head to head · open source
Pulumi vs kcl
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars, 1,478 forks, 2,419 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kcl has 2,440 stars, 177 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pulumi leads on adoption by 959% (25,840 vs 2,440 stars). Pulumi is written in Go under Apache-2.0; kcl is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Pulumi has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, kcl 7%. Pulumi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Pulumi | kcl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 177 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pulumi if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kcl if
- You want the kcl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and kcl fits your workflow better
About Pulumi
Infrastructure as Code for Humans and Agents Pulumi Infrastructure as Code is the easiest way to build and deploy infrastructure, of any architecture and on any cloud, using programming languages that you already know and love. Code and ship infrastructure faster with your favorite languages and tools, and embed IaC anywhere with Automation API. Simply write code in your favorite language and Pulumi automatically provisions and manages your resources on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, and 300+ providers using an infrastructure as code approach. Skip the YAML, and use standard language features…
read the full Pulumi overview →
About kcl
KCL: Constraint based Record & Functional Language English 简体中文 Introduction Features What is it for Installation Documentation Contributing Introduction KCL is an open source, constraint based record and functional language that enhances the writing of complex configurations, including those for cloud native scenarios. With its advanced programming language technology and practices, KCL is dedicated to promoting better modularity, scalability, and stability for configurations. It enables simpler logic writing and offers ease of automation APIs and integration with homegrown systems. What is it for? You can use…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pulumi or kcl more popular?
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars and kcl has 2,440. Pulumi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pulumi and kcl free?
Both are open source. Pulumi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kcl under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pulumi and kcl?
Pulumi is written in Go and kcl in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Pulumi or kcl?
Choose Pulumi if you want the larger community (25,840 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kcl if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.