Terraback vs Terraformer: the maintained alternative
import blocks.Why teams are migrating off Terraformer
Terraformer was the go-to open-source tool for importing existing cloud infrastructure into Terraform. Now that the project is archived, it is frozen in time: new provider resources, schema changes, and bug fixes will not land. If you adopt it today you are building on code that will only drift further from current provider versions.
Terraback was built for the same job - turning live cloud accounts into Terraform - but it is a commercially maintained product. It keeps pace with provider updates, uses the modern import-block workflow instead of legacy state surgery, and runs entirely on your machine with read-only credentials.
Terraback vs Terraformer comparison
| Feature | Terraback | Terraformer |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance status | Actively maintained, regular releases | Archived and read-only since 2026-03-16 |
| Resource coverage | 240+ resource types (80+ per cloud) | Broad, but frozen at archive time |
| Terraform import blocks | Generates native Terraform 1.5+ import blocks | Uses legacy state-file import, no import blocks |
| Clouds supported | AWS, Azure, GCP | Many providers (now unmaintained) |
| Runs locally | Yes, read-only credentials only | Yes, local CLI |
| Scan performance | Parallel scanning with caching | Sequential by default |
| Support | Commercial support and updates | Community only, no further updates |
| Pricing | $499 one-time | Free (open source) |
The honest tradeoff
Terraformer is free and open source, and that mattered for years. The tradeoff today is maintenance: an archived project cannot follow the providers it depends on. Terraback is a paid product ($499 once, no subscription), and in return you get active development, the import-block workflow, parallel scanning, and commercial support. If you are starting an infrastructure-as-code adoption now, that maintenance guarantee is usually worth more than the upfront cost.
Move from Terraformer to a maintained tool
Reverse-engineer AWS, Azure, and GCP into clean Terraform with import blocks - locally, with read-only credentials. $499 once, no SaaS.