vioscaleAI
Comparison

Aqua Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

No leader: the top candidate Aqua Security has only 0.25 confidence (low), below the 0.35 needed to declare a winner. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Aqua Security full profile →Microsoft Defender for Cloud full profile →
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Aqua Security48
Microsoft Defender for Cloud48
Score
vioscaleAI score
Aqua Security48 / 100low · 25%
Microsoft Defender for Cloud48 / 100low · 19%
Pricing
Free tier
Aqua Security✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Model
Aqua Securitycommercial
Microsoft Defender for Cloudcommercial
Price level
Aqua Securityunknown
Microsoft Defender for Cloudunknown
Transparent
Aqua Security✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Integrations
Count
Aqua Security13
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Security
Disclosure policy
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Gdpr
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Trust center
Aqua Securityhttps://www.aquasec.com/blog/security-for-amazon-ecs-workloads/
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Reliability
Status page
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Market
Availability
Aqua SecurityAvailable worldwide
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Content
Faq
Aqua Security6 items
Microsoft Defender for Cloud5 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for cloud security software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Posture
CSPM (posture / misconfig)
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
KSPM (Kubernetes posture)
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Workload
CWPP (workload protection)
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Entitlements
CIEM (entitlements)
Aqua Security✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Data
DSPM (data posture)
Aqua Security✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Pipeline
IaC / pipeline scanning
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Architecture
Agentless scanning
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Runtime
Runtime protection
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Coverage
Cloud coverage
Aqua SecurityAWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle, Alibaba Cloud
Microsoft Defender for CloudHybrid and multicloud environments
Compliance
Compliance frameworks assessed
Aqua SecurityCIS Kubernetes Benchmark, industry configuration benchmarks
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Licensing
Open-core scanner available
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Aqua Security

Aqua Security scans containers, Kubernetes clusters, application source code, and cloud platforms to identify vulnerabilities, configuration weaknesses, and embedded secrets. The product includes kernel-level runtime monitoring for container workloads and validation of Kubernetes deployments against security benchmarks.

Independently observed

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Provides security protection across application development and runtime stages for hybrid and multicloud deployments.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Aqua Security

Hybrid

Hybrid pricing: usage-based (PAYG) or license-based (BYOL)

  • PAYGPay-as-you-go pricing per ECS task
  • BYOLContact sales
as of verify ↗

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Hybrid
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Linux
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Self-hosted
Aqua Security✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Hybrid
Aqua Security✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Aqua Security

23 total
  • Orca
  • AWS
  • EC2
  • ECS
  • EKS
  • Fargate
  • Lambda
  • ECR
  • Azure
  • GCP
  • Oracle Cloud
  • Alibaba Cloud
  • Kubernetes
  • Red Hat OpenShift
  • IBM Z
  • LinuxONE
  • GitHub
  • AWS EC2
  • AWS Fargate
  • AWS Lambda
  • Amazon ECR
  • Amazon ECS
  • Google Cloud Platform
Independently observed

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Aqua Security or Microsoft Defender for Cloud: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.