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Cloud · head to head

Terragrunt vs Vagrant

Terragrunt logo

Terragrunt

Cloud

The Open Source IaC Orchestrator Platform Teams Trust

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vagrant logo

Vagrant

Cloud

Development environments made easy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Terragrunt additional complexity layer on top of Terraform; Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: Terragrunt covers Infrastructure orchestration, Vagrant covers Box management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Terragrunt and Vagrant actually diverge.

Attributes where Terragrunt and Vagrant differ
AttributeTerragruntVagrant
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
PlatformsAWS, Azure, GCPLinux, Windows, Mac
FoundedUnknown2010

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 Terragrunt

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

Only in Vagrant

  • Box management
  • Provider support
  • Multi-machine setups
  • Provisioners
  • Networking
  • Synced folders
  • Snapshots
  • Plugins

What people use each for

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

Terragrunt

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

Vagrant

  • Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Terragrunt
  • Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Terragrunt
  • Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Terragrunt

Where each one falls short

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

Terragrunt

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

Vagrant

  • Vagrant 2.4.3 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 Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
  • Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
  • Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Vagrant

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Development environment provisioning
    • Multiple providers
    • Provisioner support

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Vagrant if

  • You need box management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want provider support.
Vagrant review

Questions people ask

Is Terragrunt or Vagrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Terragrunt starts at Free and Vagrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Terragrunt or Vagrant?
Terragrunt starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
Does Terragrunt or Vagrant run on more platforms?
Terragrunt runs on AWS, Azure, GCP. Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac.
Can I use Terragrunt for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Terragrunt best used for?
Terragrunt is most often used for organizing terraform code across multiple environments, automating infrastructure deployment workflows, implementing infrastructure as code templates for developer self-service. Of those, organizing terraform code across multiple environments and automating infrastructure deployment workflows are not what Vagrant is typically brought in for.
What can Terragrunt do that Vagrant cannot?
Terragrunt covers Infrastructure orchestration, Run Queue, DRY configuration, Automated hooks. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Vagrant: Is Vagrant free to use?

Vagrant is a free, open-source command-line utility for managing virtual machine lifecycles.

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
Vagrant: Does Vagrant offer a paid tier?

Vagrant itself is free. HashiCorp offers a HCP Vagrant Registry with a free tier for use with Vagrant.

Source
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