Awesome DevOps Platform Engineering

A curated list of awesome DevOps Platform Engineering tools, practices, and resources for building modern cloud-native infrastructure and developer platforms

Platform Engineering is the discipline of designing and building toolchains and workflows that enable self-service capabilities for software engineering organisations in the cloud-native era. This list focuses on tools and practices that help teams build Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs), implement GitOps, and create golden paths for developers.

Contents

• Platform Engineering Fundamentals
• Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)
• Developer Portals
• GitOps Tools
• Platform Orchestration
• Infrastructure as Code
• Cloud Development Kits
• Service Mesh & Networking
• Progressive Delivery
• Observability Platforms
• Security & Compliance
• Cost Management
• Multi-Cloud & Hybrid
• Developer Experience Tools
• Platform Templates & Blueprints
• Secrets Management
• Policy as Code
• Environment Management
• Platform Metrics & Analytics
• AI & Automation in DevOps
• Multi-Cloud Management
• Disaster Recovery & Backup
• Team Collaboration & Communication
• Developer Experience Tools
• Learning Resources
• Communities

Platform Engineering Fundamentals

Books & Guides

• Platform Engineering - Building robust cloud platforms.
• Team Topologies - Organising business and technology teams for fast flow.
• Platform Engineering Fundamentals - Certification program and comprehensive guide.
• Internal Developer Platforms Guide - Comprehensive resource on building IDPs.

Articles & Papers

• What is Platform Engineering? - Definition and principles.
• Platform Engineering Blog - Latest articles and industry insights.
• Platform Tooling Landscape - Guide to choosing the right tools for your IDP.

Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)

Open Source Platforms

• Backstage - Open platform for building developer portals, created by Spotify.
• Humanitec Platform Orchestrator - Dynamic Internal Developer Platform orchestrator.
• Kratix - Framework for building platforms using Kubernetes.
• Otomi - Self-hosted PaaS for Kubernetes.
• KubeVela - Application delivery platform based on OAM.
• Gimlet - Application deployment platform with GitOps.
• Qovery - Platform to deploy applications on AWS, GCP, Azure.
• mogenius - Virtual DevOps platform.

Commercial Platforms

• Port - Developer portal with self-service actions.
• Cortex - Internal developer portal with service catalogue.
• Configure8 - Developer portal and service catalogue.
• OpsLevel - Service catalogue and developer portal.

Developer Portals

Service Catalogues

• Backstage Software Catalog - Centralized system model.
• Port Service Catalog - Comprehensive service registry.
• ServiceNow Service Catalog - Enterprise service management.

Documentation Platforms

• Docusaurus - Easy to maintain documentation websites.
• MkDocs - Project documentation with Markdown.
• ReadMe - Interactive developer hubs.
• Stoplight - API design and documentation platform.

GitOps Tools

GitOps Operators

• ArgoCD - Declarative GitOps CD for Kubernetes.
• Flux - GitOps toolkit for Kubernetes.
• Fleet - GitOps at scale for Kubernetes.
• Weave GitOps - Enterprise GitOps platform.

GitOps Frameworks

• Crossplane - Cloud native control planes.
• Config Sync - Google's GitOps for Kubernetes.
• Kustomize - Kubernetes native configuration management.
• Helm - Package manager for Kubernetes.

Platform Orchestration

Workflow Orchestration

• Temporal - Workflow orchestration platform.
• Argo Workflows - Container-native workflow engine.
• Apache Airflow - Platform to programmatically author workflows.
• Prefect - Modern workflow orchestration.
• Dagster - Data orchestrator for machine learning.

Resource Orchestration

• Kubernetes - Container orchestration platform.
• Nomad - Simple and flexible workload orchestrator.
• Docker Swarm - Container orchestration built into Docker.
• Apache Mesos - Distributed systems kernel.

Infrastructure as Code

Provisioning Tools

• Terraform - Infrastructure as code software tool.
• OpenTofu - Open-source Terraform fork.
• Pulumi - Infrastructure as code using programming languages.
• Ansible - Automation platform.
• Terragrunt - Terraform wrapper for DRY configurations.
• Terramate - Terraform orchestration and code generation.

Policy as Code

• Open Policy Agent - Policy engine for cloud native environments.
• Kyverno - Kubernetes native policy management.
• Polaris - Validation of Kubernetes best practices.
• Conftest - Write tests against structured configuration data.
• Checkov - Static analysis for infrastructure as code.

Cloud Development Kits

Multi-Cloud CDKs

• AWS CDK - Cloud Development Kit for AWS.
• Azure Bicep - DSL for deploying Azure resources.
• Google Cloud Deployment Manager - Infrastructure deployment service.
• Pulumi CDK - Multi-cloud infrastructure as code.
• CDKTF - CDK for Terraform.

Kubernetes CDKs

• CDK8s - Define Kubernetes applications using code.
• Kubernetes Operators - Application-specific controllers.
• Kubebuilder - SDK for building Kubernetes APIs.

Service Mesh & Networking

Service Mesh Platforms

• Istio - Connect, secure, control, and observe services.
• Linkerd - Ultralight, security-first service mesh.
• Consul - Service mesh and service discovery.
• Cilium - eBPF-based networking, observability, and security.
• Kuma - Universal service mesh.

API Gateways

• Kong - Cloud-native API gateway.
• Traefik - Modern HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer.
• NGINX - Web server and reverse proxy.
• Envoy - Cloud-native high-performance edge/middle/service proxy.
• Tyk - API gateway and management platform.

Progressive Delivery

Feature Flags

• LaunchDarkly - Feature management platform.
• Unleash - Open source feature toggle service.
• Flagsmith - Open source feature flag platform.
• Split - Feature delivery platform.
• Flipt - Self-hosted feature flag application.

Canary Deployment

• Flagger - Progressive delivery Kubernetes operator.
• Argo Rollouts - Progressive delivery for Kubernetes.
• Spinnaker - Multi-cloud continuous delivery platform.
• Keptn - Event-based control plane for continuous delivery.

Observability Platforms

Metrics & Monitoring

• Prometheus - Monitoring system and time series database.
• Grafana - Multi-platform analytics and monitoring.
• Datadog - Monitoring and security platform.
• New Relic - Observability platform.
• Thanos - Highly available Prometheus setup.

Distributed Tracing

• Jaeger - Distributed tracing platform.
• Zipkin - Distributed tracing system.
• Tempo - High-volume distributed tracing backend.
• AWS X-Ray - Distributed tracing for AWS.
• Google Cloud Trace - Distributed tracing for GCP.

Logging

• Elastic Stack (ELK) - Search, analyze, and visualize logs.
• Loki - Log aggregation system by Grafana.
• Fluentd - Unified logging layer.
• Vector - High-performance observability data pipeline.
• Fluent Bit - Fast and lightweight log processor.

Security & Compliance

Security Scanning

• Snyk - Developer security platform.
• Aqua Security - Cloud native security platform.
• Sysdig - Secure DevOps platform.
• Twistlock/Prisma Cloud - Cloud security platform.
• Falco - Runtime security for containers and Kubernetes.

Secrets Management

• HashiCorp Vault - Secrets and encryption management.
• AWS Secrets Manager - Secrets management for AWS.
• Azure Key Vault - Secrets management for Azure.
• Sealed Secrets - Kubernetes controller for sealed secrets.
• External Secrets Operator - Integrate external secret management systems.

Compliance Tools

• CloudQuery - Cloud asset inventory.
• Steampipe - Query cloud infrastructure using SQL.
• Cloud Custodian - Rules engine for cloud security and governance.
• Prowler - Security assessment tool for AWS and Azure.

Cost Management

Cost Optimization

• Infracost - Cloud cost estimates for Terraform.
• Kubecost - Kubernetes cost monitoring and optimization.
• CloudHealth - Cloud management platform.
• Spot.io - Cloud cost optimization.
• CAST AI - Kubernetes cost optimization platform.

FinOps Tools

• OpenCost - Open source Kubernetes cost monitoring.
• Cloud Custodian FinOps - Cloud governance and cost optimization.
• Vantage - Cloud cost transparency platform.
• CloudZero - Cloud cost intelligence platform.

Multi-Cloud & Hybrid

Multi-Cloud Management

• Anthos - Multi-cloud application platform.
• Azure Arc - Multi-cloud and edge management.
• AWS Outposts - AWS infrastructure on-premises.
• Rancher - Multi-cluster Kubernetes management.
• VMware Tanzu - Multi-cloud application platform.

Cloud Abstraction

• Apache Libcloud - Python library for cloud providers.
• Fog - Ruby cloud services library.
• Pkgcloud - Node.js cloud abstraction library.
• Apache jclouds - Java multi-cloud toolkit.

Developer Experience Tools

Development Environments

• GitHub Codespaces - Cloud development environments.
• Gitpod - Cloud development environments.
• DevPod - Client-only tool for dev environments.
• Coder - Self-hosted cloud development environments.
• Eclipse Che - Kubernetes-native IDE.

CLI Tools

• GitHub CLI - GitHub from the command line.
• kubectl - Kubernetes command-line tool.
• k9s - Terminal UI for Kubernetes.
• Lens - Kubernetes IDE.
• Teleport - Secure access to infrastructure.

Local Development

• Tilt - Multi-service dev environment for Kubernetes.
• Skaffold - Workflow for building and deploying to Kubernetes.
• Garden - Development orchestrator for Kubernetes.
• DevSpace - Developer tool for Kubernetes.
• Telepresence - Local development against remote Kubernetes.

Platform Templates & Blueprints

Reference Architectures

• AWS Well-Architected Framework - Best practices for cloud architectures.
• Azure Architecture Center - Azure reference architectures.
• Google Cloud Architecture Framework - GCP best practices.
• CNCF Cloud Native Trail Map - Path to cloud native adoption.

Starter Kits

• Projen - Project generator for modern applications.
• Yeoman - Scaffolding tool for modern web apps.
• Cookiecutter - Project templates for any language.
• Backstage Software Templates - Scaffolding for services.

Platform Examples

• IDP Reference Architectures - Reference architectures and examples.
• Kubernetes Examples - Kubernetes application examples.
• AWS CDK Examples - CDK code examples.
• Terraform Examples - Terraform patterns and practices.

Secrets Management

Secure secrets management and encryption for platform infrastructure.

Secrets Stores

• HashiCorp Vault - Industry-standard secrets management.
• AWS Secrets Manager - AWS-native secrets management.
• Google Secret Manager - GCP secrets management.
• Azure Key Vault - Azure secrets and key management.
• Doppler - Universal secrets management platform.

Kubernetes Secrets

• External Secrets Operator - Synchronize external secrets with Kubernetes.
• Sealed Secrets - Encrypt secrets in Git.
• SOPS - Encrypted file storage for Kubernetes.
• Kubernetes External Secrets - Integrate external secret management systems.

Secret Scanning

• GitGuardian - Detect secrets in code.
• TruffleHog - Find leaked credentials.
• detect-secrets - Prevent secrets from entering codebase.
• gitleaks - SAST tool for detecting secrets.

Policy as Code

Define and enforce policies for infrastructure, security, and compliance.

Policy Engines

• Open Policy Agent (OPA) - General-purpose policy engine.
• Kyverno - Kubernetes-native policy management.
• Checkov - Static code analysis for IaC.
• jsPolicy - JavaScript-based Kubernetes admission control.

Security Policies

• Falco - Cloud-native runtime security.
• Polaris - Kubernetes best practices validation.
• Kubesec - Security risk analysis for Kubernetes.
• conftest - Write tests against structured configuration data.

Compliance Tools

• CloudQuery - Cloud asset inventory and compliance.
• Steampipe - Query cloud infrastructure with SQL.
• Prowler - AWS/Azure/GCP security assessments.
• ScoutSuite - Multi-cloud security auditing.

Environment Management

Tools for managing development, staging, and production environments.

Environment Provisioning

• Terraform Cloud - Collaborative infrastructure provisioning.
• Pulumi Service - Infrastructure provisioning and management.
• Crossplane - Kubernetes-based infrastructure provisioning.
• AWS Control Tower - Multi-account AWS environment setup.

Preview Environments

• Okteto - Kubernetes development environments.
• Garden - Automated Kubernetes development workflows.
• Tilt - Local Kubernetes development.
• DevSpace - Accelerate Kubernetes development.
• Skaffold - Continuous development for Kubernetes.

Ephemeral Environments

• Shipyard - On-demand ephemeral environments.
• Uffizzi - Ephemeral preview environments.
• Release - Environment as a service.
• Namespace - Instant cloud environments.

Platform Metrics & Analytics

Monitor and analyze platform usage, performance, and developer experience.

Platform Observability

• Grafana - Analytics and monitoring.
• Prometheus - Metrics collection and alerting.
• Datadog - Full-stack observability.
• New Relic - Application performance monitoring.

Developer Experience Metrics

• DORA Metrics - Four key DevOps metrics.
• Sleuth - DORA metrics tracking.
• LinearB - Engineering effectiveness metrics.
• Haystack - Engineering productivity analytics.

Cost Analytics

• Kubecost - Kubernetes cost monitoring.
• Infracost - Cloud cost estimates for IaC.
• OpenCost - Open source Kubernetes cost monitoring.
• CloudHealth - Multi-cloud cost management.

AI & Automation in DevOps

Leverage AI and machine learning to automate platform operations and improve developer experience.

AI-Powered Operations

• Datadog AI - AI-powered monitoring and analytics.
• Dynatrace Davis - AI engine for automatic problem detection.
• New Relic AI - Applied intelligence for DevOps.
• Splunk AI - Machine learning for IT operations.

Automation Platforms

• Ansible - IT automation platform.
• Terraform Cloud - Infrastructure automation as a service.
• Zapier for DevOps - Workflow automation.
• n8n - Workflow automation platform.

AIOps Tools

• Moogsoft - AI-powered observability.
• BigPanda - Event correlation and automation.
• PagerDuty AIOps - Intelligent incident management.

Multi-Cloud Management

Tools and platforms for managing applications across multiple cloud providers.

Multi-Cloud Platforms

• Crossplane - Universal control plane for multi-cloud.
• Pulumi - Universal infrastructure as code.
• Terraform - Multi-cloud infrastructure automation.
• CloudBolt - Hybrid cloud management platform.

Cloud Cost Management

• CloudZero - Cloud cost intelligence.
• Spot by NetApp - Cloud infrastructure optimization.
• Harness Cloud Cost Management - Automated cost optimization.
• Apptio Cloudability - Financial management for cloud.

Multi-Cloud Networking

• Aviatrix - Multi-cloud network platform.
• Alkira - Cloud networking as a service.
• Tigera Calico - Cloud-native networking and security.

Disaster Recovery & Backup

Ensure business continuity with robust backup and disaster recovery solutions.

Backup Solutions

• Velero - Kubernetes backup and migration.
• Kasten K10 - Kubernetes data management.
• Veeam - Backup, recovery, and data management.
• Restic - Fast, secure backup program.

Disaster Recovery

• Zerto - Cloud data management and protection.
• VMware Site Recovery Manager - Disaster recovery automation.
• AWS Backup - Centralized backup for AWS.
• Azure Site Recovery - DR as a service.

Data Replication

• Portworx - Kubernetes data platform.
• Longhorn - Cloud-native distributed storage.
• Rook - Storage orchestration for Kubernetes.

Team Collaboration & Communication

Tools for improving team collaboration and internal developer communication.

Developer Portals

• Spotify Backstage - Open platform for building developer portals.
• Port - Developer portal builder.
• Cortex - Internal developer portal platform.
• OpsLevel - Service catalog and developer portal.

Documentation Platforms

• Docusaurus - Documentation website generator.
• GitBook - Documentation platform.
• ReadMe - API documentation and developer hubs.
• MkDocs - Fast, simple static site generator.

Team Communication

• Slack - Team messaging platform.
• Microsoft Teams - Unified communication platform.
• Mattermost - Open-source team collaboration.
• Discord - Voice, video, and text communication.

Knowledge Management

• Notion - All-in-one workspace.
• Confluence - Team collaboration software.
• Coda - All-in-one doc for teams.
• Obsidian - Knowledge base on local markdown files.

Developer Experience Tools

Enhance developer productivity and satisfaction with specialized tools.

Local Development

• DevPod - Open source development environments.
• DevSpace - Local Kubernetes development.
• Skaffold - Continuous development for Kubernetes.
• Tilt - Multi-service development environment.

Remote Development

• GitHub Codespaces - Cloud development environments.
• Gitpod - Cloud development environment.
• Coder - Self-hosted remote development.
• Code-Server - VS Code in the browser.

Testing & Quality

• Testcontainers - Integration testing with containers.
• LocalStack - Local AWS cloud stack.
• k6 - Load testing for engineering teams.
• Cypress - End-to-end testing framework.

Learning Resources

Courses & Certifications

• Platform Engineering Academy - Comprehensive platform engineering courses.
• CNCF Certifications - Cloud native certifications.
• AWS Certifications - AWS cloud certifications.
• DevOps Institute Training - DevOps certifications.

Tutorials & Labs

• KillerCoda - Hands-on cloud native scenarios.
• Play with Kubernetes - Kubernetes playground on KillerCoda.
• Instruqt - Hands-on virtual IT labs.

Podcasts

• Platform Engineering Podcast - Insights from platform engineering leaders.
• Kubernetes Podcast - Weekly news and interviews.
• DevOps Paradox - DevOps discussions.
• The POPCAST - Platform engineering stories.

YouTube Channels

• Platform Engineering YouTube - Video tutorials and best practices.
• CNCF - Cloud Native Computing Foundation.
• DevOps Toolkit - Viktor Farcic's DevOps content.
• TechWorld with Nana - DevOps tutorials.

Communities

Organizations

• Platform Engineering Community - Global platform engineering community.
• CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) - Cloud native ecosystem.
• DevOps Community Hub - DevOps community and education.
• SRE Community - Site Reliability Engineering community.

Conferences

• PlatformCon - Platform engineering conference.
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon - Cloud native conference.
• DevOps Enterprise Summit - Enterprise DevOps conference.
• SREcon - Site reliability engineering conference.

Slack Communities

• Platform Engineering Slack - Join the platform engineering Slack community.
• Kubernetes Slack - Kubernetes community.
• DevOps Chat - DevOps professionals community.
• SRE Community Slack - SRE discussions.

Forums & Discussion

• r/platformengineering - Platform engineering subreddit.
• r/devops - DevOps subreddit.
• Stack Overflow DevOps - Q&A for DevOps.
• DevOps.com - DevOps news and articles.