--- title: "atmos vs kurtosis" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/cloudposse-atmos-vs-kurtosis-tech-kurtosis" tools: ["cloudposse-atmos", "kurtosis-tech-kurtosis"] --- # atmos vs kurtosis *GraphCanon updated Aug 11, 2026* ## Verdict Pick atmos if atmos is a Terraform orchestration tool for DevOps written in Go. It supports hierarchical imports and inheritance to keep environment configuration DRY; pick kurtosis if kurtosis is a platform for packaging and launching blockchain infrastructure that works with various backends such as Docker and Kubernetes, using Go as its language. [atmos](https://atmos.tools) reports 1.4k GitHub stars, 174 forks, and 304 open issues, last pushed Aug 11, 2026. [kurtosis](https://docs.kurtosistech.com/) has 546 stars, 97 forks, and 303 open issues, last pushed Jul 28, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [atmos's repository](https://github.com/cloudposse/atmos) and [kurtosis's repository](https://github.com/kurtosis-tech/kurtosis). | | [atmos](/tools/cloudposse-atmos.md) | [kurtosis](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Terraform Orchestration Tool for DevOps using Go | A platform for packaging and launching blockchain infrastructure. | | Stars | 1,352 | 546 | | Forks | 174 | 97 | | Open issues | 304 | 303 | | Language | Go | Go | | Adopt for | Atmos is a Terraform orchestration tool for DevOps written in Go. It supports hierarchical imports and inheritance to keep environment configuration DRY. | Kurtosis is a platform for packaging and launching blockchain infrastructure that works with various backends such as Docker and Kubernetes, using Go as its language. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Developer Tools | Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [atmos](/tools/cloudposse-atmos.md) | [kurtosis](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 0d | 5d | | Open issues (now) | 304 | 303 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/cloudposse-atmos/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: atmos - **Adopt for:** Atmos is a Terraform orchestration tool for DevOps written in Go. It supports hierarchical imports and inheritance to keep environment configuration DRY. ## Decision facts: kurtosis - **Adopt for:** Kurtosis is a platform for packaging and launching blockchain infrastructure that works with various backends such as Docker and Kubernetes, using Go as its language. ## Choose when ### Choose atmos if… - Tags unique to atmos: automation, cli, cloud, hcl2. - atmos ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need a tool that supports both Terraform and Helmfile natively, allowing for streamlined management of infrastructure as code with rich inheritance capabilities. ### Choose kurtosis if… - Tags unique to kurtosis: backend, cicd, containerization, deploy. - When developing specialized blockchain applications requiring streamlined deployment on multiple backend technologies - Leaner open-issue backlog (303). ## When NOT to use atmos - Avoid using Atmos if you are looking for a solution that supports a wider range of infrastructure definition languages beyond Terraform and Helmfile. - Not suitable for those who require extensive UI features, as it primarily focuses on CLI operations and automated DRY configurations. ## When NOT to use kurtosis - If your project uses languages or frameworks not supported by Go and does not include Docker or Kubernetes in its tech stack - When the requirements do not involve blockchain technology, as Kurtosis is narrowly focused on this domain ## Common questions ### What is the difference between atmos and kurtosis? atmos: Terraform Orchestration Tool for DevOps using Go. kurtosis: A platform for packaging and launching blockchain infrastructure.. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose atmos over kurtosis? Choose atmos over kurtosis when Tags unique to atmos: automation, cli, cloud, hcl2; atmos ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need a tool that supports both Terraform and Helmfile natively, allowing for streamlined management of infrastructure as code with rich inheritance capabilities. ### When should I choose kurtosis over atmos? Choose kurtosis over atmos when Tags unique to kurtosis: backend, cicd, containerization, deploy; When developing specialized blockchain applications requiring streamlined deployment on multiple backend technologies; Leaner open-issue backlog (303). ### When should I avoid atmos? Avoid using Atmos if you are looking for a solution that supports a wider range of infrastructure definition languages beyond Terraform and Helmfile. Not suitable for those who require extensive UI features, as it primarily focuses on CLI operations and automated DRY configurations. ### When should I avoid kurtosis? If your project uses languages or frameworks not supported by Go and does not include Docker or Kubernetes in its tech stack When the requirements do not involve blockchain technology, as Kurtosis is narrowly focused on this domain ### Is atmos or kurtosis more popular on GitHub? atmos has more GitHub stars (1,352 vs 546). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are atmos and kurtosis open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (atmos: Apache-2.0, kurtosis: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to atmos or kurtosis? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [atmos alternatives](/tools/cloudposse-atmos/alternatives) and [kurtosis alternatives](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis/alternatives) ([atmos markdown twin](/tools/cloudposse-atmos/alternatives.md), [kurtosis markdown twin](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/cloudposse-atmos-vs-kurtosis-tech-kurtosis.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, atmos or kurtosis? atmos: Very active. kurtosis: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for atmos and kurtosis? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [atmos trust report](/tools/cloudposse-atmos/trust); [kurtosis trust report](/tools/kurtosis-tech-kurtosis/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cloudposse-atmos`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=cloudposse-atmos) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_