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HCP Terraform vs Very Good Security

HCP Terraform logo

HCP Terraform

Developer Tools

Infrastructure as code provisioning and management, formerly Terraform Cloud

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only HCP Terraform has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HCP Terraform legacy free version deprecated; no current freemium tier; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HCP Terraform and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where HCP Terraform and Very Good Security differ
AttributeHCP TerraformVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelusage-basedPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 HCP Terraform

Nothing recorded that Very Good Security does not also cover.

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

HCP Terraform

  • Infrastructure as Code managementnot Very Good Security
  • Cloud resource provisioningnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot HCP Terraform
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot HCP Terraform
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot HCP Terraform
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot HCP Terraform

Where each one falls short

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

HCP Terraform

  • Legacy free version deprecated; no current freemium tier
  • New users receive $500 credit but still require usage to continue service
  • Terraform Enterprise requires custom pricing

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

HCP Terraform

Free
  • Essentials$0.1/month
    • Per resource pricing
    • Remote state storage
    • VCS connection
  • Standard$0.47/month
    • Per resource pricing
    • Essentials features plus unlimited modules
    • Module deprecation
  • Premium$0.99/month
    • Per resource pricing
    • Standard features plus module revocation
    • Waypoint actions

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose HCP Terraform if

  • You want to start without paying.
HCP Terraform review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is HCP Terraform or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. HCP Terraform starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HCP Terraform or Very Good Security?
HCP Terraform has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HCP Terraform and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does HCP Terraform or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
HCP Terraform runs on Web. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use HCP Terraform for free?
Yes. HCP Terraform has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is HCP Terraform best used for?
HCP Terraform is most often used for infrastructure as code management, cloud resource provisioning. Of those, infrastructure as code management and cloud resource provisioning are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can HCP Terraform do that Very Good Security cannot?
Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HCP Terraform: How much does HCP Terraform cost?

HCP Terraform uses per-resource pricing starting at $0.10/month/resource for Essentials, $0.47/month/resource for Standard, and $0.99/month/resource for Premium.

Source
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

HCP Terraform: Does HCP Terraform offer a free tier?

No, the legacy free version has been deprecated. However, new users receive $500 credit to try the service.

Source
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

HCP Terraform: What does the Standard plan include?

Standard plan at $0.47/month/resource includes unlimited modules, module deprecation, team notifications, no-code provisioning, and Waypoint templates.

Source
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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