Link copied to clipboard # AWS CloudFormation vs Amazon CloudWatch Comparison - What are their main differences? Share [ Export ](/compare/aws-aws-cloudformation/amazon-cloudwatch/export.csv) AWS CloudFormationAmazon CloudWatch[+ Add Product](#) Pricing **AWS CloudFormation** No pricing available **Amazon CloudWatch** No pricing available **Pricing Insights** from reviews Time to Implement **AWS CloudFormation** 2 months Based on 9 responses **Amazon CloudWatch** 2 months Based on 37 responses Return on Investment **AWS CloudFormation** 11 months Based on 8 responses **Amazon CloudWatch** 10 months1 month sooner Based on 30 responses Perceived Cost **AWS CloudFormation** $$$$$ **Amazon CloudWatch** $$$$$ Average Discount **AWS CloudFormation** 11%2% more **Amazon CloudWatch** 9% **Pros & Cons** from reviews **AWS CloudFormation** [ Automation Efficiency (7) ](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900404&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Infrastructure Automation (7) ](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900480&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Template Complexity (6) ](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900443&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Learning Difficulty (4) ](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900019&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) **Amazon CloudWatch** [ Log Management (12) ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1608721&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Integrations (6) ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1609205&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Pricing Issues (4) ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607946&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[ Cost Management (3) ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1608836&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Integrations **AWS CloudFormation** [ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b3390b4cc3d92e87d570895f7358c003/amazon-aurora.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon Aurora ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-aurora/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_60aac666d195c0d09550cae54c454856/amazon-documentdb.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon DocumentDB ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-documentdb/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_764bdd3b0bc81b470d93f18d12c826d2/amazon-web-services-aws-amazon-dynamodb.png "Product Avatar Image") Amazon DynamoDB ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-web-services-aws-amazon-dynamodb/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_cacdec8b8edeace9b3c89e0c2cded695/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon Elastic Container... ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs/reviews)[ View all ](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/integrations) **Amazon CloudWatch** [ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b3390b4cc3d92e87d570895f7358c003/amazon-api-gateway.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon API Gateway ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-api-gateway/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b3390b4cc3d92e87d570895f7358c003/amazon-athena.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon Athena ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-athena/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b3390b4cc3d92e87d570895f7358c003/amazon-aurora.jpg "Product Avatar Image") Amazon Aurora ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-aurora/reviews)[ ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_cacdec8b8edeace9b3c89e0c2cded695/amazon-cloudfront.jpg "Product Avatar Image") CloudFront ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudfront/reviews)[ View all ](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/integrations) **Ratings** from reviews Meets Requirements **AWS CloudFormation** 8.7 8.7158 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.6 8.6312 Ease of Use **AWS CloudFormation** 8.0 8.0160 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.1 8.1312 Ease of Setup **AWS CloudFormation** 8.3 8.395 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.5 8.5169 Ease of Admin **AWS CloudFormation** 8.3 8.378 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.5 8.5148 Quality of Support **AWS CloudFormation** 8.6 8.6152 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.4 8.4286 Has the product been a good partner in doing business? **AWS CloudFormation** 8.7 8.773 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.7 8.7140 Product Direction (% positive) **AWS CloudFormation** 9.3 9.3156 **Amazon CloudWatch** 8.3 8.3301 **Features** ratings from reviews Cloud Infrastructure Automation[Hide 11 FeaturesShow 11 Features](javascript:void(0);) 8.7 86 Not enough data Administration Administration Console 8.8(won by default) 72 Not enough data Task Management 8.8(won by default) 65 Not enough data Dashboards and Visualizations 8.6(won by default) 70 Not enough data Access Control 9.0(won by default) 71 Not enough data Automation Test Automation 8.3(won by default) 63 Not enough data Intelligent Automation 8.4(won by default) 63 Not enough data Release Automation 8.5(won by default) 65 Not enough data Automated Provisioning 8.9(won by default) 68 Not enough data IT Management Workflow Management 8.5(won by default) 68 Not enough data Infrastructure Management 9.1(won by default) 72 Not enough data IT Discovery 8.4(won by default) 63 Not enough data Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring[Hide 20 FeaturesShow 20 Features](javascript:void(0);) Not enough data 8.3 56 Monitoring Usage Monitoring Not enough data 9.1(won by default) 46 Database Monitoring Not enough data 8.6(won by default) 42 API Monitoring Not enough data 8.3(won by default) 41 Real-Time Monitoring - Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring Not enough data 8.7(won by default) 44 Security and Compliance Monitoring Not enough data 8.6(won by default) 7 Administration Activity Monitoring Not enough data 9.0(won by default) 42 Multi-Cloud Management Not enough data 7.2(won by default) 29 Automation Not enough data 7.9(won by default) 34 Auto-Scaling & Resource Optimization Not enough data 8.3(won by default) 5 Analysis Reporting Not enough data 8.1(won by default) 37 Dashboards and Visualizations Not enough data 8.1(won by default) 40 Spend Forecasting and Optimization Not enough data 8.1(won by default) 31 Agentic AI - Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring Cross-system Integration Not enough data 8.3(won by default) 7 Multi-step Planning Not enough data Not enough data Adaptive Learning Not enough data Not enough data Natural Language Interaction Not enough data Not enough data Proactive Assistance Not enough data Not enough data Decision Making Not enough data Not enough data AI Automation - Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring AI-Powered Anomaly Detection Not enough data Not enough data AI-Driven Insight Recommendations Not enough data Not enough data Cloud Cost Management[Hide 13 FeaturesShow 13 Features](javascript:void(0);) Not enough data 8.2 81 Operations Scheduling Not enough data 8.6(won by default) 48 Automation Not enough data 8.7(won by default) 54 Multi-Cloud Management Not enough data 7.5(won by default) 42 Usage Monitoring Not enough data 8.7(won by default) 61 Cost Optimization Spend Forecasting and Optimization Not enough data 8.5(won by default) 43 Recommendations Not enough data 7.8(won by default) 41 Spend Tracking Not enough data 8.0(won by default) 44 Administration Reporting Not enough data 8.5(won by default) 58 Dashboards and Visualizations Not enough data 7.9(won by default) 66 Compliance Not enough data 8.3(won by default) 47 Agentic AI - Cloud Cost Management Decision Making Not enough data 8.0(won by default) 5 Autonomous Task Execution Not enough data Not enough data Proactive Assistance Not enough data Not enough data User Insights Reviewers' Company Size [![AWS CloudFormation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1534868801/aws-aws-cloudformation.svg "AWS CloudFormation")](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews) AWS CloudFormation Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.) 16.5% Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.) 40.4% Enterprise(\> 1000 emp.) 43.1% [![Amazon CloudWatch](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1528476471/amazon-cloudwatch.svg "Amazon CloudWatch")](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews) Amazon CloudWatch Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.) 30.4% Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.) 29.6% Enterprise(\> 1000 emp.) 40.1% Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 16.5% 30.4% Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 40.4% 29.6% Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 43.1% 40.1% Reviewers' Industry [![AWS CloudFormation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1534868801/aws-aws-cloudformation.svg "AWS CloudFormation")](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews) AWS CloudFormation Information Technology and Services 26.7% Computer Software 24.6% Computer & Network Security 4.8% Financial Services 4.3% Hospital & Health Care 2.7% Other 36.9% [![Amazon CloudWatch](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1528476471/amazon-cloudwatch.svg "Amazon CloudWatch")](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-cloudwatch/reviews) Amazon CloudWatch Information Technology and Services 26.5% Computer Software 17.7% Internet 6.4% Financial Services 4.1% Marketing and Advertising 3.3% Other 42.0% Alternatives **AWS CloudFormation Alternatives** ![Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_7b1e34d1cfcc265beee0d9b4290461fa/red-hat-ansible-automation-platform.jpg "Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform") [ Red Hat Ansible Automation... ](/products/red-hat-ansible-automation-platform/reviews) ![Google Cloud Deployment Manager](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_9a5bc6fc788116d8da297be6121a60c9/google-cloud-deployment-manager.jpg "Google Cloud Deployment Manager") [ Google Cloud Deployment... ](/products/google-cloud-deployment-manager/reviews) ![Azure Automation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_f176b4154a751d10150daa67a57b7dc5/azure-automation.jpg "Azure Automation") [ Azure Automation ](/products/azure-automation/reviews) ![Progress Chef](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/ecf6115c87d793bce9c4ac58796134b6/progress-chef.svg "Progress Chef") [ Progress Chef ](/products/progress-chef/reviews) **Amazon CloudWatch Alternatives** ![Datadog](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1498834114/datadog.svg "Datadog") [ Datadog ](/products/datadog/reviews) ![IBM Turbonomic](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_24bb2b0b5af8e7d875ea09d767bcb097/ibm-turbonomic.jpg "IBM Turbonomic") [ IBM Turbonomic ](/products/ibm-turbonomic/reviews) ![Dynatrace](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1512659484/dynatrace.svg "Dynatrace") [ Dynatrace ](/products/dynatrace/reviews) ![Splunk AppDynamics](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/d1c3d4fa722ee737d472fb64763965fb/splunk-appdynamics.svg "Splunk AppDynamics") [ Splunk AppDynamics ](/products/splunk-appdynamics/reviews) ## AWS CloudFormation vs Amazon CloudWatch When assessing the two solutions, reviewers found Amazon CloudWatch easier to use, set up, and administer. However, reviewers felt that both vendors make it equally easy to do business overall. - Reviewers felt that AWS CloudFormation meets the needs of their business better than Amazon CloudWatch. - When comparing quality of ongoing product support, reviewers felt that AWS CloudFormation is the preferred option. - For feature updates and roadmaps, our reviewers preferred the direction of AWS CloudFormation over Amazon CloudWatch.