# Cloud Custodian vs Falco

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Falco

| Attribute | Cloud Custodian | Falco |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 52.9 (41% (low)) | 58.3 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 45 | 11 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 80 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 6,053 | 9,305 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Cloud Custodian enables management of cloud resources through filtering, tagging, and policy-driven actions using a YAML DSL. It supports real-time compliance enforcement and cost optimization across AWS, Azure, GCP, and other cloud platforms. | Cloud-native runtime security tool that monitors hosts, containers, Kubernetes, and cloud environments for abnormal behavior and security threats using eBPF and kernel events. |
| features.capabilities | `{"ciem":false,"cspm":true,"cwpp":false,"dspm":false,"kspm":true,"iac_scanning":true,"cloud_coverage":"AWS, Azure, GCP (primary); Kubernetes, Tencent Cloud, OpenStack (beta)","open_core_scanner":true,"agentless_scanning":true,"runtime_protection":false}` | `{"cwpp":true,"kspm":true,"cloud_coverage":"Multi-cloud: hosts, containers, Kubernetes, and cloud environments","open_core_scanner":true,"agentless_scanning":false,"runtime_protection":true,"compliance_frameworks":"Rule-based detection for regulatory compliance violations"}` |
| integrations.count | 1 | 50 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Terraform"}]` | `[{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"AWS EKS"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"AWS CloudTrail"},{"name":"Okta"},{"name":"Nomad"},{"name":"Fluent Bit"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"S3"},{"name":"Slack"}]` |
| language.primary | Python | C++ |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free under Apache 2.0 license","sourceUrl":"https://cloudcustodian.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T16:47:00.704Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://falco.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T17:01:04.261Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 54 | 4 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.51.0","date":"2026-05-28T19:52:40Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.51.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.50.0","date":"2026-03-18T17:16:59Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.50.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.49.0","date":"2026-01-16T21:21:11Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.49.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.48.0","date":"2025-12-01T19:04:50Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.48.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.47.0","date":"2025-09-22T18:14:42Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.47.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.46.0","date":"2025-07-17T18:42:30Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.46.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.45.0","date":"2025-06-02T20:24:02Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.45.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.44.0","date":"2025-04-24T14:12:18Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.44.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.43.0","date":"2025-02-04T15:27:59Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.43.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.42.0","date":"2024-11-14T20:21:44Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.42.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.41.0","date":"2024-09-18T19:08:29Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.41.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.40.0","date":"2024-07-23T20:06:17Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.40.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.39.0","date":"2024-07-23T13:55:45Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.39.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.38.0","date":"2024-06-18T11:56:41Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.38.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.37.0","date":"2024-06-05T14:04:13Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.36.0","date":"2024-04-29T13:09:49Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.36.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.35.0","date":"2024-03-05T21:30:15Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.35.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.34.0","date":"2024-01-18T18:30:11Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.34.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.33.0","date":"2023-11-29T17:07:21Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.33.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cloud-custodian/cloud-custodian/releases/tag/0.9.32.0","date":"2023-10-03T15:46:00Z","type":"stable","version":"0.9.32.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.44.1","date":"2026-06-11T07:53:06Z","type":"stable","version":"0.44.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.44.1-rc1","date":"2026-06-10T09:02:58Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.44.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.44.0","date":"2026-05-26T14:29:36Z","type":"stable","version":"0.44.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.44.0-rc2","date":"2026-05-25T18:36:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.44.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.44.0-rc1","date":"2026-05-21T11:06:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.44.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.43.1","date":"2026-04-09T09:48:08Z","type":"stable","version":"0.43.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.43.0","date":"2026-01-28T13:49:28Z","type":"stable","version":"0.43.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.43.0-rc3","date":"2026-01-23T15:59:21Z","type":"stable","version":"0.43.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.43.0-rc2","date":"2026-01-22T12:28:19Z","type":"stable","version":"0.43.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.43.0-rc1","date":"2026-01-14T14:41:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.43.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.1","date":"2025-11-06T10:19:14Z","type":"stable","version":"0.42.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.0","date":"2025-10-22T10:42:42Z","type":"stable","version":"0.42.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.0-rc4","date":"2025-10-22T09:16:14Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.42.0-rc4"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.0-rc3","date":"2025-10-20T13:27:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.42.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.0-rc2","date":"2025-10-17T14:37:23Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.42.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.42.0-rc1","date":"2025-10-14T12:43:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.42.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.41.3","date":"2025-07-01T09:54:42Z","type":"stable","version":"0.41.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.41.2","date":"2025-06-17T10:42:37Z","type":"stable","version":"0.41.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.41.1","date":"2025-06-05T07:40:03Z","type":"stable","version":"0.41.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/falcosecurity/falco/releases/tag/0.41.1-rc1","date":"2025-06-04T08:40:47Z","type":"prerelease","version":"0.41.1-rc1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 8.7 | 7.3 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=c7n&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=helm&package_name=cloudnativeapp%2Ffalco&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Cloud Security Software)

| Capability | Cloud Custodian | Falco |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Posture** |  |  |
| CSPM (posture / misconfig) | ✓ | - |
| KSPM (Kubernetes posture) | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Workload** |  |  |
| CWPP (workload protection) | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Entitlements** |  |  |
| CIEM (entitlements) | ✗ | - |
| **Data** |  |  |
| DSPM (data posture) | ✗ | - |
| **Pipeline** |  |  |
| IaC / pipeline scanning | ✓ | - |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Agentless scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Runtime** |  |  |
| Runtime protection | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Coverage** |  |  |
| Cloud coverage | AWS, Azure, GCP (primary); Kubernetes, Tencent Cloud, OpenStack (beta) | Multi-cloud: hosts, containers, Kubernetes, and cloud environments |
| **Compliance** |  |  |
| Compliance frameworks assessed | - | Rule-based detection for regulatory compliance violations |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-core scanner available | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:17:16.994Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*