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Infrastructure from Code Autonomous Infrastrcture

StackGen vs Spacelift

Author:
Alex Cho
Alex Cho
| Oct 03, 2025
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Autonomous Infrastructure vs CI/CD-First Orchestration

Build, Govern, Remediate, and Optimize Infrastructure, Without Writing Terraform


Spacelift is built for deploying infrastructure that’s already been written. It helps teams automate and manage Terraform via CI/CD pipelines, policy checks, and environment workflows. It’s a solid orchestration layer for existing infrastructure.

Stackgen starts earlier and goes further. It generates infrastructure from app logic, diagrams, or cloud state using AI. Policies are enforced during creation, not just at deployment. Drift is resolved automatically. Performance is continuously optimized. From generation to recovery, StackGen turns infrastructure into a self-managing, entirely governed system.

Platform Capabilities: StackGen vs Spacelift

How they compare across creation, governance, remediation, and control

Feature Stackgen Spacelift
Visual Infrastructure Design Topology Canvas (Infracomposer) with drag-and-drop modeling and Terraform generation No visual design capabilities
Infrastructure Generation Generates Terraform from app code (Java, Python, C#), diagrams, cloud state, or prompts No infrastructure generation; operates on authored IaC
Module Management GenAI-powered editor, version control, VS Code plugin, registry publishing Hosts private Terraform registry; modules authored and managed externally
Compliance Dashboard Centralized dashboard across appStacks with support for Mars-e, NIST, CIS, etc. No unified compliance dashboard or multi-framework compliance view
Cloud-to-Code Support Converts live AWS, Azure, GCP infra into Terraform for reuse or re-architecture Not supported
AI-Powered Insights Intelligent recommendations for policy, drift, and optimization Limited AI-powered features
Workflow & Automation Visual workflow designer, Git-based CI/CD automation driven by pull request (PR) automated workflows PR-driven workflow automation
Policy Enforcement StackGuard enforces policies at generation time; supports natural language and compliance packs OPA/Rego-based policy checks during CI/CD runs
Platform Flexibility No vendor lock-in, self-hosting available Requires IaC expertise, self-hosted & private workers
Infrastructure Management Complete cloud resource visibility, intelligent drift management Resource visibility & tracking, automated drift detection
Incident Remediation StackHealer + StackAnchor for auto drift and incident remediation with autonomy level config to include human-in-the-loop Scheduled drift detection with optional auto-reconciliation runs that respect your policy and approval workflow
Cloud Migration Cloud-to-cloud and brownfield-to-IaC migration via StackBuilder and StackFinder No automated migration capabilities
Backstage Integration Native plugin: transforms service metadata into appStacks and infrastructure via metadata-to-IaC Plugin for viewing and triggering stack runs; no provisioning or compliance workflows
Security Integrations Integrates with Wiz, Palo Alto, and Tenable for security scanning & posture enforcement No native integrations
Pricing Model Free to use for individual developers. Enterprise Edition for SaaS model Tiered pricing based on users, features, and number of workers; advanced features gated behind enterprise tiers

The Autonomous Infrastructure Stack

A platform that builds, governs, heals, and improves itself

Built-in Intelligence Across the Infrastructure Lifecycle

StackGen isn’t just a UI layer; it’s a fully autonomous engine for generating, governing, remediating, and optimizing cloud infrastructure with intelligence built in.
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Self-Provisioning

Enable developers to provision secure infrastructure without needing to write Terraform.

App-driven provisioning via StackBuilder


Developers generate infrastructure from Java, Python, or C# annotations, no IaC expertise required.

Drag-and-drop visual design


Use the Infracomposer to build infrastructure visually with auto-generated Terraform and dependency mapping.

Reusable appStacks and blueprints


Standardize onboarding with governed templates pre-wired with best practices and security.

CI/CD and Backstage integration


Provision infra via pipelines or self-service portals without waiting on platform teams.

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Self-Governing

Enforce compliance and policies at generation time before issues reach production.

StackGuard policy engine at generation time


Policies are embedded as infrastructure is created, not bolted on during deployment.

Supports SOC 2, HIPAA, NIST, CIS, and custom frameworks


Apply organizational standards with reusable packs across clouds and teams.

Natural language or code-based policy authoring


Define rules in plain English or structured logic, with automatic validation.

Consistent enforcement across environments


Governance spans staging to production, reducing gaps and surprises.

Limited availability Q4 2025

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Self-Healing

Detect drift, misconfigurations, failures, and fix them automatically.

StackHealer + StackAnchor for automated remediation


Analyze root causes, apply compliant rollbacks or patches without redeployment.

Real-time drift detection with visual diffs


Understand exactly what changed, when, and why visually.

Integrated incident workflows


Tie into GitHub, PagerDuty, or your alerting stack for seamless recovery.

Remediation rules are bound to policies


Fixes always conform to security and operational standards.

Limited availability Q4 2025

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Self-Optimizing

Continuously improve infrastructure posture using AI-powered recommendations.

StackOptimizer analyzes cost, usage, and reliability


Get intelligent insights before deployment, prevent overspend, and ensure SLO alignment.

Flag high-cost patterns early


Catch wasteful or risky configurations before they impact budgets.

Right-size based on real usage


Auto-tune environments for scale without sacrificing performance.

Stay compliant while optimizing


All suggestions are constrained by your policy and governance boundaries.

Will be available in Q1 2026

What Powers StackGen’s Intelligence

Three integrated layers make autonomous infrastructure possible

StackGen’s intelligence is not a single feature; it’s a coordinated system built across three layers. Together, they enable infrastructure to generate, govern, heal, and optimize itself.


AI Layer: Multi-Agent Orchestration


Autonomous operation starts with StackGen’s agents, StackBuilder, StackGuard, StackHealer, and StackOptimizer. These AI-driven agents collaborate through an orchestration plane: one generates infrastructure from intent, another validates compliance, another remediates drift or incidents, and another optimizes for cost and performance. Every request begins in a conversational interface, where the AI agent interprets intent and delivers results as artifacts, dashboards, or recommendations.

Deterministic Tools: Proven Compliance and Governance


Beneath the AI agents, StackGen provides deterministic infrastructure tooling for reliability and auditability. These tools enforce compliance rules, manage state, and ensure repeatable infrastructure outcomes. Within this layer are the key capabilities:

  • Topology Canvas: Visually design infrastructure by dragging and dropping resources across AWS, Azure, and GCP. StackGen automatically maps dependencies, resolves configurations, and generates production-ready Terraform or OpenTofu with embedded policies.
  • Cloud-to-Code: Onboard existing infrastructure by scanning live AWS, Azure, and GCP environments and reconstructing them into reusable Terraform modules. Ideal for migrations and reclaiming unmanaged “shadow” resources.
  • Infrastructure from Code (IfC): Translate higher-level sources, application code in Java, Python, or C#, existing .tfstate files, or cloud state snapshots, into structured, compliant Terraform configurations.

Knowledge Layer: Continuous Learning


Every action taken by the AI layer or deterministic tools is recorded in StackGen’s knowledge base. This knowledge layer captures organizational patterns, compliance outcomes, and historical context, enabling agents to continuously refine recommendations, improve policy enforcement, and deliver more accurate results over time.

What Powers StackGen’s Intelligence

Infracomposer

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Visually design infrastructure with automatic Terraform generation


StackGen’s Infracomposer enables teams to design infrastructure by visually assembling cloud resources like EC2 instances, RDS databases, and Kubernetes clusters across AWS, Azure, and GCP. As components are added and connected, StackGen automatically maps relationships, resolves dependencies, and generates production-ready Terraform or OpenTofu code governed by embedded policy rules. This modeling approach reduces manual IaC writing, improves onboarding, and ensures every environment is both compliant and reproducible from the start.

AI Layer: Multi-agent orchestration.

Cloud-to-Code

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Extract Terraform from live infrastructure for reuse or re-architecture


Rather than starting from scratch, StackGen scans existing infrastructure across cloud accounts and reconstructs it as reusable Terraform modules. It supports cloud-to-code introspection across AWS, Azure, and GCP, identifying deployed resources, their configuration, and dependencies. The output is production-ready code, validated against organizational policy. This feature is ideal for cloud-to-cloud migrations, reclaiming shadow infrastructure, or onboarding brownfield environments into version-controlled workflows without manually reverse-engineering setups.

Deterministic Tools: Compliance and governance configuration with StackGen proprietary tools.

Infrastructure from Code

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Generate infrastructure from app models, cloud states, or .tfstate files


StackGen translates higher-level sources, such as annotated application code in Java, Python, or C#, existing .tfstate files, or even full cloud state snapshots, into structured, compliant Terraform configurations. This Infrastructure-from-Code (IfC) capability enables developers to provision environments directly from the systems they already build and ship. By combining code-first inputs with built-in policy enforcement and optimization hooks, StackGen removes the friction of hand-authoring IaC while maintaining traceability and control.

Knowledge Layer: Records actions from the AI and Deterministic Layers and improves the quality of subsequent queries and actions by learning from previous engagements.

Why Teams Switch

Teams moving beyond CI/CD orchestration choose StackGen for its creation-first model, autonomous capabilities, and full-lifecycle coverage. Instead of managing hand-authored Terraform through pipelines, they generate, govern, and optimize infrastructure from day one without adding tools or complexity.

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No Terraform? No problem.

StackGen creates infrastructure from inputs your teams already have, app code, diagrams, or live cloud environments.

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Governance at generation, not deployment.

Avoid post-deploy policy failures and enforce compliance from the start.

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Visual workflows over hand-authored YAML.

Model, preview, and provision through drag-and-drop interfaces or appStacks.

Vector (3)-1
Fewer tools, fewer handoffs.

StackGen covers creation, remediation, and optimization, no bolt-ons required.

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Faster onboarding for developers.

Reusable blueprints, no Terraform expertise needed, no CI/CD wiring delays.

Built for Your Stack

StackGen integrates natively with modern infrastructure ecosystems, with no vendor lock-in, no closed toolchains.

stackgenvsspacelift


  • Clouds: AWS, Azure, GCP, Civo
  • IaC Frameworks: Terraform, OpenTofu, Helm
  • CI/CD Systems: GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Bitbucket
  • Dev Platforms: Kubernetes, Docker, Backstage
  • Security Tools: Wiz, Palo Alto, Tenable
  • Deployment Flexibility: Run fully managed or deploy self-hosted in your own environment

See What Creation-First Infrastructure Looks Like

StackGen goes beyond orchestration; it's autonomous by design.

Book a demo to see how your teams can generate infrastructure, enforce policies, and remediate drift without writing a single Terraform file.

Book a demo to see autonomous infrastructure in action