Wiz vs Prowler

A side-by-side comparison across pricing, deployment, integrations, compliance, and cloud security-specific features. Descriptive comparison only — no recommendations.

4 min read Data verified: July 2026 Cloud Security (CSPM/CNAPP)

Wiz

CNAPP

Custom enterprise pricing deployments commonly $50K-$300K+/yr based on cloud asset count and modules

Paid

Visit official site →

Prowler

CSPM

CLI is free under Apache 2.0 Prowler SaaS starts at ~$79/mo with cloud-managed dashboards, scheduling, ticketing, and team features

Free / OSS

Visit official site →

$ 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

Pricing tier

Paid

Free / OSS

Free tier / trial

Free tier

No free consumer tier; free 30-day enterprise trial and a free cloud risk assessment via sales engagement; entry 'Wiz Go' bundle for SMBs, otherwise custom enterprise pricing

Free tier

CLI permanently free; Prowler SaaS offers free trial

Volume discounts

Negotiated by asset count and module bundle

multi-year commitments common

Not applicable for CLI (free)

SaaS pricing scales with assets

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)

↗ 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

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

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

☁ 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

✓ 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)

◧ 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

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

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

◧ Bottom line

Last updated 6 July 2026

Who should pick which Wiz — Mid-market to enterprise organizations on multi-cloud (AWS+Azure+GCP) needing unified CNAPP, fast time-to-value, and broad coverage from a single platform.

Prowler — DevSecOps teams, security engineers, AWS-heavy environments, compliance auditing on a budget, MSSPs running scans for multiple clients.

Both are CNAPP tools; the practical differences are licensing (Paid vs Free / OSS) and deployment (SaaS (agentless scanning of cloud accounts) vs Self-run CLI (free) or Prowler SaaS (cloud-managed)). Match the profile above to your environment.

◧ Choose Wiz or Prowler?

decision guide

Choose if

Choose Wiz if…

You can deploy SaaS (agentless scanning of cloud accounts).

Paid licensing fits your budget — $50K-$300K+/yr enterprise; asset-based or cluster-based custom pricing.

You prioritise 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).

Choose Prowler if…

You can deploy Self-run CLI (free) or Prowler SaaS (cloud-managed).

Free / OSS licensing fits your budget — Free (Apache 2.0 open source CLI); Prowler SaaS from ~$79/mo.

You prioritise 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.

Frequently asked questions

5 questions

How much do Wiz and Prowler cost?

Wiz: Custom enterprise pricing; deployments commonly $50K-$300K+/yr based on cloud asset count and modules Prowler: CLI is free under Apache 2.0; Prowler SaaS starts at ~$79/mo with cloud-managed dashboards, scheduling, ticketing, and team features

Does Wiz or Prowler offer a free tier or trial?

Wiz: No free consumer tier; free 30-day enterprise trial and a free cloud risk assessment via sales engagement; entry 'Wiz Go' bundle for SMBs, otherwise custom enterprise pricing Prowler: CLI permanently free; Prowler SaaS offers free trial

How are Wiz and Prowler deployed?

Wiz: Agentless SaaS — Wiz connects to cloud accounts via read-only API integration; no agents required for core scanning Prowler: Self-run CLI on workstation, CI/CD, or scheduled compute; Prowler SaaS for managed cloud deployment

Who is Wiz best for, and who is Prowler best for?

Wiz is aimed at Mid-market to enterprise multi-cloud environments wanting unified CNAPP. Prowler is aimed at DevSecOps teams, security engineers, AWS-heavy environments, compliance auditing on a budget.

What compliance certifications do Wiz and Prowler hold?

Wiz: FedRAMP Moderate, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA-aligned Prowler: 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)

Related comparisons

See all Cloud Security (CSPM/CNAPP) tools

Browse the full category with side-by-side comparisons across cloud security-specific dimensions.

Browse Cloud Security (CSPM/CNAPP) →

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.