Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Atlantis vs Greenhouse

Atlantis logo

Atlantis

Developer Tools

Runs Terraform plan and apply from pull request comments, self-hosted and free

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Greenhouse logo

Greenhouse

Technology

Hiring software for growing companies

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Atlantis has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Atlantis there is no company, no service level agreement and no paid support at any price, and the six maintainers are volunteers with day jobs, which some risk committees will not accept for a component holding production cloud credentials.; Greenhouse core plan lacks talent discovery and contact lookups
  • They diverge on capability: Atlantis covers Pull request plans, Greenhouse covers Applicant tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Atlantis and Greenhouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Atlantis and Greenhouse differ
AttributeAtlantisGreenhouse
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hostedWeb, Ios, Android, Api
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Atlantis

  • Pull request plans
  • Comment driven apply
  • Workspace locking
  • Policy checking
  • Multi-platform webhooks
  • Custom workflows

Only in Greenhouse

  • Applicant tracking
  • Interview scheduling
  • Scorecard system
  • Job board posting
  • Candidate CRM
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Offer management
  • EEO compliance

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Atlantis

  • Making Terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approvernot Greenhouse
  • Removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keysnot Greenhouse
  • Getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platformnot Greenhouse
  • Enforcing Conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can runnot Greenhouse

Greenhouse

  • Enterprise hiring and recruiting automationnot Atlantis
  • Multi-location and multi-team talent acquisitionnot Atlantis
  • Structured interview process managementnot Atlantis

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Atlantis

  • There is no company, no service level agreement and no paid support at any price, and the six maintainers are volunteers with day jobs, which some risk committees will not accept for a component holding production cloud credentials.
  • The security surface is inherently sharp, because it is an internet-reachable webhook endpoint that executes applies with privileged credentials, gated by pull request comment authorisation that is coarse next to a real policy engine.
  • It is stateful, holding a working directory and lock database on local disk, so high availability and horizontal scaling are awkward and you own upgrades, webhook plumbing, secret rotation and the host itself.
  • It lacks the features that distinguish the commercial alternatives, with no native drift detection, no cost estimation, no managed state interface and no policy engine beyond the Conftest integration.
  • Terragrunt and monorepo layouts are not first-class, requiring hand-written custom workflows and repository configuration that becomes a growing maintenance burden as the number of repositories increases.

Greenhouse

  • Core plan lacks talent discovery and contact lookups
  • Core plan lacks email automation and applicant texting
  • Plus plan lacks resume anonymisation and application limits
  • Plus plan lacks audit logging and developer tools
  • Pricing customised by hiring volume and company size, not published
  • Only Pro tier offers audit logs and developer sandbox

Pricing, plan by plan

Atlantis

Free
  • AtlantisFree
    • Apache-2.0, no usage limits and no seat count
    • No commercial edition and no paid support tier
    • Community support through GitHub and the CNCF Slack channel

Greenhouse

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Greenhouse review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlantis if

  • You need pull request plans.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want comment driven apply.
Atlantis review

Choose Greenhouse if

  • You need applicant tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want interview scheduling.
Greenhouse review

Questions people ask

Is Atlantis or Greenhouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Atlantis starts at Free and Greenhouse at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Atlantis or Greenhouse?
Atlantis has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Atlantis and On request for Greenhouse.
Does Atlantis or Greenhouse run on more platforms?
Atlantis runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted. Greenhouse runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
Can I use Atlantis for free?
Yes. Atlantis has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Greenhouse starts at On request.
What is Atlantis best used for?
Atlantis is most often used for making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver, removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys, getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platform, enforcing conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can run. Of those, making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver and removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys are not what Greenhouse is typically brought in for.
What can Atlantis do that Greenhouse cannot?
Atlantis covers Pull request plans, Comment driven apply, Workspace locking, Policy checking. Greenhouse covers Applicant tracking, Interview scheduling, Scorecard system, Job board posting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Atlantis: Is there a company behind Atlantis?

No. It runs as a series of LF Projects under the Linux Foundation and is maintained by volunteers. There is no vendor to buy support from and no service level agreement.

Greenhouse: How much does Greenhouse cost?

Greenhouse does not publish specific pricing. The company states that pricing is customized based on your hiring needs, hiring volume, organizational complexity, and required features.

Source
Atlantis: Is it a CNCF project?

No. It uses a channel in the CNCF Slack, which is often misread as membership, but the project sits under LF Projects rather than the CNCF.

Greenhouse: What are the Greenhouse pricing tiers?

Greenhouse offers three plan levels: Core (basic hiring structure), Plus (multi-location optimization), and Pro (complex enterprise hiring). Exact pricing requires contacting Greenhouse for a custom quote.

Source
Atlantis: Does it work with OpenTofu?

Yes, there is a dedicated integration guide alongside Terraform, and it also has configuration for working with hosted Terraform backends.

Greenhouse: Do all Greenhouse tiers include the same features?

No. Core includes sourcing and scheduling, Plus adds automation and texting, and Pro adds enterprise data configuration and audit logs. All tiers can be customized.

Source
Atlantis: What does it not do that a paid platform does?

Drift detection, cost estimation, a managed state and run interface, and a real policy engine. Atlantis does pull request plan and apply well and stops there.

Share

Related pages

More on Atlantis

More on Greenhouse

Keep looking

Other head to heads