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Cloud · head to head

Nomad vs Terragrunt

Nomad logo

Nomad

Cloud

Flexible workload orchestration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Terragrunt logo

Terragrunt

Cloud

The Open Source IaC Orchestrator Platform Teams Trust

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nomad nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Terragrunt additional complexity layer on top of Terraform
  • They diverge on capability: Nomad covers Container orchestration, Terragrunt covers Infrastructure orchestration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nomad and Terragrunt actually diverge.

Attributes where Nomad and Terragrunt differ
AttributeNomadTerragrunt
Pricing modelopen-sourceUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, CloudAWS, Azure, GCP
Founded2015Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

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 Nomad

  • Container orchestration
  • Job scheduling
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Auto-scaling
  • Service discovery
  • Rolling deployments
  • Monitoring integration
  • High availability

Only in Terragrunt

  • Infrastructure orchestration
  • Run Queue
  • DRY configuration
  • Automated hooks
  • Infrastructure catalog
  • Least-privilege access

What people use each for

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

Nomad

  • Container and workload orchestration across infrastructurenot Terragrunt
  • Multi-region application deploymentnot Terragrunt
  • Flexible scheduling for batch jobs and servicesnot Terragrunt

Terragrunt

  • Organizing Terraform code across multiple environmentsnot Nomad
  • Automating infrastructure deployment workflowsnot Nomad
  • Implementing infrastructure as code templates for developer self-servicenot Nomad

Where each one falls short

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

Nomad

  • Nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Nomad to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions
  • Each version converts to MPL 2.0 only four years after that version is published
  • Resource quotas, Sentinel policies and audit logging sit in a Governance and Policy add-on module that is separate from the Enterprise base platform package
  • Multi-region deployments, multiple Vault namespaces and Nomad Autopilot advanced server management require Nomad Enterprise

Terragrunt

  • Additional complexity layer on top of Terraform
  • Requires understanding of Terraform concepts
  • Paid tier pricing not clearly published

Pricing, plan by plan

Nomad

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Workload orchestration
    • Multi-cloud
    • Flexible scheduling

Terragrunt

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Terragrunt CLI - completely free
    • Community support
  • Terragrunt Scale FreeFree
    • Free CI/CD pipeline
    • Unlimited runs and resources
    • For up to 25 infrastructure units
  • Terragrunt Scale Paid$undefined/custom
    • Volume pricing for more than 25 infrastructure units
    • Enterprise support

Which should you pick?

Choose Nomad if

  • You need container orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want job scheduling.
Nomad review

Choose Terragrunt if

  • You need infrastructure orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, Azure, GCP.
  • You also want run queue.
Terragrunt review

Questions people ask

Is Nomad or Terragrunt better?
Neither clearly leads. Nomad starts at Free and Terragrunt at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nomad or Terragrunt?
Nomad starts at Free and Terragrunt at Free.
Does Nomad or Terragrunt run on more platforms?
Nomad runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Terragrunt runs on AWS, Azure, GCP.
Can I use Nomad for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Nomad best used for?
Nomad is most often used for container and workload orchestration across infrastructure, multi-region application deployment, flexible scheduling for batch jobs and services. Of those, container and workload orchestration across infrastructure and multi-region application deployment are not what Terragrunt is typically brought in for.
What can Nomad do that Terragrunt cannot?
Nomad covers Container orchestration, Job scheduling, Multi-cloud support, Auto-scaling. Terragrunt covers Infrastructure orchestration, Run Queue, DRY configuration, Automated hooks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nomad: Is HashiCorp Nomad free?

HashiCorp Nomad is open source and free to use. Commercial enterprise support and hosting options may be available through HashiCorp, but the core product is free.

Source
Terragrunt: Is Terragrunt free?

Yes, the Terragrunt CLI is completely free and open source. Terragrunt Scale offers a free tier for up to 25 infrastructure units.

Source
Nomad: Does HashiCorp Nomad have a pricing model?

Nomad is open source software with no published pricing tiers. HashiCorp offers commercial hosting and support for their products on a usage-based or custom pricing model, but Nomad itself is free to download and deploy.

Source
Terragrunt: What is the difference between Terragrunt and Terraform?

Terragrunt is an orchestration layer on top of Terraform that handles state management, DRY principles, and deployment automation without replacing Terraform itself.

Source
Nomad: What is HashiCorp's pricing model for enterprise Nomad?

HashiCorp offers flexible pricing for enterprise Nomad support including pay-as-you-go (PAYG) billing with no long-term commitment, flex plans with preferred pricing, and enterprise self-managed plans. Contact HashiCorp sales for custom quotes.

Source
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