What is Pulumi

Pulumi is an enterprise-grade infrastructure as code platform that enables infrastructure management using general-purpose programming languages rather than domain-specific configuration formats.

Profile

Pulumi is an enterprise-grade infrastructure as code platform that enables infrastructure management using general-purpose programming languages rather than domain-specific configuration formats. The platform allows developers and infrastructure teams to define, deploy, and manage cloud resources across multiple providers using languages like TypeScript, Python, Go, and C#. As a mature solution backed by Apache 2.0 licensing and substantial enterprise adoption, Pulumi differentiates itself through its programming language-driven approach and comprehensive cloud provider support spanning over 150 platforms.

Focus

Pulumi addresses the fundamental challenge of managing complex cloud infrastructure through familiar programming tools rather than specialized configuration languages. The platform eliminates the artificial separation between application and infrastructure code, enabling teams to apply standard software development practices to infrastructure management.

Its core value lies in enabling sophisticated infrastructure logic, reusable components, and consistent multi-cloud management patterns. The platform serves software developers, platform engineers, and infrastructure teams who need programmatic control over cloud resources while maintaining enterprise-grade security and governance.

Background

Founded in 2017 by former Microsoft executives Joe Duffy and Eric Rudder, Pulumi emerged from the recognition that traditional infrastructure-as-code tools created unnecessary barriers between application development and infrastructure management. The platform operates under Apache License 2.0, maintaining a strong commitment to open-source principles while offering commercial cloud services for enterprise needs. Major organizations including BMW, Atlassian, and Mercedes-Benz have adopted Pulumi for large-scale infrastructure management. The platform is actively maintained through a hybrid model combining open-source development with enterprise service offerings.

Main features

Programmatic infrastructure management with native language support

Pulumi's core architecture enables infrastructure definition using standard programming languages, providing strongly-typed interfaces to cloud resources through language-specific SDKs. The platform integrates with standard package managers like npm, PyPI, and NuGet, allowing developers to leverage existing development tools, testing frameworks, and IDE features. This approach enables sophisticated infrastructure patterns including conditional logic, loops, and error handling while maintaining type safety and code reusability across cloud providers.

State and secrets management system

The platform provides enterprise-grade state management capabilities that track resource configurations, detect drift, and enable rollback operations. The state system encrypts sensitive data both in transit and at rest, with integrated secrets management supporting both built-in and external providers like AWS KMS and Azure Key Vault. Organizations can choose between managed cloud storage and self-hosted backends, with support for concurrent access control and automated backup management.

Policy as Code enforcement through CrossGuard

Pulumi's policy enforcement system enables organizations to implement governance, security, and compliance requirements using the same programming languages as their infrastructure code. CrossGuard supports both preventive controls that block non-compliant deployments and detective controls that identify compliance drift. The system enables sophisticated policy logic that can evaluate complex conditions and relationships between resources, supporting enterprise governance requirements across multi-cloud environments.