Encore vs
Pulumi is Infrastructure as Code where you define cloud resources explicitly in TypeScript, Python, or Go. Encore is infrastructure-from-code where infrastructure is derived automatically from your application. Both deploy to your cloud account, but the developer experience is fundamentally different.
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How They Work
Pulumi
Pulumi lets you define cloud infrastructure using general-purpose programming languages like TypeScript, Python, or Go. You write code that describes AWS, GCP, or Azure resources, then run pulumi up to provision them.
This requires DevOps expertise and understanding of cloud provider APIs. Your infrastructure code also lives separately from your application code, which can lead to drift and maintenance overhead.
Encore
Encore analyzes your application code to understand what infrastructure you need. Declare a database as a TypeScript object in your app, and Encore provisions RDS or Cloud SQL automatically. No separate infrastructure codebase required.
This is useful when you want to focus on building your application without learning cloud provider APIs. Resources are defined inline with your business logic, and Encore handles IAM policies, security groups, and networking automatically.
Infrastructure Ownership
Both Encore and Pulumi deploy to your own cloud account. The difference is how you get there. Pulumi requires you to explicitly define every resource, dependency, and policy. Encore derives infrastructure from your application code automatically.
Pulumi gives you the ability to configure any cloud resource, but this requires deep cloud expertise and ongoing maintenance of infrastructure code that lives separately from your application.
Encore gives you production-ready infrastructure without the expertise overhead. You still own everything in your AWS/GCP console, and you can always access resources directly when needed.
Learn more about infrastructure ownership →Local Development
Pulumi is focused on provisioning cloud resources and doesn't provide a local development solution. To develop locally, you'd use Docker, LocalStack, or connect to remote cloud resources, managing this setup yourself.
Encore runs encore run and automatically provisions local PostgreSQL, Pub/Sub emulation, and cron scheduling. A local dashboard shows distributed tracing and architecture diagrams.
This means you can develop and test your entire backend locally without connecting to cloud resources or managing Docker containers.
Learn more about local development →Automatic Infrastructure
Pulumi requires explicit infrastructure definitions. To add a database, you write Pulumi code defining the RDS instance, security groups, subnet groups, parameter groups, and IAM roles. You maintain this alongside your application code.
Encore provisions infrastructure from your application code. Declare a database as a TypeScript object, and Encore creates the corresponding cloud resources with proper configurations, IAM policies, and networking.
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";
const db = new SQLDatabase("users", {
migrations: "./migrations",
});
// Encore provisions RDS/Cloud SQL automatically
// with proper IAM, security groups, and networkingDatabases, Pub/Sub, Cron Jobs, Object Storage, and more. See all primitives →
Built-in Observability
Pulumi provisions infrastructure but doesn't include observability. You'd add CloudWatch, Datadog, or similar tools separately, defining the resources in your Pulumi code and adding instrumentation to your application.
Encore includes distributed tracing, metrics, and structured logging out of the box. Every request is traced across services automatically. No instrumentation code or additional infrastructure setup needed.
This works locally too. Run your app and get full tracing in the local development dashboard.
See observability docs →AI-Assisted Development
With Pulumi, infrastructure lives in a separate codebase from your application. AI agents like Cursor and Claude Code lack context about how Pulumi definitions relate to your application code, leading to drift, inconsistencies, and infrastructure configs that don't match application needs.
Encore defines infrastructure as TypeScript objects alongside your application code. AI agents see everything in one context: your APIs, databases, queues, and how they connect. This makes AI-generated code accurate, reviewable, and safe to deploy.
Built-in guardrails, auto-documentation, and observability ensure your systems stay maintainable, even when AI writes most of the code.
Learn about AI-assisted development →Customer stories
See how teams are shipping faster with Encore.
"Encore is our foundation for all new development. Since adopting it, we've seen a 2-3x increase in development speed."
"Encore is an unfair advantage. At Pave we've moved 2x faster than we did at Monzo."
"We've reduced time spent on DevOps by 95%, and we're now on track to save $60K annually."
Feature Comparison
See how Encore and Pulumi differ across key capabilities.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Encore vs Pulumi.
Encore uses infrastructure-from-code where infrastructure is derived automatically from your application code. Pulumi is Infrastructure as Code (IaC) where you explicitly define every cloud resource in a separate codebase. With Encore, you write your app and infrastructure is provisioned automatically. With Pulumi, you maintain two codebases: your application and your infrastructure definitions.
Encore is purpose-built for backend development with built-in databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and distributed tracing that work locally and in production with zero configuration. Pulumi is a general-purpose IaC tool that requires you to define each resource explicitly and manage the connection between your application code and infrastructure definitions.
Encore is designed for developers without DevOps expertise. Infrastructure is provisioned automatically based on your code. Pulumi requires understanding cloud provider APIs, resource dependencies, IAM policies, and infrastructure best practices. While Pulumi uses familiar languages like TypeScript, you still need to know what infrastructure to create.
Encore provides automatic local development with databases, Pub/Sub, and distributed tracing included with a single command. Pulumi has no local development solution and only provisions cloud resources. For local development with Pulumi, you need to set up Docker, LocalStack, or similar tools separately.
Yes, both deploy to your own AWS or GCP account. The difference is how: Pulumi requires you to explicitly define every resource, IAM policy, and configuration. Encore analyzes your application code and provisions the right resources automatically, including proper IAM policies, security groups, and resource configurations.
Encore is designed specifically for microservices with automatic service discovery, type-safe API calls between services, distributed tracing, and auto-generated architecture diagrams. Pulumi can provision infrastructure for microservices, but you need to define service communication, IAM policies, and observability setup manually in your infrastructure code.