We introduce a new ab initio derived reactive potential for the simulation of CdTe within density functional theory (DFT) and apply it to calculate both static and dynamical properties of a number of systems (bulk solid, defective structures, liquid, surfaces) at finite temperature. In particular, we also consider cases with low sulfur concentration (CdTe:S). The analysis of DFT and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations performed with the same protocol leads to stringent performance tests and to a detailed comparison of the two schemes. Metadynamics techniques are used to empower both Car-Parrinello and classical molecular dynamics for the simulation of activated processes. For the latter, we consider surface reconstruction and sulfur diffusion in the bulk. The same procedures are applied using previously proposed force fields for CdTe and CdTeS materials, thus allowing for a detailed comparison of the various schemes.