Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HashiCorp Terraform vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
246
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
HashiCorp Terraform
Ranking in Configuration Management
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Server Configura...
Ranking in Configuration Management
17th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 10.2%, up from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HashiCorp Terraform is 3.4%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Eugene Paden - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures consistency and security in deployments while adapting to resource availability
The most valuable feature is predictability. When I need to put something, it is repeatable. I can deploy it in one environment, change the parameter, and it will work in another. If changes are needed, I track who did what because my Terraform scripts are version-controlled. This reduces guesswork and trial and error from the UI, replacing it with code, which enhances maintainability. In cloud environments, manual configurations can be forgotten or misunderstood if the original person leaves, but Terraform ensures documentation and consistent configurations.
Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful version control, high availability, and scales well
We are in touch with the management of the SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor team, and we have made recommendations to them for quite a few changes. One area that could improve is the configuration download. Instead of only showcasing the differences between the baseline and the current configuration, or a specific version of the configuration, they should show the entire configuration getting downloaded. It could be in the form of a flat file or in the form of a binary file. If it is a flat file, it can use as a reference, and preserved for auditing purposes. That is one area where the product can see quite a lot of improvement. They have a feature where you can download by section, what I mean is, you can download the configuration of the hardware, software, or driver information, or the file folder settings or permissions. It is a section download, but not a complete download. That is one area of improvement. The other area of improvement is specific to the customer use cases. They would like to compare two servers as to what the configuration drift is but not only within the server comparison. For example, I would like to take a server in the DR setup that is in the primary data center to do a comparison between the primary server and the DR server. Currently, the configuration comparison is within the server itself. In a feature release, they could enhance the reporting. However, we have not evaluated this part of the solution extensively.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I particularly appreciate the administration and security features, which can be deployed easily."
"The ability to work from all over the planet is valuable. You just need a functioning and working Internet connection."
"The automatic patch management feature in the Intune Suite is helpful."
"Intune's most valuable features are its device management capabilities, particularly its centralized integration with other Microsoft stack components."
"It's normally able to meet 100% expectations of our customers."
"Microsoft integrated BitLocker and Active Directory into Intune, simplifying management."
"A great solution for anyone wanting a modern endpoint device management solution."
"First of all, the integration with the rest of Microsoft's products is a major win."
"Terraform is that it is an open-source tool that gives us great flexibility. Using the Terraform HCL, we are not restricted to a single cloud provider. If my client asks me to deploy the same infrastructure on Azure or GCP, I can use the same code with minor modifications to account for the different providers. This means we are not limited to a specific cloud."
"The solution helps us save a lot of costs."
"The initial setup of HashiCorp Terraform was easy."
"It is less time-consuming."
"The most valuable feature is the support for different platforms like cloud, datacenters, VCS, databases, various storage types, and Kubernetes."
"Can be used across multiple cloud providers and multiple platforms."
"The most valuable feature is the great community support."
"It is easy to recreate an exact duplicate or output of an environment."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is version control. For example, if we began on the first of the month and we considered that as the configuration of the server, I could set that configuration as my baseline. On a daily basis, if there was the operations team that did, for example, server patching, the tool will maintain all levels of versions."
"The product’s alert feature is good. We receive notifications whenever some failures occur in the configuration."
 

Cons

"An area for improvement is the absence of seamless integration, particularly with external dashboards."
"It would be great to see on-premises mailboxes and for the solution to have geofencing capabilities."
"Lacking in features such as Wi-Fi and network security."
"Once it's configured it is unobtrusive, but it does take some hands-on to configure and deploy it properly."
"There are a few security features that are not available in Microsoft Intune, when compared to other products."
"Intune's areas for improvement revolve around security and certificate management."
"There could be more competent processes and improvements in the policy space."
"Onboarding of endpoint devices is not straightforward. The onboarding process was a little heavier than I thought it would be. That's the key improvement area. Obviously, the more control you have over the devices, the better it is."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"The solution is complex when we use it for a loop. This is a problem, not because of the language itself, but because of how the infrastructure generally works. It's different from Python."
"Terraform lacks in running script."
"The state locking functionality can be improved. In certain situations, we have to force-unlock the state, which sometimes does not work. When that happens, we have to manually go to the state backend and remove that particular state, which is kind of a cumbersome process. It should also have more functions, more expressions, and support for more products."
"Terraform doesn't support Artifactory as a backend."
"Some areas where Terraform could improve would be challenges in managing sensitive information, especially when dealing with secret files or credentials."
"With cloud providers always adding new resource types, there are certain resources that Terraform does not support. It would be great if it could support those resources as well."
"From a user's perspective, it would be great if a UI tool is made available in the open source version as well, but I don't think it may be introduced because of the high costs for it announced by HashiCorp in its licensed version...HashiCorp Terraform can improve backward compatibility."
"In a feature release, they could enhance the reporting. However, we have not evaluated this part of the solution extensively."
"The product’s support services and licensing models need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Intune is included with our F3 and E5 licenses."
"Microsoft Intune's pricing is reasonable."
"For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
"Microsoft Intune is not cost-effective as a standalone product."
"The clients pay for a license and each can have a different type of license, such as an E3 or E5."
"While Microsoft charges for actual usage, it lacks discount options."
"The solution is cost-efficient."
"Microsoft Intune is more expensive than other solutions, but it offers a wider range of features and control."
"HashiCorp Terraform is a cost-effective solution."
"You can do everything with the free license of this solution."
"There are free and paid versions of the solution. We use the free version."
"The setup for Terraform is quite easy and currently, we are using their community version along with Jenkins."
"HashiCorp Terraform is a free solution."
"The solution is open-source."
"Terraform is a little expensive."
"They have given it to us at a monthly cost, but it is on a yearly basis."
"SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor has medium pricing compared to other solutions."
"The price of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is not reasonable, it is slightly on the higher side."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What do you like most about HashiCorp Terraform?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the modules it offers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HashiCorp Terraform?
I use the open-source version of Terraform, so there is no cost for me. There is a paid version available for clients...
What needs improvement with HashiCorp Terraform?
The area for improvement is the speed at which resources become available. When a new resource is introduced in AWS o...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
The product’s alert feature is good. We receive notifications whenever some failures occur in the configuration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor has medium pricing compared to other solutions.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
The product’s support services and licensing models need improvement.
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Terraform
SolarWinds SCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Information Not Available
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HashiCorp Terraform vs. SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.