diff --git a/tfexec/errors.go b/tfexec/errors.go
index 241fe715..010b3887 100644
--- a/tfexec/errors.go
+++ b/tfexec/errors.go
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ var (
 )
 
 func (tf *Terraform) parseError(err error, stderr string) error {
-	if _, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); !ok {
+	ee, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError)
+	if !ok {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -87,6 +88,11 @@ func (tf *Terraform) parseError(err error, stderr string) error {
 			return &ErrWorkspaceExists{submatches[1]}
 		}
 	}
+	errString := strings.TrimSpace(stderr)
+	if errString == "" {
+		// if stderr is empty, return the ExitError directly, as it will have a better message
+		return ee
+	}
 	return errors.New(stderr)
 }
 
diff --git a/tfexec/fmt.go b/tfexec/fmt.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..64473a5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/fmt.go
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+package tfexec
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type formatConfig struct {
+	recursive bool
+	dir       string
+}
+
+var defaultFormatConfig = formatConfig{
+	recursive: false,
+}
+
+type FormatOption interface {
+	configureFormat(*formatConfig)
+}
+
+func (opt *RecursiveOption) configureFormat(conf *formatConfig) {
+	conf.recursive = opt.recursive
+}
+
+func (opt *DirOption) configureFormat(conf *formatConfig) {
+	conf.dir = opt.path
+}
+
+// FormatString formats a passed string, given a path to Terraform.
+func FormatString(ctx context.Context, execPath string, content string) (string, error) {
+	tf, err := NewTerraform(filepath.Dir(execPath), execPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return tf.FormatString(ctx, content)
+}
+
+// FormatString formats a passed string.
+func (tf *Terraform) FormatString(ctx context.Context, content string) (string, error) {
+	cmd, err := tf.formatCmd(ctx, nil, Dir("-"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	cmd.Stdin = strings.NewReader(content)
+
+	var outBuf bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.Stdout = mergeWriters(cmd.Stdout, &outBuf)
+
+	err = tf.runTerraformCmd(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return outBuf.String(), nil
+}
+
+// FormatWrite attempts to format and modify all config files in the working or selected (via DirOption) directory.
+func (tf *Terraform) FormatWrite(ctx context.Context, opts ...FormatOption) error {
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		switch o := o.(type) {
+		case *DirOption:
+			if o.path == "-" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("a path of \"-\" is not supported for this method, please use FormatString")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	cmd, err := tf.formatCmd(ctx, []string{"-write=true", "-list=false", "-diff=false"}, opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return tf.runTerraformCmd(cmd)
+}
+
+// FormatCheck returns true if the config files in the working or selected (via DirOption) directory are already formatted.
+func (tf *Terraform) FormatCheck(ctx context.Context, opts ...FormatOption) (bool, []string, error) {
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		switch o := o.(type) {
+		case *DirOption:
+			if o.path == "-" {
+				return false, nil, fmt.Errorf("a path of \"-\" is not supported for this method, please use FormatString")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	cmd, err := tf.formatCmd(ctx, []string{"-write=false", "-list=true", "-diff=false", "-check=true"}, opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, nil, err
+	}
+
+	var outBuf bytes.Buffer
+	cmd.Stdout = mergeWriters(cmd.Stdout, &outBuf)
+
+	err = tf.runTerraformCmd(cmd)
+	if err == nil {
+		return true, nil, nil
+	}
+	if cmd.ProcessState.ExitCode() == 3 {
+		// unformatted, parse the file list
+
+		files := []string{}
+		lines := strings.Split(strings.Replace(outBuf.String(), "\r\n", "\n", -1), "\n")
+		for _, l := range lines {
+			l = strings.TrimSpace(l)
+			if l == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			files = append(files, l)
+		}
+
+		return false, files, nil
+	}
+	return false, nil, err
+}
+
+func (tf *Terraform) formatCmd(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts ...FormatOption) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	c := defaultFormatConfig
+
+	for _, o := range opts {
+		switch o.(type) {
+		case *RecursiveOption:
+			err := tf.compatible(ctx, tf0_12_0, nil)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("-recursive was added to fmt in Terraform 0.12: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+
+		o.configureFormat(&c)
+	}
+
+	args = append([]string{"fmt", "-no-color"}, args...)
+
+	if c.recursive {
+		args = append(args, "-recursive")
+	}
+
+	if c.dir != "" {
+		args = append(args, c.dir)
+	}
+
+	return tf.buildTerraformCmd(ctx, nil, args...), nil
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/fmt_test.go b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/fmt_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f081b007
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/fmt_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package e2etest
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform-exec/tfexec"
+)
+
+func TestFormatString(t *testing.T) {
+	runTest(t, "", func(t *testing.T, tfv *version.Version, tf *tfexec.Terraform) {
+		unformatted := strings.TrimSpace(`
+resource     "foo"      "bar" {
+	baz = 1
+		qux      =        2
+}
+`)
+
+		expected := strings.TrimSpace(`
+resource "foo" "bar" {
+  baz = 1
+  qux = 2
+}
+`)
+
+		actual, err := tf.FormatString(context.Background(), unformatted)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		actual = strings.TrimSpace(actual)
+
+		if actual != expected {
+			t.Fatalf("expected:\n%s\ngot:\n%s\n", expected, actual)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func TestFormatCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	runTest(t, "unformatted", func(t *testing.T, tfv *version.Version, tf *tfexec.Terraform) {
+		checksums := map[string]uint32{
+			"file1.tf": checkSum(t, filepath.Join(tf.WorkingDir(), "file1.tf")),
+			"file2.tf": checkSum(t, filepath.Join(tf.WorkingDir(), "file2.tf")),
+		}
+
+		formatted, files, err := tf.FormatCheck(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error from FormatCheck: %T %q", err, err)
+		}
+
+		if formatted {
+			t.Fatal("expected unformatted")
+		}
+
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(files, []string{"file1.tf", "file2.tf"}) {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected files list: %#v", files)
+		}
+
+		for file, checksum := range checksums {
+			if checksum != checkSum(t, filepath.Join(tf.WorkingDir(), file)) {
+				t.Fatalf("%s should not have changed", file)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+func TestFormatWrite(t *testing.T) {
+	runTest(t, "unformatted", func(t *testing.T, tfv *version.Version, tf *tfexec.Terraform) {
+		err := tf.FormatWrite(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error from FormatWrite: %T %q", err, err)
+		}
+
+		for file, golden := range map[string]string{
+			"file1.tf": "file1.golden.txt",
+			"file2.tf": "file2.golden.txt",
+		} {
+			textFilesEqual(t, filepath.Join(tf.WorkingDir(), golden), filepath.Join(tf.WorkingDir(), file))
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.golden.txt b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.golden.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..630705e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.golden.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+resource "foo" "bar" {
+  baz = 1
+  qux = 2
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.tf b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.tf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07c72726
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file1.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+resource     "foo"      "bar" {
+     baz = 1
+       qux      =        2
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.golden.txt b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.golden.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b5dd748a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.golden.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+resource "foo" "baz" {
+  baz = 1
+  qux = 2
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.tf b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.tf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8913b1ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/testdata/unformatted/file2.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+resource     "foo"      "baz" {
+     baz = 1
+       qux      =        2
+}
diff --git a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/util_test.go b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/util_test.go
index ae43e604..d5232a92 100644
--- a/tfexec/internal/e2etest/util_test.go
+++ b/tfexec/internal/e2etest/util_test.go
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 package e2etest
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
-	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"hash/crc32"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
@@ -163,27 +162,33 @@ func copyFile(path string, dstPath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// filesEqual returns true iff the two files have the same contents.
-func filesEqual(file1, file2 string) (bool, error) {
-	sf, err := os.Open(file1)
+// filesEqual asserts that two files have the same contents.
+func textFilesEqual(t *testing.T, expected, actual string) {
+	eb, err := ioutil.ReadFile(expected)
 	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	df, err := os.Open(file2)
+	ab, err := ioutil.ReadFile(actual)
 	if err != nil {
-		return false, err
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	sscan := bufio.NewScanner(sf)
-	dscan := bufio.NewScanner(df)
+	es := string(eb)
+	es = strings.ReplaceAll(es, "\r\n", "\n")
 
-	for sscan.Scan() {
-		dscan.Scan()
-		if !bytes.Equal(sscan.Bytes(), dscan.Bytes()) {
-			return true, nil
-		}
+	as := string(ab)
+	as = strings.ReplaceAll(as, "\r\n", "\n")
+
+	if as != es {
+		t.Fatalf("expected:\n%s\n\ngot:\n%s\n", es, as)
 	}
+}
 
-	return false, nil
+func checkSum(t *testing.T, filename string) uint32 {
+	b, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return crc32.ChecksumIEEE(b)
 }
diff --git a/tfexec/options.go b/tfexec/options.go
index 4497f7f2..f5baf5d4 100644
--- a/tfexec/options.go
+++ b/tfexec/options.go
@@ -217,6 +217,14 @@ func Reconfigure(reconfigure bool) *ReconfigureOption {
 	return &ReconfigureOption{reconfigure}
 }
 
+type RecursiveOption struct {
+	recursive bool
+}
+
+func Recursive(r bool) *RecursiveOption {
+	return &RecursiveOption{r}
+}
+
 type RefreshOption struct {
 	refresh bool
 }