Env0 (env zero) vs. Terraform Cloud (HCP Terraform)

Tools like env0 and Terraform Cloud promise to streamline how you provision, govern, and collaborate on infrastructure. Yet each platform takes a different approach to automation, compliance, and day-to-day operations, which can make the decision feel higher-stakes than it needs to be.

In this article, we walk through the core ideas behind env0 and Terraform Cloud / HCP Terraform and highlight the practical differences you’re most likely to encounter.

Env0, now branded as env zero, is an Infrastructure as Code automation platform that helps teams manage Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, Pulumi, CloudFormation, Kubernetes and similar tools from a centralized, governed control plane. It focuses on automating plans and applies, integrating with Git workflows, and adding guardrails like policies, approvals and cost controls across cloud environments.

Key features of env zero include:

• Support for multiple IaC tools such as Terraform, OpenTofu, CloudFormation, Pulumi, Kubernetes and more, all managed from one platform 
• Git based workflows with automated plan and apply runs, plus intelligent workflows for environment promotion and post deploy tasks 
• Policy as Code and governance capabilities to enforce security, compliance and guardrails at deploy time 
• Cost management features, including cost visibility per environment and tools to optimize resource usage 
• Drift detection and analysis that compares live cloud resources to IaC definitions and surfaces configuration drift quickly 
• Self service environments that let developers safely create and manage their own stacks while platform teams keep control and visibility 

Terraform Cloud, now known as HCP Terraform, is HashiCorp’s managed platform for collaborating on Infrastructure as Code using Terraform. It provides a secure, centralized workflow where teams can run plans and applies in the cloud, store and lock state, manage variables and secrets, enforce policies, and integrate with version control. 

HCP Terraform replaces local execution and custom CI pipelines with a consistent workflow designed for governance, security, and team collaboration.

Key features of HCP Terraform include:

• Remote execution of Terraform plans and applies with full logging and audit trails
• Secure remote state storage with state locking and versioning
• VCS driven workflows that automatically trigger runs from pull requests and commits
• Policy as code using HashiCorp Sentinel or OPA to enforce rules before deployment
• Workspace based environment management with variable sets and secret storage
• Private module registry for sharing reusable Terraform modules across teams
• Cost estimation during plans to forecast infrastructure spending
• Role based access controls for fine grained permission management

HCP Terraform is HashiCorp’s native SaaS platform for executing and managing Terraform, while env0 is a more flexible, multi-IaC workflow and governance platform that treats Terraform as just one of many tools teams might use.

Let’s discuss the five biggest differences between them.

1. Ecosystem focus

env0 is designed as a multi-IaC orchestration platform. It can run and govern Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, CloudFormation, Terragrunt, Kubernetes, Ansible, and other tools from a single control plane, treating them as first-class citizens rather than plugins on the side. 

HCP Terraform (formerly Terraform Cloud) is tightly focused on one thing: Terraform. It’s an application that helps teams run Terraform, manage workspaces, state, and runs, and collaborate around Terraform configurations and policies.

2. Hosting and execution model

env0 is delivered as a SaaS control plane but offers two execution options: you can use env0’s hosted runners, or deploy self-hosted agents (often on Kubernetes) so that plan/apply workloads execute inside your own network while the UI and orchestration remain SaaS. 

HCP Terraform is also a SaaS platform, and it similarly supports self-hosted agents so you can run Terraform against private or on-prem environments without exposing them to the public internet. For organizations that want everything self-managed, HashiCorp also offers Terraform Enterprise, a fully self-hosted distribution of HCP Terraform. 

So both products combine a cloud control plane with optional private execution, but env0 is SaaS-only for the control plane, while HashiCorp additionally provides a fully self-hosted edition.

3. Pricing and free tiers

env0 uses a subscription model with tiers such as Cloud Compass, Cloud Navigator, and Cloud Pilot, plus free and trial options. At the time of writing, public listings and vendor descriptions show pricing typically combining a fixed platform fee with a variable component tied to active environments or usage, along with a basic or free tier with a more limited feature set.

HCP Terraform uses a managed-resource pricing model. The free edition covers up to 500 managed resources per month with no direct per-user charge, and paid tiers (Essentials/Standard/Premium or similar) bill per resource per hour once you exceed that threshold, with discounts for contracted volumes. Current public pricing documents show per resource rates with both monthly and effective hourly pricing, plus volume discounts on longer term commitments.

4. Governance and policy-as-code

env0 integrates natively with Open Policy Agent (OPA) and provides an OPA-based policy catalog for enforcing governance, security, and cost rules across IaC deployments. Policies are evaluated as part of env0’s workflows, alongside RBAC, approvals, and environment-level controls. 

HCP Terraform supports two policy-as-code frameworks: HashiCorp Sentinel and OPA. Policies are attached to workspaces or projects as policy sets, and are evaluated on Terraform plans and applies to enforce compliance and best practices. The free tier includes basic policy-as-code capabilities, while higher tiers expand the number and scope of policies and policy sets and add more advanced governance features.

5. Cost management, drift detection, and environment visibility

env0 emphasizes ongoing environment management. It offers built-in cost monitoring that ties cloud spend to specific environments, projects, and changes, and leverages tools like Terratag to ensure resources are tagged consistently for cost allocation. It also provides scheduled drift detection with optional auto-remediation and project-level policies controlling how often drift checks run and how remediation is handled.

HCP Terraform includes cost estimation during runs, providing per-resource and total hourly/monthly estimates, as well as deltas. These estimates can be combined with Sentinel or OPA policies to enforce cost guardrails. 

In the Standard and Premium tiers, HCP Terraform adds continuous health assessments that include drift detection and continuous validation. These automatically check whether real infrastructure has diverged from Terraform state and configuration and surface that information to users in the workspace UI.

In other words, both platforms address cost and drift, but env0 leans toward continuous FinOps-style monitoring and automated drift workflows across environments, while HCP Terraform focuses on cost and drift insights tightly coupled to Terraform runs and workspace health, with more advanced capabilities unlocked on higher plans.

Terraform Cloud and env0 both try to solve the “Terraform at scale” problem. They give you remote runs, state management, and some governance. But as your platform and infra maturity grow, you start to feel the edges: opinionated workflows, limited extensibility, and features that don’t quite match how your teams actually ship infrastructure.

That’s where Spacelift stands out.

Spacelift is a purpose-built IaC orchestration platform that gives you the control of a homegrown system with the convenience of SaaS. You keep your existing tools and workflows – Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Ansible – and Spacelift ties them together into one secure, governed, self-service layer.

With Spacelift, you get:

• Fine-grained Policies to control what resources engineers can create, what parameters they can use, how many approvals a run needs, what tasks you execute, what happens when a pull request is opened, and where to send notifications.
• Stack dependencies to model real-world, multi-stack workflows – for example, provision EC2 instances with Terraform and configure them with Ansible in a single, automated pipeline.
• Self-service infrastructure with Blueprints, so developers can request and manage their own stacks without giving up guardrails or central control.
• Everyday “creature comforts” like contexts (reusable containers for environment variables, files, and hooks), plus the ability to run arbitrary code when you need to go beyond vanilla Terraform.
• Drift detection and optional automated remediation, so you see and fix configuration drifts before they become incidents.
• Multi-IaC support by design, so you’re not locked into a single tool or vendor as your platform evolves.
• Dynamic cloud credentials for AWS, Azure, and GCP, so runs use short lived access tied to identity instead of static keys stored in configuration

The table below compares all three tools:

Feature	Spacelift	Terraform Cloud	env0
Ease of use	✅Very easy – no new language needed	✅Easy if you know Terraform	✅Easy if you know Terraform
Dependencies workflow	✅Built-in stack dependencies	✅Supported via Run Triggers and Stacks	🟠Supported with projects/environments; more manual wiring
Drift detection	✅Native support with optional remediation	✅Native health assessments & drift	🟠Supported; may require extra setup per project
Self-service workflows	✅Built-in (Blueprints)	✅No-code / self-service modules available	✅Self-service via templates
Advanced scheduling	✅Yes (e.g., drift checks on a schedule)	❌No general scheduler	🟠Limited; mainly via integrations or scripts
Dynamic cloud credentials	✅AWS, Azure, GCP	🟠Primarily Terraform-oriented workflows	🟠Cloud integrations; depends on provider setup
Policy as code	✅Native (OPA/Rego) across workflows	✅Native Sentinel and OPA	✅Policy as code focused on Terraform
Multi-IaC support	✅Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, CF, K8s, etc.	❌Terraform-only	🟠Primarily Terraform-focused
Integrations	✅Unlimited, flexible webhooks and providers	🟠Curated: VCS, Run Tasks, Agents	✅Good coverage for common VCS and cloud providers
Workflow control	✅Full control (custom images, hooks, tasks)	✅Flexible with agents (custom images, hooks, private networks)	🟠Flexible, but centered on Terraform pipelines
Pricing	✅Plan-based / predictable	❌RUM-based (Resources Under Management)	🟠Usage-based; tied to deployments and usage
State management	✅Managed or external	🟠Managed only	🟠Managed remote state (Terraform-centric; migration supported)

If you want to learn more about what you can do with Spacelift, check out this article.

The main difference between env0 and Terraform Cloud (HCP Terraform) is their approach to managing Terraform workflows. Terraform Cloud is HashiCorp’s native platform, built around Terraform as its primary workflow engine and tightly integrated with the Terraform ecosystem. env0 is a third-party orchestration layer designed to support Terraform and other IaC tools, with a stronger focus on customization, policy workflows, and cost visibility.

However, there’s also a third path for teams that want more control and flexibility without adding operational overhead. With Spacelift, you have all the tools necessary to deploy your IaC without the bloat of app deployment build tools. So check it out today for a free trial and a custom-tailored personal demo!