Firefly vs HCP Terraform: cloud disaster recovery compared
Firefly scores 73.5 and HCP Terraform scores 41.7 on this site's weights, so Firefly ranks higher overall. Firefly wins on infrastructure coverage, recovery automation, cross-region and cross-account rebuild, drift and change history, restore as code and data protection; HCP Terraform wins on pricing transparency.
Ranking current as of September 2026 · By the Cloud Resilience Vendors research desk
Verdict by criterion
| Criterion | Firefly | HCP Terraform | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure coverage beyond data COV 20% | 86 | 40 | Firefly |
| Recovery automation AUTO 16% | 84 | 45 | Firefly |
| Cross-region and cross-account rebuild XREG 14% | 82 | 50 | Firefly |
| Drift and change history DRIFT 12% | 92 | 80 | Firefly |
| Restore as code (IaC generation) IAC 10% | 94 | 30 | Firefly |
| Data protection depth and cloud DR track record DATA 18% | 30 | 5 | Firefly |
| Pricing transparency PRICE 10% | 55 | 60 | HCP Terraform |
| Weighted total | 73.5 | 41.7 | Firefly |
Firefly wins 6, HCP Terraform wins 1, ties 0
- DATA
- Not covered or not published Does not document backing up data contents.
- CONFIG
- Restored Resource configuration restored as Terraform.
- NETWORK
- Restored VPC, subnets, security groups, NACLs, WAF in coverage table.
- IAM
- Restored IAM roles, policies and users in coverage table.
- DNS
- Restored Route 53 and Azure Private DNS zones in coverage table.
What the vendor's public material says it restores. Not a test result. Hatched = partial or not itemized.
- Data
- Not covered or not published Does not document backing up data contents.
- Configuration
- Restored Resource configuration restored as Terraform.
- Network
- Restored VPC, subnets, security groups, NACLs, WAF in coverage table.
- IAM
- Restored IAM roles, policies and users in coverage table.
- DNS
- Restored Route 53 and Azure Private DNS zones in coverage table.
What the vendor's public material says it restores. Not a test result. Hatched = partial or not itemized.
- DATA
- Not covered or not published No data protection.
- CONFIG
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- NETWORK
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- IAM
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- DNS
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
What the vendor's public material says it restores. Not a test result. Hatched = partial or not itemized.
- Data
- Not covered or not published No data protection.
- Configuration
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- Network
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- IAM
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
- DNS
- Partial or not itemized Only what is already in Terraform code.
What the vendor's public material says it restores. Not a test result. Hatched = partial or not itemized.
How do Firefly and HCP Terraform differ in approach?
Firefly is ranked as an infrastructure recovery platform, with the ranking note "Top ranked: rebuilds cloud infrastructure as code". HCP Terraform is ranked as an IaC baseline, with the ranking note "The baseline: re-apply code you already have".
Firefly
- Backup policies select applications by tag and run On-Demand, Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
Source: Firefly docs: Applications Backup & DR · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Firefly captures the dependencies an application needs, such as VPC, subnet and IAM instance profile, and restores by generating Terraform code rather than making direct cloud changes.
Source: Firefly docs: Applications Backup & DR · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Documented limitation: restoration depends on Terraform provider support.
Source: Firefly docs: Applications Backup & DR · Reviewed Sep 2026
HCP Terraform
- Health assessments detect drift and run continuous validation, in HCP Terraform Standard and Premium only.
Source: HashiCorp docs: Health assessments · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Stores current and historical state versions, with a UI rollback to a previous state version; HashiCorp warns this can orphan or duplicate resources.
Source: HashiCorp docs: State · Reviewed Sep 2026
- Pricing is pay-as-you-go with a $500 credit, Flex plans or Enterprise Self Managed.
Source: HashiCorp pricing · Reviewed Sep 2026
Where does each one score higher?
Firefly
- Infrastructure coverage beyond data: 86 vs 40. Docs list backup coverage for 190 AWS resource types across 48 services and 86 Azure resource types across 14 services, including IAM, Route 53, VPC, security groups, EKS and AKS; GCP is not in the coverage table.
- Recovery automation: 84 vs 45. Backup policies run on demand, daily, weekly or monthly and capture dependencies automatically; restore is a guided Terraform flow rather than a single failover button.
- Cross-region and cross-account rebuild: 82 vs 50. Firefly documents cross-region and cross-account rebuild, including into a clean, isolated region or account after ransomware.
- Drift and change history: 92 vs 80. Drift detection, mutation logs and a configuration history are core product features, not add-ons.
- Restore as code (IaC generation): 94 vs 30. Restores are generated as Terraform code, and codification covers Terraform, Pulumi and CloudFormation, so the recovered state is code the team keeps.
- Data protection depth and cloud DR track record: 30 vs 5. Firefly states that data backup is not service continuity and does not document backing up database or volume contents; it needs a data backup product alongside it.
HCP Terraform
- Pricing transparency: 60 vs 55. Pay-as-you-go with a $500 credit is published; per-resource rates sit in an IBM pricing table.
What does each one cost?
| Vendor | Published pricing | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Firefly | 14-day free trial with all capabilities, no credit card. Essential: $2,499 per month billed annually, up to 20,000 assets. Enterprise (includes Infrastructure Backup and DR): custom pricing. Essential is published at $2,499 a month billed annually, but Backup and DR sits in the Enterprise tier, which is custom priced. | Source: Firefly pricing · Reviewed Sep 2026 |
| HCP Terraform | Pay-as-you-go with a $500 credit; Flex plans; Enterprise self-managed. Per-resource rates are in IBM's pricing table. Pay-as-you-go with a $500 credit is published; per-resource rates sit in an IBM pricing table. | Source: HCP Terraform pricing · Reviewed Sep 2026 |
Model your own inputs in the calculator.
Which should you choose?
Choose Firefly if you want recovery to produce infrastructure as code your team can review and keep, or you need a continuous record of what changed and drift detection against a known-good state. Firefly scores 94 on restore as code and 92 on drift and change history.
Choose HCP Terraform if you need to model the cost from public pricing before a sales call. HCP Terraform scores 60 on pricing transparency against 55 for Firefly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefly or HCP Terraform better for cloud disaster recovery?
On this site's weights Firefly scores higher (73.5 vs 41.7). HCP Terraform is ahead on pricing transparency. Which fits better depends on how much those criteria matter to you; the calculator lets you re-weight them. Open the calculator.
Do Firefly and HCP Terraform publish their prices?
Firefly: 14-day free trial with all capabilities, no credit card. Essential: $2,499 per month billed annually, up to 20,000 assets. Enterprise (includes Infrastructure Backup and DR): custom pricing. HCP Terraform: Pay-as-you-go with a $500 credit; Flex plans; Enterprise self-managed. Per-resource rates are in IBM's pricing table.
Do Firefly and HCP Terraform back up data?
Firefly: Not covered or not published, does not document backing up data contents. HCP Terraform: Not covered or not published, no data protection. Most teams pair an infrastructure recovery tool with a data backup product.