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Pulumi vs tRPC: Pricing Comparison 2026

Side-by-side pricing comparison of Pulumi and tRPC. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.

Bottom line: tRPC starts at $39.738/mo, making it $0/mo cheaper than Pulumi ($40/mo). Pulumi offers a free plan.

Last updated: March 16, 2026

Data compiled by Arthur Jacquemin
Updated March 16, 2026

Pulumi vs tRPC: Quick Pricing Facts

FeaturePulumitRPC
Starting Price$40/mo$39.738/mo
Number of Plans41
Free TierYesNo
Pricing Modelusage-basedopen-source
Annual DiscountN/AN/A

tRPC is the more affordable option, starting at $39.738/mo compared to Pulumi's $40/mo. Both are Dev Tools with 5 combined pricing plans and 34 features compared.

Pulumi stands out with a free plan for getting started. Pulumi uses usage-based pricing while tRPC uses open-source pricing, which may affect your total cost at scale.

Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Dev Tools needs.

Pricing Plans
Tier 1
Individual
$0/monthCheapest
Includes
  • IaC state management
  • Unlimited projects, stacks, and environments
  • Unlimited updates and history
  • 500 free deployments minutes
Start with Individual
Star
$40/month
Includes
  • Automatic typesafety
  • Snappy DX
  • Framework agnostic
  • Autocompletion
  • Light bundle size
  • Batteries included
Start with Star
Tier 2
Team
$40/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Up to 10 users
  • Secure collaboration and CI/CD
  • AI assistance with Pulumi Neo
  • Resource search
  • OIDC and Org Access Tokens
  • Webhooks
  • Automatic secrets rotation
  • Community support
Start with Team
Tier 3
Enterprise
$400/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Unlimited users
  • SAML/SSO and RBAC
  • Internal developer platform (IDP)
  • Audit logs
  • Drift detection and remediation
  • Time-to-live stacks
  • Customer Managed Keys
  • Priority feature requests
  • 12x5 Enterprise Support available
Start with Enterprise
Tier 4
Business Critical
Custom pricing
Includes
  • Self-hosting available
  • Built-in compliance (NIST, PCI, and more)
  • Automatic group & user sync (SCIM)
  • Audit logs export
  • Volume pricing and invoicing
  • Private Slack and Professional Services
  • 24x7 Enterprise Support available
Start with Business Critical

Swipe to compare plans →

Pulumi

Infrastructure as code using real programming languages

View all Pulumi plans

tRPC

End-to-end typesafe APIs for TypeScript (free and open-source)

View all tRPC plans
Our Pick

Pulumi

Pulumi offers a free plan, offers 4 tiers vs 1.

Based on pricing data only. Review the full comparison below for your specific needs.

Best value: Pulumi

Try Pulumi free

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Pulumi if:

  • You need a free plan with IaC state management, Unlimited projects, stacks, and environments—Pulumi offers no-cost access with no credit card required
  • You need 4 pricing tiers for flexible team sizing—more options mean less overpaying for features you don't need
  • You want more features built-in—Pulumi offers 22 additional features across its plans
  • Your team needs custom enterprise pricing—Pulumi offers negotiated terms for large deployments

Choose tRPC if:

  • You want lower per-user costs—tRPC starts at $39.738/mo, saving $0.26200000000000045/mo compared to Pulumi at $40/mo
  • You prioritize tRPC's user experience and interface over price (both tools are similarly priced)
  • You want tRPC's approach to incremental feature unlocking across its 1 pricing tier

Pulumi offers a free plan [1], eliminating the cost barrier for evaluation, while tRPC requires paid subscription from the start. This gives Pulumi a significant advantage for teams with budget constraints or extended trial periods. Once you outgrow Pulumi's free tier, upgrading to a paid plan at approximately $40/mo provides substantial additional functionality. Compare this pricing path against tRPC's tiering starting at $39.738/mo to assess total cost of ownership over 12 months. Pulumi's 4 tiers provide flexibility at different budgets, while tRPC's 1 tier structure may force you into higher-cost plans than necessary for your use case. If evaluation cost matters to your decision, Pulumi is the obvious starting point with zero financial commitment. Use the free tier to validate core functionality before committing to paid plans from either tool.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Pulumi vs tRPC

Which is cheaper, Pulumi or tRPC?
As of March 2026, tRPC starts at a lower price point. Pulumi starts at $40/mo while tRPC starts at $39.738/mo. However, the best value depends on the features you need at each tier.
How many pricing plans does Pulumi have vs tRPC?
Pulumi offers 4 pricing plans, while tRPC offers 1 plan. More plans typically means more flexibility to match your exact needs and budget.
Does Pulumi or tRPC offer a free plan?
Pulumi offers a free plan, while tRPC does not. If budget is a concern, Pulumi lets you get started at no cost.
Does Pulumi or tRPC offer custom enterprise pricing?
Pulumi offers a custom-priced enterprise tier for larger teams. tRPC lists all its pricing publicly.
What pricing models do Pulumi and tRPC use?
Pulumi uses a usage-based pricing model, while tRPC uses open-source pricing. The right model depends on your team size and usage patterns.
How do Pulumi and tRPC compare for Dev Tools?
Both Pulumi and tRPC are Dev Tools. Pulumi offers 4 plans starting at $40/mo, while tRPC offers 1 plan starting at $39.738/mo. Review the feature breakdowns above to see which better fits your Dev Tools needs.

Sources

  1. Pulumi Official PricingVendor pricing page
  2. tRPC Official PricingVendor pricing page

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