Terraform vs OpenTofu

Choose between Terraform and OpenTofu for your Bluebricks artifacts.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Terraform	OpenTofu
License	BSL 1.5.8+ (restricted)	MPL 2.0 (open source)
Latest Supported	1.5.7	Latest
Syntax	Identical	Identical
Provider Support	Full	Full
Bluebricks Support	Yes	Yes

License Considerations

Terraform:

• Versions 1.5.7 and earlier: MPL 2.0 (open source)

• Versions 1.5.8+: BSL v1.1 (restricted for competitive use)

• Bluebricks supports up to 1.5.7

OpenTofu:

• Always MPL 2.0 (open source)

• No licensing restrictions

• Full compatibility with Terraform

When to Use Terraform

• Existing Terraform codebase

• Team familiar with Terraform

• Using Terraform 1.5.7 or earlier

• No licensing concerns

When to Use OpenTofu

• New projects

• Want latest features and updates

• Concerned about BSL licensing

• Need long-term open source guarantee

Migration

Terraform → OpenTofu:

# Change in bricks.json
{
  "native": {
    "type": "opentofu",  # was "terraform"
    "path": "./src/terraform"
  }
}

No code changes required - syntax is identical.

Bluebricks Commands

Prepare with OpenTofu:

bricks blueprint prepare --source . --iac-type opentofu

Everything else works the same:

• bricks run . --dry

• bricks run . --apply

• State management

• Provider support

Recommendation

For new projects, consider OpenTofu for:

• Latest features

• Open source guarantee

• No licensing restrictions

• Full Terraform compatibility

Migration Guide

For detailed migration steps from Terraform to OpenTofu, see: Migrating from Terraform to OpenTofu

The guide covers:

• Compatibility mapping between Terraform and OpenTofu

• Step-by-step migration plan

• How Bluebricks' abstraction layer simplifies engine switching

See also

• How to Publish a Terraform Module -- package and publish your Terraform code

• How to Set Terraform/OpenTofu Version -- pin a specific engine version

• Packages overview -- artifact types and concepts