Helm vs Terraform: What are the differences?

Helm and Terraform are both widely used tools in the DevOps and infrastructure management space. Let's explore the key differences between them.

1. Architecture: Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, while Terraform is an infrastructure provisioning tool. Helm focuses on deploying and managing applications on a Kubernetes cluster, while Terraform is designed to create and manage infrastructure resources across different cloud providers.

2. Abstraction Level: Helm operates at a higher level of abstraction compared to Terraform. Helm packages applications as charts, which include all the necessary Kubernetes manifests and configurations. These packaged charts provide a declarative approach to application deployment, allowing users to focus on the application logic rather than the infrastructure details. On the other hand, Terraform works at a lower level, allowing users to define and manage individual infrastructure resources in a more granular manner.

3. Deployment and Configuration: Helm simplifies the deployment and configuration of applications on Kubernetes by providing a templating engine that allows for parameterized values and extensive customization. It also supports rollbacks and versioning of releases, making it easier to manage application updates. Terraform, on the other hand, follows an immutable infrastructure approach, where infrastructure resources are defined in code and changes are applied by creating new resources and destroying the old ones.

4. Ecosystem and Community: Helm has a mature and active community, with a large number of charts available in the Helm Chart repository. This repository provides pre-configured packages for various applications and services, making it easy to deploy complex applications on Kubernetes. Terraform also has a strong community support and a rich ecosystem, with a wide range of providers and modules available for different cloud platforms and infrastructure components.

5. Scope and Flexibility: Helm is primarily focused on deploying and managing applications on Kubernetes, making it a suitable choice for teams working exclusively with Kubernetes-based environments. Terraform, on the other hand, offers a broader scope and can be used to manage infrastructure resources across multiple cloud providers and services. This makes Terraform a more flexible tool for managing heterogeneous infrastructure environments.

6. Versioning and Configuration Management: Helm provides built-in versioning and release management capabilities, allowing users to easily deploy, upgrade, and rollback application releases. It also supports the management of configuration values through configurable Helm values files or via command-line arguments. Terraform, on the other hand, relies on external tools or custom workflows for versioning and configuration management, as it primarily focuses on managing infrastructure resources rather than application releases.

In summary, Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, simplifying the deployment and management of applications on Kubernetes clusters, while Terraform is an infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that enables the provisioning and management of cloud infrastructure across various providers.