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Suga bridges the gap between developer productivity and enterprise control. It combines visual infrastructure design with platform-driven governance to deliver fast, production-ready deployments while maintaining complete flexibility and control.

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What Makes Suga Different?

Suga takes a unique approach to cloud infrastructure by combining three key capabilities: Visual Design with Code Generation
  • Design your architecture visually in an intuitive editor
  • Generate production-ready Terraform automatically
  • Maintain full control over the generated infrastructure
Platform-Driven Governance
  • Platform teams define reusable blueprints and standards
  • Developers get guardrails, not blockers
  • Organizations enforce policies while enabling velocity

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Visual Design + Generated Infrastructure

Design your architecture visually, then generate production-ready Terraform. No more choosing between developer experience and infrastructure control.
Design becomes configuration
entrypoints:
  api:
    routes:
      /:
        name: frontend
      /api/:
        name: app

services:
  app:
    dev:
      script: npm run dev
  frontend:
    dev:
      script: npm run dev

buckets:
  bucket:
    access:
      app: [read, write]
Configuration becomes Terraform
suga build
# ✓ Terraform generated successfully
#   output written to terraform/stacks/my-app

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Platform-Driven Governance

Platform teams create reusable blueprints that enforce organizational standards while delivering seamless developer experiences. For Developers:
  • Visual infrastructure design
  • Local development with emulated cloud services
  • Deploy anywhere without changing code
  • Generated type-safe client libraries (Node.js, Python, Go, etc)
For Platform Teams:
  • Enforce security policies and compliance
  • Control cloud resource configurations
  • Standardize architectures across teams
  • Audit and govern all deployments

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True Multi-Cloud

Not just provider-agnostic abstractions - Suga generates native Terraform for each cloud provider while keeping your application code portable.
Same application, different clouds
# Deploy to AWS
target: suga/aws@1

# Or deploy to GCP
target: suga/gcp@1
The generated Terraform uses native cloud resources (Lambda, Cloud Run, S3, Cloud Storage) with proper networking, IAM, and security configurations.

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How is Suga Different?

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vs. Developer Platforms

Suga provides a similar developer experience to hosted platforms while giving you complete control over the generated infrastructure.
AspectHosted PlatformsSuga
Deployment SpeedInstantInstant (after first Terraform apply)
Infrastructure ControlPlatform-managedComplete (generated Terraform)
Cloud ProviderPlatform-specificMulti-cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure, custom)
CustomizationPlatform-limitedFull platform customization
Local DevelopmentPlatform-dependentFull local emulation
Cost ModelPlatform pricingDirect cloud provider rates
GovernancePlatform-dictatedOrganization-controlled
Use Suga if: You want great developer experience but need full control, multi-cloud support, or enterprise governance.

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vs. Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/Pulumi)

Suga builds on top of IaC tools rather than replacing them. It generates standard Terraform that you can inspect, modify, and manage with your existing workflows.
AspectDirect Terraform/PulumiSuga
ApproachWrite infrastructure codeGenerate from high-level design
Visual DesignExternal toolsBuilt-in visual editor
Local DevelopmentManual setupsuga dev
ReusabilityModules (per-project)Platforms (organization-wide)
StandardizationCode reviews & guidelinesPlatform-enforced patterns
FlexibilityComplete controlExtensible platforms + direct Terraform access
Use Suga if: You want to maximize reuse across teams, enforce organizational standards, or accelerate delivery with visual design while keeping Terraform’s flexibility. Use Suga with Terraform if: You need both platform standardization and custom infrastructure - Suga generates Terraform you can augment with custom resources.

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vs. Nitric (Suga’s Inspiration)

Suga is built by the team behind Nitric and incorporates lessons from years of cloud framework development.
AspectNitricSuga
ApproachCode-firstConfiguration-first
Infrastructure DefinitionApplication code annotationsSeparate suga.yaml + visual editor
DeploymentPulumi or TerraformTerraform
Visual DesignNoneCore feature
Platform SystemProvider pluginsDistributed platform packages
Target AudienceDeveloper-focusedMulti-role teams (platform engineers, SREs, DevOps, developers)
Use Suga if: You work in organizations with multiple roles (platform teams, SREs, DevOps, developers) who need specialized tooling for their responsibilities. Use Nitric if: You’re a developer team that prefers defining infrastructure directly in application code.

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When to Use Suga

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✅ Ideal Use Cases

Enterprise Development Teams
  • Need developer velocity without sacrificing governance
  • Want to standardize infrastructure across multiple teams
  • Require audit trails and compliance controls
Multi-Cloud Strategies
  • Building portable applications across clouds
  • Avoiding vendor lock-in
  • Testing different cloud providers
Platform Engineering
  • Creating internal developer platforms
  • Enforcing organizational standards
  • Providing self-service infrastructure
Greenfield Projects
  • Starting new applications with best practices
  • Want rapid iteration with production-ready infrastructure
  • Need local development that matches production

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Getting Started

Ready to try Suga? Start with our Quickstart Guide to deploy your first application in minutes. Want to understand how Suga works? Explore the Core Concepts section to learn about projects, platforms, and infrastructure generation. Building an internal platform? Check out the Platform Development Guide to create custom platforms for your organization.
Need help deciding? Contact support@addsuga.com to discuss your use case and whether Suga is a good fit.