Infrastructure as code · RankedAWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation is an infrastructure as code tool from AWS for managing cloud infrastructure on AWS · aws.amazon.com ↗
Read the same way at every company size.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
Terraform is first at 49%.
Terraform is first at 58%. 0 of 14 models made it the first choice when asked directly.
Terraform is first at 62%.
Why models recommend it
“if your organization is deeply invested in a single cloud provider and values deep native integration, the respective native tool (CloudFormation, etc.) is compelling”MiniMax M2.5 · Scale-constrained question · alternative
“Choose CloudFormation/CDK, Bicep, or Google Cloud Infrastructure Manager when operating primarily within one cloud.”Perplexity Sonar · Comparative question · alternative
“If you are strictly AWS-only with an AWS-native team, CloudFormation/CDK is a reasonable first-party alternative.”Muse Glimmer 30B · Paraphrase question · alternative
“Use CloudFormation if you want zero-installation, native AWS integration, and minimal abstraction overhead.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Comparative question · alternative
What gives them pause
“Avoid: ... CloudFormation without strict template security”GLM 4.7 FlashX · Negative question · warning
“Be cautious when using cloud-specific tools like AWS CloudFormation or Azure ARM templates, as they may limit your ability to migrate or use multi-cloud environments.”Llama 4 Maverick · Negative question · warning
“Not "avoid," but caution is advised due to verbosity, limited cross-cloud support, and slower feature adoption compared to Terraform.”MiniMax M2.5 · Negative question · warning
“AWS CloudFormation or Azure Bicep are often more performant and up-to-date, but lock you into that provider.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Scale-constrained question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as AWS CloudFormation, over the 170 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | 14 | View → | |
| 159 | 110 | View → | |
| 111 | 48 | View → | |
| 101 | 6 | View → | |
| 86 | 1 | View → | |
| 83 | 0 | View → | |
| 63 | 0 | View → | |
| 38 | 0 | View → | |
| 36 | 0 | View → | |
| 33 | 1 | View → |
What the models named instead of AWS CloudFormation →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on AWS CloudFormation's own site, not checked by Gane.
- Also from AWS
- AWS ACM, AWS ALB/ELB, AWS ALB/NLB, AWS API Gateway HTTP APIs, AWS Amazon Aurora, AWS App Runner and 84 more
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 135 of the 170 answers that named AWS CloudFormation and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
319 of the 384 domain citations in answers naming AWS CloudFormation came from a third party's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |