Alchemy

Open source alternative to Pulumi Cloud and SST Console

1.8K stars
Apache-2.0
Active this week
Last commit today

Last verified Nov 1, 2026

Build cloud infrastructure and application logic as a single TypeScript program, with type-checked resources, local emulation, and per-PR preview stages.

Visit website GitHub1.8K

Read the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ

who it's for

Who Alchemy is for#

Cloudflare Workers developers adding persistent storage and services

Alchemy's Cloudflare provider covers Workers, Durable Objects, R2 buckets, Queues, and Websites. A Worker that reads from R2 or writes to a Queue gets its binding wired at deploy time by the same Layer that provisions the resource. No manual wrangler.toml editing, no separate infrastructure step.

Skip if:

If you are already happy with Wrangler and have no need to manage cloud resources beyond Cloudflare Workers, Wrangler's native deployment is simpler and has no Effect dependency.

AI engineers deploying agent infrastructure across multiple cloud providers

Alchemy's TypeScript-native model lets AI coding agents read and modify the same program that provisions their cloud resources. The llms.txt index and documented agent workflow make it practical for a Claude Code or Cursor session to scaffold, deploy, and iterate on infrastructure.

Skip if:

If your infrastructure needs are static and straightforward, a more opinionated framework like SST or a managed service like Railway may require less initial setup.

Teams replacing a managed IaC backend with a local-first alternative

Alchemy's Apache 2.0 license and file-based state require no Pulumi Cloud or SST Console account. Teams that want the TypeScript-in-infrastructure pattern without paying for a managed control plane can replace those tools while keeping the same deployment workflow.

Skip if:

If your team relies on Pulumi Cloud's shared state history, drift detection, or audit logs, Alchemy does not currently offer an equivalent. Migrating would require building or adopting your own state management.

Effect users adding cloud infrastructure to an existing TypeScript service

Teams already writing application code with Effect can add Alchemy Layers directly to their existing service, reusing the same dependency injection pattern for cloud resources. Infrastructure and business logic share one mental model and one module tree.

Skip if:

If your team does not use Effect for application code, adopting Alchemy means learning both Effect and Alchemy simultaneously. Consider whether the type-system benefits justify the upfront investment.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Infrastructure-as-code tools traditionally require two separate programs, one for infrastructure and one for application code. Teams using Terraform, Pulumi, or CDK write cloud resources in one program and application logic in another. When a feature needs a new storage bucket, queue, or IAM policy, both programs must change, both deployments must coordinate, and any type mismatch between them is caught at runtime in production rather than at compile time in the editor.

The feedback loop is slow. Deploying to test a configuration change takes minutes. Local development environments that mirror cloud services are complex to set up and rarely complete, so developers often test against shared staging environments or skip cloud integration entirely until the configuration breaks in a real deployment.

how Alchemy solves it

How it solves it#

Infrastructure and app code in one TypeScript program

Other IaC tools split a project into two separate programs. In Alchemy, a Layer owns both the infrastructure it creates and the service implementation that uses it. An R2 bucket, its read/write binding, and the Worker that calls it are declared in one place, so a missing binding fails the type checker before it reaches the cloud.

Type-checked cloud resources at compile time

Every cloud API call, IAM policy, and resource binding is typed. Alchemy uses the Effect library's type system to track what each Layer provides and what it requires. Leave out a dependency and the TypeScript compiler flags it in the editor in milliseconds, before any deployment runs.

Local emulation with alchemy dev

Alchemy runs Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects, queues, and R2 buckets on the developer's machine using emulated services. Set `dev: true` in a test file and the same test suite runs against those services locally, giving sub-second feedback without deploying to the cloud.

Per-PR preview stages in CI

The included GitHub Action deploys each pull request to an isolated stage, runs the test suite against it, and posts the preview URL as a comment. The comment updates on every push and is deleted with the stage when the PR closes. The preview and its comment are both resources in the Alchemy program.

OpenTelemetry observability as a Layer

Provide one Layer and every request is traced and logged with OpenTelemetry from the first deploy. Axiom datasets, dashboards, and alert monitors are resources in the same program. Swap the Layer to send telemetry to a different backend, and the infrastructure change compiles before it deploys.

Multi-cloud support in one program

Alchemy ships providers for Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Hetzner, Railway, Kubernetes, Neon, PlanetScale, Stripe, and GitHub. Resources from different providers are composed in the same Effect program, so a Cloudflare Worker that reads from a Neon Postgres database is wired up by type rather than by environment variable convention.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

No paid backend or external account requiredAlchemy is Apache 2.0 licensed and installs with `pnpm add alchemy@latest effect`. State is stored in a local file; there is no managed control plane, no account creation, and no usage billing. Teams running it commercially, internally, or in CI have no license fee or API quota to manage.
Type errors catch broken cloud configs before deployingA misconfigured IAM policy, a missing binding, or a wrong resource parameter fails the TypeScript compiler in the editor. The Alchemy website describes type-check feedback as answering in milliseconds, contrasted with minutes for a cloud deployment. Misconfigured stacks fail before reaching the cloud rather than failing mid-deploy and leaving partial state.
Local emulation runs tests in seconds without cloud credentialsRunning `alchemy dev` emulates Workers, Durable Objects, and R2 buckets on the developer's machine. The same test suite that runs locally runs against a real cloud deployment by removing the `dev: true` flag. No cloud credentials are needed for local development, and no separate mock setup is required.
Infrastructure readable by AI coding agentsAlchemy provides an `llms.txt` documentation index and documents a workflow for bootstrapping with Claude Code, Cursor, or other agents. Because infrastructure is TypeScript, an AI agent can read, modify, and deploy the same program that provisions cloud resources without switching between IaC tooling and application code.

Trade-offs

-Version 2 is in beta with breaking changes expectedThe GitHub README states that v2 is in beta and breaking changes should be expected. Teams building on Alchemy for production workloads should pin a version and review the changelog before updating. The project was created in October 2025 and is approximately one year old.
-Requires familiarity with the Effect libraryAlchemy uses Effect, a TypeScript library for typed effects and dependency injection, as its core model. Teams unfamiliar with Effect's Layer, Effect.gen, and Context patterns face a steeper initial learning curve than with CDK or Terraform, where resources are instantiated with plain class constructors.
-240 open issues at time of researchThe repository had 240 open issues as of the research date. For a one-year-old project in beta, this count is expected, but teams should review open issues in the areas they plan to use before committing Alchemy to production.
-No team collaboration dashboardAlchemy stores state in a local file and provides no built-in UI for shared teams. Pulumi Cloud and SST Console each offer dashboards with deployment history, access controls, and audit logs. Teams that need those features must build their own state management or wait for Alchemy to add them.

versus alternatives

Alchemy vs alternatives#

Alchemy vs Pulumi Cloud

Alchemy and Pulumi Cloud both let TypeScript developers define cloud infrastructure in code, but they differ on where state lives and whether a paid backend is required.

Feature	Alchemy	Pulumi Cloud
License	Apache 2.0	Apache 2.0 (SDK) + proprietary (cloud service)
State backend	Local file	Pulumi Cloud (managed, paid tiers)
Paid service required	No	No for open source state; yes for Pulumi Cloud features
Language model	TypeScript + Effect	TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java
Local emulation	Yes (Workers, R2, Durable Objects)	Not built in
Per-PR deployments	Built-in GitHub Action	Via Pulumi Deployments (paid tier)

Alchemy requires no external service: state lives in a file and the whole stack runs from pnpm add alchemy@latest effect. Pulumi Cloud adds team features that Alchemy does not currently offer, including shared state history, drift detection, access controls, and an audit log. For teams that need those features, or for projects written in languages other than TypeScript, Pulumi Cloud remains the more complete offering.

Alchemy vs SST Console

SST and Alchemy share the goal of unifying application code and cloud infrastructure in TypeScript, but SST targets AWS primarily while Alchemy spans Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Railway, and more.

Feature	Alchemy	SST Console
License	Apache 2.0	MIT (SST) + proprietary (Console)
Primary clouds	Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Railway, Hetzner	AWS (primary), Cloudflare
Dashboard	None	SST Console (paid, cloud-hosted)
Infrastructure model	Effect Layers	CDK constructs / Ion
Local dev	alchemy dev emulator	SST Live Lambda

SST Console is a paid cloud service that provides deployment history, logs, and a team-facing UI. Alchemy has no equivalent dashboard. For teams already in the AWS ecosystem with SST, the Console adds visibility that Alchemy does not offer today. Alchemy is the better fit when a project spans multiple cloud providers, when the team is already using Effect for application code, or when no paid control plane is acceptable.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash

Install Alchemy and the Effect library with your package manager to set up a new project.

```bash
pnpm add alchemy@latest effect
```

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages: TypeScript
Frameworks: React

frequently asked

FAQ#

Does Alchemy require a Pulumi or SST account to use?

No. Alchemy is Apache 2.0 licensed and stores state in a local file. There is no managed backend, no account required, and no usage billing. Teams can run it entirely on their own infrastructure.

Which cloud providers does Alchemy support?

Alchemy ships providers for Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Hetzner, Railway, Kubernetes, Neon, PlanetScale, Stripe, and GitHub. Resources from multiple providers can be composed in the same TypeScript program. Provider coverage varies; check the docs for specific services within each cloud.

Is Alchemy ready for production use?

The README states that v2 is in beta and breaking changes should be expected. The project was created in October 2025 and has 1,821 GitHub stars and 240 open issues. Teams using it in production should pin a version and monitor the changelog. The repository shows active development with commits as recent as October 31, 2026.

What is the Effect library and do I need to learn it to use Alchemy?

Effect is a TypeScript library for typed functional effects, dependency injection, and structured concurrency. Alchemy uses Effect's Layer system to model infrastructure dependencies. Some familiarity with Effect's core patterns (Layer, Effect.gen, Context) is needed to write Alchemy programs. The Effect docs at effect.website cover these concepts.

How does local development work with Alchemy?

Running alchemy dev starts a local emulator for Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects, R2 buckets, and queues on the developer's machine. Tests run against these emulated services by setting dev: true, or against a real cloud deployment by removing the flag. No cloud credentials are required for local development.

also worth a look

Similar open-source tools#

FckSignups

InCustomer Support

Open-source tools that work instantly, no signup required

4,531 GitHub stars
Licence GPL-3.0

Frankenphp

Alternative toLiteSpeed Web Server

PHP app server with automatic HTTPS, HTTP/3, and worker mode.

11,501 GitHub stars
Licence MIT

Minimal

Alternative toChainguard Images

150 hardened container images, MIT-licensed, signed and rebuilt daily

555 GitHub stars
Licence MIT

Container

Alternative toDocker Desktop

Linux containers as lightweight VMs, native to Apple silicon

50,999 GitHub stars
Licence Apache-2.0

Kamal

Alternative toFly.io

Zero-downtime Docker deploys to any server, no managed platform.

14,698 GitHub stars
Licence MIT

CapRover

Alternative toHeroku

Self-hosted PaaS: deploys any language, automatic HTTPS, zero fees.

15,195 GitHub stars
Licence Apache-2.0 with additional terms

by category

Open source tools in these categories#

517

Inbox Zero

Alternative toSuperhuman

AI email assistant that drafts replies and clears your inbox

12,855 GitHub stars
Licence AGPL-3.0
#Email

rakazo

Alternative toGrok Bot

AI teammates you own: your keys, your model, your machine.

6,242 GitHub stars
Licence Apache-2.0
#AI Agents

SnitchFeed

Live monitoring on LinkedIn, X, Reddit & more. Agentic social listening for startups.

Marketing & Growth

Advertise your product

The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.

Find open source alternatives to paid software

Alchemy vs Pulumi Cloud

Alchemy and Pulumi Cloud both let TypeScript developers define cloud infrastructure in code, but they differ on where state lives and whether a paid backend is required.

Feature	Alchemy	Pulumi Cloud
License	Apache 2.0	Apache 2.0 (SDK) + proprietary (cloud service)
State backend	Local file	Pulumi Cloud (managed, paid tiers)
Paid service required	No	No for open source state; yes for Pulumi Cloud features
Language model	TypeScript + Effect	TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, Java
Local emulation	Yes (Workers, R2, Durable Objects)	Not built in
Per-PR deployments	Built-in GitHub Action	Via Pulumi Deployments (paid tier)

Alchemy vs SST Console

SST and Alchemy share the goal of unifying application code and cloud infrastructure in TypeScript, but SST targets AWS primarily while Alchemy spans Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Railway, and more.

Feature	Alchemy	SST Console
License	Apache 2.0	MIT (SST) + proprietary (Console)
Primary clouds	Cloudflare, AWS, GCP, Fly, Railway, Hetzner	AWS (primary), Cloudflare
Dashboard	None	SST Console (paid, cloud-hosted)
Infrastructure model	Effect Layers	CDK constructs / Ion
Local dev	alchemy dev emulator	SST Live Lambda

Who Alchemy is for#

Cloudflare Workers developers adding persistent storage and services

Skip if:

AI engineers deploying agent infrastructure across multiple cloud providers

Skip if:

Teams replacing a managed IaC backend with a local-first alternative

Skip if:

Effect users adding cloud infrastructure to an existing TypeScript service

Skip if:

The problem it solves#

How it solves it#

Infrastructure and app code in one TypeScript program

Type-checked cloud resources at compile time

Local emulation with alchemy dev

Per-PR preview stages in CI

OpenTelemetry observability as a Layer

Multi-cloud support in one program

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Trade-offs

Alchemy vs alternatives#

Alchemy vs Pulumi Cloud

Alchemy vs SST Console

Quick start#

What it's built on#

FAQ#

Similar open-source tools#

Open source tools in these categories#

Developer Tools

DevOps & CI/CD

Cloud & Hosting

Backend Development

Find open source alternatives to paid software

Who Alchemy is for#

Cloudflare Workers developers adding persistent storage and services

Skip if:

AI engineers deploying agent infrastructure across multiple cloud providers

Skip if:

Teams replacing a managed IaC backend with a local-first alternative

Skip if:

Effect users adding cloud infrastructure to an existing TypeScript service

Skip if:

The problem it solves#

How it solves it#

Infrastructure and app code in one TypeScript program

Type-checked cloud resources at compile time

Local emulation with alchemy dev

Per-PR preview stages in CI

OpenTelemetry observability as a Layer

Multi-cloud support in one program

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Trade-offs

Alchemy vs alternatives#

Alchemy vs Pulumi Cloud

Alchemy vs SST Console

Quick start#

What it's built on#

FAQ#

Similar open-source tools#

Open source tools in these categories#

Developer Tools

DevOps & CI/CD

Cloud & Hosting

Backend Development

Find open source alternatives to paid software