Top DevOps tools

Top DevOps Tools Every Engineer Must Learn in 2026

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Last updated: January 2026

DevOps is a core technology of the modern software development industry. Ranging from startup to large scale MNCs Product Based companies all rely on the DevOps practices to deliver their software application from start to end much faster and in more secure fashion. Mastering the DevOps tools has become a critical thing for anyone aiming to build a successfull career in this domain.

I have written this guide to cover the Top DevOps tool Every Engineer must Learn in 2026. These are the tools which are currently used in Realtime for the real-world projects.

What are DevOps Tools used for?

DevOps tools help the organization to automate, configure, manage, monitor and continuously deliver their application code when required without facing any major downtime. DevOps tools make use of the collaboration between the development team and the Operations team and ensure that the application speed, reliability, and scalability.

Top DevOps tools currently used in real time in 2026

  1. Version Control
    • Git – Version Control system which tracks changes in files
    • GitHub – Platform to host, share and work together on the organizational code
    • GitLab – A web host platform to manage entire software development lifecycle.
    • BitBucket – Git based repository hosting service
  2. CICD (Continious Integration / Continuous Delivery)
    • Jenkins – Widely used CI tool
    • GitHub Actions – Used to automate, customize and execute software development workflows
    • GitLab CICD – Automates process of building testing and deploying code.
    • Circle CI – Provide continuous integration and delivery services for software development.
    • Argo CD – Used for Continuous Delivery.
  3. Containers and Orchestration
    • Docker – Widely used for application containerization
    • Kubernetes – It’s a container orchestration platform on which you can run your application.
    • Helm – A package Manager for Kubernetes.
    • Openshift – An Enterprize Kubernetes Platform.
  4. Infrastrucure As Code (IAC)
    • Terraform – A tool to manage cloud infrastructure.
    • AWS CloudFormation – An AWS native IAC
    • Pulumi – IAC which uses programming languages
    • ARM Template – Azure native infra templates.
  5. Configuration Management
    • Ansible – Automation tools which is agentless
    • Chef – Used for infra automation
    • Puppet – A platform for configuration management
    • SaltStack – Event-driven automation
  6. Cloud Platforms
    • Amazon Web Services
    • Microsoft Azure
    • Google Cloud Platform
  7. Monitoring and Logging
    • Prometheus – Used for raw metrics monitoring.
    • Grafana – Used for monitoring using custom dashboards.
    • ELK stack – Used for centralized logging
    • Loki – A k8s native logging tool
    • DataDog – Used for Observability
  8. DevSecOps and Security Tools
    • Trivy – Vulnerability scanning for containers
    • SonarQube – Code quality check and security analysis
    • HashiCorp Vault – Used for secrets store and management
    • Snyk – Vulnerability Scanner
  9. Networking
    • NGINX – Load balancer and Proxy Server
    • Istio – Service mesh for Kubernetes
    • Envoy – Proxy with slight High Performance
  10. Scripting
    • Bash – Shell scripting on Linux
    • Python – Scripting for Automating tasks
    • Linux – Core Operating System.

Which DevOps Tools to Learn First?

which devops tools to learn first

If you are new to the DevOps domain, you should focus on the following core DevOps stack:

1. Git / Github
2. Linux / Bash scripting
3. Docker / Kubernetes
4. Jenkins or Github Actions - Github Actions is widely used nowadays due to better automation of software development workflows.
5. IAC tools - Go with Terraform or Ansible
6. Cloud Provide - Choose any one (AWS / AZURE / GCP)

Conclusion

In the fast-paced growing IT industry every organization used different set of DevOps tools as per their requirement. The real value here is understanding how and when to use the right tools to solve real world problems. One cannot learn every tools and have hands-on knowledge on that tool, it is bit impossible, instead what one can do is to focus on building strong basic fundamentals, gain hands-on expertise and master practical DevOps stack.

As the DevOps domain is continuously evolving, engineers who have knowledge of automation, cloud, scripting and system configuration and reliability skills will always be remain in high demand.

Let me know in Comments which DevOps tools are you learning first ?

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