Pulumi — FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Pulumi.
Is Pulumi free?
Yes. The core CLI and all providers are open source (Apache 2.0). Pulumi Cloud has a free tier for individuals. Paid plans add team features (RBAC, SAML, audit logs).
Does Pulumi replace Terraform?
It can, but it doesn’t have to. Many teams run both. Pulumi uses the same cloud APIs and even bridges Terraform providers. You can migrate gradually.
Which language should I use?
| If your team knows… | Use… |
|---|---|
| Python | Pulumi Python SDK |
| TypeScript/JavaScript | Pulumi TypeScript SDK |
| Go | Pulumi Go SDK |
| C#/.NET | Pulumi .NET SDK |
| Java | Pulumi Java SDK |
| None of the above | Pulumi YAML |
💡 Tip: Python and TypeScript have the most examples and community support.
Where is the state stored?
By default, in Pulumi Cloud (encrypted at rest). You can also use:
- S3 / Azure Blob / GCS
- Local file system
- Self-hosted Pulumi Cloud
Can I use Pulumi without Pulumi Cloud?
Yes. Use a self-managed backend:
pulumi login s3://my-bucket
pulumi login --local
You lose the web dashboard, RBAC, and drift detection.
How do I handle secrets?
Pulumi encrypts secrets in state. Choose your encryption provider:
pulumi stack init dev --secrets-provider awskms://alias/pulumi
Options: Pulumi Cloud (default), AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP KMS, HashiCorp Vault.
What if Pulumi doesn’t support a resource?
Options:
- Dynamic provider — write CRUD in Python/TypeScript
- Command provider — run shell commands as resources
- Contribute — add the resource to the existing provider
- Wait — most Terraform resources get bridged automatically
Can I import Terraform state?
Yes. Use pulumi convert --from terraform to convert code, or pulumi import to import individual resources from any source (including Terraform-managed ones).
Is Pulumi production-ready?
Yes. Companies like Snowflake, Mercedes-Benz, and Atlassian use Pulumi in production. The project has been active since 2018.
Tutorial Complete 🎉
You’ve covered everything from installation to CI/CD, testing, and advanced patterns. Go build something!
