head to head · open source
Pulumi vs OpenStack
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars, 1,478 forks, 2,419 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenStack has 6,072 stars, 1,625 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pulumi leads on adoption by 326% (25,840 vs 6,072 stars). Pulumi is written in Go under Apache-2.0; OpenStack is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Pulumi has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, OpenStack 27%. 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 | OpenStack | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 OpenStack if
- You want the OpenStack feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and OpenStack 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 OpenStack
OpenStack ========= OpenStack is a collection of interoperable components that can be deployed to provide computing, networking and storage resources. Those infrastructure resources can then be accessed by end users through programmable APIs. This repository just represents OpenStack as a collection of git submodules. You can find the repositories for individual components at: You can learn more about the various components in OpenStack at: To learn more about how to contribute to OpenStack, please head to our Contributor portal: To learn more about how OpenStack is governed, you can visit: Why this repository ?…
read the full OpenStack overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pulumi or OpenStack more popular?
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars and OpenStack has 6,072. Pulumi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pulumi and OpenStack free?
Both are open source. Pulumi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenStack under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pulumi and OpenStack?
Pulumi is written in Go and OpenStack in Python. 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 OpenStack?
Choose Pulumi if you want the larger community (25,840 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenStack if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.