Comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Prowler

On the evidence we track, Prowler leads this comparison with a composite score of 75/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud48
★Prowler75
Score
vioscaleAI score
Microsoft Defender for Cloud48 / 100low · 19%
Prowler75 / 100medium · 71%
Pricing
Free tier
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
Model
Microsoft Defender for Cloudcommercial
Prowlerfreemium
Price level
Microsoft Defender for Cloudunknown
Prowlerhigh
Starting price
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler$99
Transparent
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓
Integrations
Count
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler10
Security
Certifications
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Disclosure policy
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Fedramp
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Gdpr
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
Hipaa
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Iso27001
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Pci
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Soc2
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Prowler✓
Reliability
Status page
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
Market
Availability
Microsoft Defender for Cloud–
Content
Faq
Microsoft Defender for Cloud5 items
Prowler7 items

Capabilities

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

Posture
CSPM (posture / misconfig)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
KSPM (Kubernetes posture)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler✓
Workload
CWPP (workload protection)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler✓
Entitlements
CIEM (entitlements)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler✓
Data
DSPM (data posture)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler-
Pipeline
IaC / pipeline scanning
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
Architecture
Agentless scanning
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler-
Runtime
Runtime protection
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler-
Coverage
Cloud coverage
Microsoft Defender for CloudHybrid and multicloud environments
ProwlerAWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, GitHub, Microsoft 365, Oracle Cl
Compliance
Compliance frameworks assessed
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
ProwlerCIS, NIST 800, NIST CSF, CISA, MITRE ATT&CK, RBI, FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, NIS2, GDPR,
Licensing
Open-core scanner available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud-
Prowler✓

What each one is

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

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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

Independently observed

Prowler

Leader

An open-source and managed platform that automatically scans cloud environments for security misconfigurations and compliance violations. Offers multiple deployment options—cloud-hosted, self-hosted, or air-gapped—with 2,500+ checks, customizable compliance frameworks, remediation guidance, and integrations with security and workflow tools.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Hybrid
as of verify ↗

Prowler

Leader
from $99/cloud account/moHybridFree tier15-day trial

Free trial and open-source options. Managed SaaS from $99/cloud account/month. Private Cloud pricing available on quote.

  • Free TrialFree
    • All checks and compliance frameworks
    • Cloud infrastructure posture scanning
    • Access to Prowler Hub
    • SOC 2 Type 2 assurance
  • Prowler Cloud$99/cloud account/month; 20% discount with annual billing
    • Continuous compliance across 70+ frameworks
    • Onboard whole AWS Organizations, Azure Management Groups, GCP Organizations
    • Jira, Slack and email alerts
    • SAML SSO and API access
    • Enterprise support
    • +5 more
  • Prowler Private CloudContact sales
    • Deployment in customer's cloud, data center or air-gapped environment
    • Data residency of choice and unlimited resources
    • Private Registry for custom providers, checks and frameworks
    • AWS Security Lake (Parquet) and custom SIEM integration
    • White glove onboarding
    • +3 more
  • Open SourceFree
    • 2,500+ checks across all cloud providers
    • Run from terminal, CI/CD pipeline or Kubernetes
    • All public compliance frameworks
    • Custom checks and frameworks support
    • Optional integration with Prowler Cloud
    • +1 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
CLI
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓
Self-hosted
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓
On-premise
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓
Hybrid
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✓
Prowler✓
Air-gapped
Microsoft Defender for Cloud✗
Prowler✓

Integrations

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

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Not documented yet.

Prowler

Leader
26 total
  • AWS
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Kubernetes
  • GitHub
  • Microsoft 365
  • Oracle Cloud
  • Alibaba Cloud
  • Cloudflare
  • OpenStack
  • AWS Security Hub
  • Jira
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Power BI
  • AWS Security Lake
  • Censys
  • GitHub Code Scanning
  • Terraform
  • AWS CloudFormation
  • Email
  • Custom SIEM
  • Power BI
  • GitHub Actions
  • Vercel
  • +2 more
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Microsoft Defender for Cloud or Prowler: 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.