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Cloud Security Tools Compared

Cloud security platforms protect AWS, Azure, and GCP environments through configuration scanning, workload protection, vulnerability management, and identity. Side-by-side comparison across 4 tools — descriptive only, no recommendations.

6 min read Data verified: May 2026 4 tools compared
Wiz
CNAPP
Paid
$50K-$300K+/yr enterprise asset-based or cluster-based custom pricing
Visit official site →
Prowler
CSPM
Free / OSS
Free (Apache 2.0 open source CLI) Prowler SaaS from ~$79/mo
Visit official site →
Trivy
Container Security
Free / OSS
Free (Apache 2.0 open source) commercial Aqua Security platform builds on Trivy with additional capabilities
Visit official site →
Orca Security
CNAPP
Paid
$30K-$200K+/yr enterprise typically positioned ~20-30% below comparable CNAPP enterprise pricing
Visit official site →
Comparing →
Wiz
CNAPP
Prowler
CSPM
Trivy
Container Security
Orca Security
CNAPP
$ Pricing & plans
5 dimensions
Pricing model
Custom enterprise pricing
deployments commonly $50K-$300K+/yr based on cloud asset count and modules
CLI is free under Apache 2.0
Prowler SaaS starts at ~$79/mo with cloud-managed dashboards, scheduling, ticketing, and team features
Free under Apache 2.0
Aqua Security commercial platform (built on Trivy) is separately licensed for enterprise capabilities
Custom enterprise pricing
typical deployments $30K-$200K+/yr; commonly positioned ~20-30% below comparable enterprise CNAPP
Pricing tier
Paid
Free / OSS
Free / OSS
Paid
Free tier / trial
Free tier
Wiz Free for individual researchers; 30-day enterprise trial via sales engagement
Free tier
CLI permanently free; Prowler SaaS offers free trial
Free tier
Software permanently free; Aqua Security offers commercial trial
Trial only
Free risk assessment scan available; 30-day enterprise trial via sales
Volume discounts
Negotiated by asset count and module bundle
multi-year commitments common
Not applicable for CLI (free)
SaaS pricing scales with assets
Not applicable (free)
Aqua commercial pricing scales with workloads
Negotiated based on cloud asset count and modules
multi-year terms common
Hidden costs
Wiz Sensor (optional runtime agent), Wiz Code (code-to-cloud), Sensitive Data…
Discovery, and Container Scanning may be priced as add-on modules
Operational time for CLI scheduling/automation, custom report generation,…
ticketing integration (or use SaaS for managed experience)
Operational time for CI/CD integration, custom policy tuning, false positive triage
consider commercial product for managed experience
Add-on modules for advanced capabilities (e.g., sensitive data discovery,…
container vulnerability prioritization) may be priced separately
↗ Deployment & integrations
3 dimensions
Deployment
Agentless SaaS
Wiz connects to cloud accounts via read-only API integration; no agents required for core scanning
Self-run CLI on workstation, CI/CD, or scheduled compute
Prowler SaaS for managed cloud deployment
Self-run CLI, Docker container, Kubernetes Job
native integrations with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Jenkins; Trivy Operator for K8s
Fully agentless SaaS using SideScanning (patented)
scans cloud workloads via snapshot analysis without deploying agents or in-account compute
Typical deployment time
Hours to days
agentless scan of a cloud account typically completes within 24 hours of connection
Minutes for CLI
hours for SaaS connection and configuration
Minutes — single binary, single command to scan
Hours — SideScanning typically delivers initial results within hours of cloud…
account connection
Key integrations
AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Kubernetes, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Jira, ServiceNow,…
Slack, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, CrowdStrike, Snyk
AWS Security Hub, Microsoft Sentinel, Slack, PagerDuty, S3 export, Jira,…
ServiceNow (via SaaS); CI/CD pipelines via GitHub Actions/GitLab CI
GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, CircleCI, Tekton, Argo, Harbor, Quay,…
Docker Hub, Microsoft Defender for Containers; SARIF output for security tooling
AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Kubernetes, Jira, ServiceNow, Slack, PagerDuty, Splunk,…
Microsoft Sentinel, GitHub, Terraform Cloud
☁ Cloud Security-specific evaluation
7 dimensions
Scanning approach
Agentless via cloud APIs and snapshot scanning
optional Wiz Sensor for runtime agent telemetry
Agentless API-based scanning via cloud provider read-only credentials
no agents required
Local CLI scanning of images, filesystems, Git repos, Kubernetes clusters
no agent required
SideScanning (patented)
snapshot-based agentless scanning; no in-account compute or persistent agent required
Clouds supported
AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Alibaba Cloud
Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE, self-managed)
AWS (deepest coverage, 572+ checks), Azure, GCP, Kubernetes
expanding to other platforms
Cloud-agnostic
scans container images and IaC for AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes; AWS Bedrock model scanning available
AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Alibaba Cloud
Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE, self-managed)
Vulnerability detection
Vulnerability scanning of VMs, containers, serverless via agentless snapshot scanning
correlates CVEs with reachability and exposure
Configuration vulnerabilities and posture issues; not a CVE vulnerability scanner
pair with Trivy or commercial CNAPP for workload CVEs
CVE scanning across OS packages (Alpine, Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.) and…
language packages (npm, pip, gem, etc.); secrets detection
Vulnerability scanning of VMs, containers, serverless via SideScanning
correlates CVEs with workload context and attack path analysis
Cloud entitlements (CIEM)
Native CIEM in core platform
identity risk graph maps human and machine identity entitlements to sensitive resources
Identity-related checks for AWS IAM, Azure RBAC, GCP IAM
not a full CIEM platform
Not a CIEM tool
CIEM included in unified platform
maps identity entitlements and toxic combinations across cloud accounts
Container / Kubernetes
Native Kubernetes security posture, workload risk, admission control via Wiz…
Admission Controller, registry scanning
Kubernetes security posture checks via prowler kubernetes provider
container-focused depth is less mature than dedicated container security tools
Core strength
container image scanning, Kubernetes manifest scanning, Trivy Operator for continuous K8s scanning, admission control
Kubernetes security posture management, workload risk, image scanning, runtime…
protection via lightweight sensors (optional)
IaC scanning
Terraform, CloudFormation, Helm, Kubernetes manifests via Wiz Code
pre-deployment policy enforcement
Not core to Prowler (focused on running infrastructure)
IaC scanning typically paired with tools like Trivy or Checkov
Terraform, CloudFormation, Helm, Kubernetes manifests, Dockerfile
misconfiguration detection via Rego policies
Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes manifests
shift-left scanning integrated with CI/CD pipelines
Compliance frameworks
CIS Benchmarks, NIST, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, FedRAMP, CSA CCM,…
custom frameworks; built-in compliance reporting
41+ frameworks including CIS, NIST CSF, ENS, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, ISO…
27001, FedRAMP, MITRE ATT&CK; custom frameworks supported
CIS Docker/Kubernetes Benchmarks, NIST, PCI DSS, K8s security benchmarks
SBOM generation in SPDX and CycloneDX formats
CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, FedRAMP, CSA…
CCM, custom frameworks
✓ Compliance & certifications
1 dimension
Compliance certifications
FedRAMP Moderate, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA-aligned
Software has no specific certifications
supports compliance reporting for 41+ frameworks (CIS, NIST, ENS, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, MITRE ATT&CK)
Software has no specific certifications
produces compliance reports for CIS, NIST, PCI DSS, K8s benchmarks
SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR
HIPAA and PCI DSS-aligned customer configurations
◧ Positioning
3 dimensions
Target deployment
Mid-market to enterprise multi-cloud environments wanting unified CNAPP
DevSecOps teams, security engineers, AWS-heavy environments, compliance…
auditing on a budget
DevSecOps teams, CI/CD pipeline scanning, Kubernetes admission control, IaC scanning
Mid-market to enterprise multi-cloud environments wanting agentless CNAPP at…
competitive cost
Strengths cited
Agentless scanning across AWS/Azure/GCP/OCI, unified risk graph correlating…
vulnerabilities/misconfigs/identities/sensitive data, rapid time-to-value; widely recognized cloud security leader; acquired by Google (closed March 2026)
Free open source with 13,000+ GitHub stars, 572+ AWS checks, 41+ compliance…
frameworks supported, multi-cloud coverage (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes), permissive Apache 2.0 license
Free open source with 34,600+ GitHub stars, all-in-one scanner…
(vulnerabilities, misconfigs, secrets, SBOM, licenses), broad target support (containers, K8s, repos, filesystems, IaC), easy integration into CI/CD
Patented SideScanning agentless approach (no in-account compute or agents),…
full workload visibility within hours, unified data model across vulnerabilities/misconfigs/identities/data/malware, often positioned at lower price point than top-tier CNAPP competitors
Where it fits less well
Enterprise-tier pricing
some advanced capabilities (sensitive data scanning, code-to-cloud) are add-on modules
CLI-first design
visualization, reporting, and ticketing workflows are more polished in commercial CNAPP products; SaaS version adds dashboards but at additional cost
GitHub Action security incidents in early 2026 (publicly disclosed and…
remediated by maintainers) prompted broader scrutiny of CI/CD supply chain practices; users should follow current pinning and verification guidance
Smaller partner ecosystem than the top market leader
some practitioners cite the runtime/in-account telemetry depth as an area where competitors with optional agents offer more
Head-to-head comparisons
2 pairs
Wiz vs Orca Security→ Wiz vs Prowler→
Methodology Comparison data synthesized from publicly available vendor documentation, MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations, AV-TEST results, Gartner Peer Insights, G2/Capterra/TrustRadius reviews, anonymized transaction data (Vendr, CostBench, CheckThat.ai), and publicly reported pricing as of May 2026. defend.network is independent and has no commercial relationship with the vendors compared.