | Web | | 6 | [AWS CDK](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aws-cdk.md) | 70 | Apache License 2.0 | ? | | 7 | [Terragrunt](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/terragrunt.md) | 62 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Infrastructure as Code checklist | Crossplane | Pulumi | env zero | Terraform | OpenTofu | Spacelift | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Free | Freemium | | Starts at | Free | $40/mo base | ? | $0.10/resource/mo | Free | $20,000/yr | | License | Apache License 2.0 | Apache License 2.0 | Proprietary | Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL-1.1) | Mozilla Public License, version 2.0 | Proprietary | | Platforms | ? | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web | | Open source | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | No | | Declarative configuration language | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | | General-purpose language support | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | No | Partial | | State management | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Drift detection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | | Policy as code | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | | Multi-cloud providers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Plan preview before apply | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Module registry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Managed SaaS backend | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Kubernetes-native | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | No | Yes | | Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Crossplane. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: Apache License 2.0 — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Declarative configuration language**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **General-purpose language support**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **State management**: Partial — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Drift detection**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Policy as code**: Partial — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Multi-cloud providers**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Plan preview before apply**: Partial — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Module registry**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Managed SaaS backend**: No — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Kubernetes-native**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) - **Free tier**: Yes — (verified 2026-08-03) --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/