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Best Cloud Security Platforms for Enterprises

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Key takeaways

  • Most enterprise cloud security platforms are sold by quote, so compare the billing unit, such as workloads, resources, or devices, before you compare the headline figure.
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the only option here with a free posture tier and published per-resource pricing, which makes it the easiest starting point for Azure-heavy estates.
  • Wiz, Orca Security, and Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud lead on agentless posture and attack-path views, while Sysdig and Aqua Security lead on container and runtime depth.
  • CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security fits teams that already run Falcon on endpoints and want cloud posture in the same console.
  • Ask every vendor for a quote on the same workload count, the same clouds, and the same modules, or the quotes will not be comparable.

Comparison

How these compare
ToolBest forPrice rangeFree plan
WizLarge multicloud estates needing attack-path viewsquote onlyNo
Palo Alto Networks Prisma CloudPalo Alto customers consolidating on Cortex Cloudquote onlyNo
CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud SecurityFalcon endpoint customers adding cloud posturequote onlyFree trial (15 days)
Microsoft Defender for CloudAzure-heavy teams wanting published per-resource pricing$5.11 per billable resource/monthYes
Orca SecurityAgentless-first teams wanting fast coveragequote onlyNo
Sysdig SecureKubernetes teams needing runtime detectionquote onlyNo
Aqua SecurityRegulated container teams needing runtime enforcementquote onlyYes
Check Point CloudGuardCheck Point network customers extending into cloudquote onlyNo

How we choose

We reviewed vendor pricing pages, product documentation, and feature pages for each platform on 2026-11-11, and we compared coverage across posture management, workload protection, container and Kubernetes security, identity entitlements, data posture, code security, and runtime detection. We checked which vendors publish a price and which sell by quote, and we recorded the billing unit each vendor uses. We did not claim hands-on testing, and we did not use third-party price estimates as vendor prices. Where a vendor does not publish a price, this article says quote only.

Our full method

The shortlist

★ Best overall

The best cloud security platforms for enterprises

2

Wiz

Best for Large multicloud estates needing attack-path views

Website: https://www.wiz.io/

Best for: Large multicloud estates needing attack-path views

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Agentless scanning across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud; Attack-path views that connect code, cloud, identity and runtime risk

Cons: No published price list, so budgeting needs a sales conversation before you can plan spend

Wiz connects to cloud accounts through APIs and builds a graph of assets, identities, misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and runtime signals, then shows how an attacker could chain those risks together to reach a crown jewel asset. That graph view is the reason many large enterprises shortlist Wiz first, because it turns long lists of separate findings into a ranked set of paths that matter. Coverage spans code, cloud posture, containers, Kubernetes, data, and AI assets, with add-on modules for runtime detection and code security.

Wiz does not publish prices on its own pricing page, which asks buyers to request a custom quote and describes three ways to buy: Wiz One, Wiz Go, and a la carte. Google completed its acquisition of Wiz on March 11, 2026, and Wiz keeps its brand and multicloud support. Teams should ask for pricing on a defined workload count and module set, and agree the price for growth in writing, since usage beyond the contract is billed on top.

3

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

Best for Palo Alto customers consolidating on Cortex Cloud

Website: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud

Best for: Palo Alto customers consolidating on Cortex Cloud

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Deep integration with Palo Alto firewalls, Cortex XDR and XSIAM; Posture, workload, code and runtime coverage in one platform

Cons: Two product names in use at once, Prisma Cloud and Cortex Cloud, which makes quotes and documentation harder to follow

Palo Alto Networks introduced Cortex Cloud in February 2025 as the next version of Prisma Cloud, merging Prisma Cloud posture and workload protection with Cortex cloud detection and response. The platform covers cloud security posture management, workload protection, Kubernetes and container security, identity entitlements, data posture, and application security, with agentless scanning plus agents where runtime enforcement is needed. For teams already running Palo Alto firewalls or Cortex XDR, the shared console and shared threat data are the main draw.

Palo Alto publishes no price for Cortex Cloud or Prisma Cloud, and both are sold by quote, sized to the cloud resources you protect and the modules you choose. Licensing is credit-based in Prisma Cloud terms, and Cortex Cloud is billed yearly on protected workloads averaged over 90 days. Ask the vendor to state the workload definition, the averaging period, and which modules are included, because those three items decide most of the final figure.

4

CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security

Best for Falcon endpoint customers adding cloud posture

Website: https://www.crowdstrike.com/

Best for: Falcon endpoint customers adding cloud posture

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Free trial (15 days)

Pros: Single Falcon console for endpoint, identity and cloud; Cloud posture, workload and container protection alongside Falcon threat intelligence

Cons: Cloud security is quoted as a module, so the published Falcon endpoint bundle prices do not cover it

CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security adds cloud security posture management, cloud workload protection, container security, and cloud detection and response to the Falcon platform that many enterprises already run on endpoints. The value for existing Falcon customers is consolidation: one agent family, one console, and one set of detections across endpoints, identities, and cloud accounts, with Falcon OverWatch threat hunting available as a managed layer. Teams that do not run Falcon get less consolidation benefit and should compare the cloud modules on their own merits.

CrowdStrike publishes prices for its Falcon endpoint bundles, with Falcon Go at $7.99 per device per month, Falcon Pro at $14.99, and Falcon Enterprise at $19.99, or $59.99, $99.99, and $184.99 per device per year when billed annually, and Falcon Complete is quoted. Those figures cover endpoint bundles, not Falcon Cloud Security, which is quoted separately. A 15-day Falcon free trial is listed on the CrowdStrike pricing page, with no credit card required.

5

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Best for Azure-heavy teams wanting published per-resource pricing

Website: https://azure.microsoft.com/

Best for: Azure-heavy teams wanting published per-resource pricing

Starting price: $5.11 per billable resource/month

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Foundational CSPM is free across Azure, AWS and Google Cloud; Published per-resource pricing for posture and workload plans

Cons: Costs rise fast when many workload plans are enabled across a large multicloud estate

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform that combines cloud security posture management with cloud workload protection across Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud, managed from the Azure portal. Foundational CSPM is free and gives continuous assessment, security recommendations, Secure Score, and the Microsoft cloud security benchmark. The Defender CSPM tier adds attack path analysis, agentless vulnerability scanning, identity entitlement analysis, and data-aware posture, while workload plans add protection for servers, containers, databases, storage, APIs, and AI services.

Pricing is consumption-based and published on the Microsoft Azure pricing page. Defender CSPM is listed at $5.11 per billable resource per month, with billing only on compute, databases, storage, and serverless containers and resources. Defender for Servers Plan 1 is $4.906 per server per month and Plan 2 is $14.60, while Defender for Containers is $6.8693 per vCore per month. Microsoft also offers up to 22 percent savings through Defender for Cloud Commit Units, and the first 30 days are free.

6

Orca Security

Best for Agentless-first teams wanting fast coverage

Website: https://orca.security/

Best for: Agentless-first teams wanting fast coverage

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Purely agentless SideScanning that reads cloud block storage out of band; Single pricing edition, which keeps the buying conversation simple

Cons: No published price list and no free plan, so every buyer starts with a sales conversation

Orca Security scans cloud estates without agents, using SideScanning technology that reads cloud block storage out of band to build a model of virtual machines, containers, serverless functions, identities, and data. The platform covers posture management, workload and vulnerability scanning, identity entitlements, data posture, and AI asset risk, with attack-path ranking and automation rules that can remediate on detection. It supports AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes, and its trust centre lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP Moderate, and IRAP.

Orca sells a single edition priced on the number of cloud workloads scanned, averaged over the year, and publishes no price list on its own site. Monthly packs appear on AWS Marketplace from $7,000, which gives a starting point for budgeting, but the direct quote is the figure that matters. Teams should ask how Orca counts a workload, how the average is calculated, and what happens to the bill when workload counts spike during a migration.

7

Sysdig Secure

Best for Kubernetes teams needing runtime detection

Website: https://sysdig.com/

Best for: Kubernetes teams needing runtime detection

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Runtime-first detection built on Falco, with deep Kubernetes and container context; Vulnerability, posture, identity and compliance coverage in one CNAPP

Cons: Agent deployment and policy tuning need real engineering time, and the platform is quoted, with no public list price

Sysdig Secure is a cloud-native application protection platform with a runtime-first design, built on the open-source Falco runtime detection engine. It combines runtime threat detection, vulnerability management, posture management, identity entitlements, and compliance across multicloud and Kubernetes environments, with deep visibility into container and host activity. That runtime depth is the main reason Kubernetes-heavy teams choose Sysdig over posture-only tools, because it can show what a workload is actually doing, not only how it is configured.

Sysdig does not publish a price for Sysdig Secure, and pricing is quoted on the number of hosts, containers, or cloud accounts monitored, plus the modules selected. Buyer-reported contract data puts per-host pricing in a wide range, so treat any third-party figure as a benchmark, not a quote. Ask for a scoped proof of concept on a real cluster before signing, and confirm how agents are deployed, how data retention is charged, and which compliance frameworks are included.

8

Aqua Security

Best for Regulated container teams needing runtime enforcement

Website: https://www.aquasec.com/

Best for: Regulated container teams needing runtime enforcement

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Runtime enforcement that continues locally in disconnected or air-gapped environments; Full lifecycle coverage from code and image scanning to runtime

Cons: No dollar figures on the vendor pricing page, with cloud security priced by workload and code security by repository

Aqua Security protects containerized and Kubernetes-based applications across the full lifecycle, from code and image scanning through admission control to runtime enforcement. Its agent enforces protection on the workload itself, and Aqua states that enforcement continues locally even in disconnected or air-gapped environments, which matters for regulated teams with strict network controls. The platform covers AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud, plus on-premises systems, and holds a FedRAMP High authorisation.

Aqua publishes no dollar figures on its pricing page, stating only that cloud security is priced by workload and code security by repository, so every commercial deployment needs a custom quote. The open-source Trivy scanner from Aqua is free and gives basic vulnerability scanning, which is a useful way to check image hygiene before a commercial conversation. Ask Aqua to separate workload pricing from repository pricing in the quote, and to confirm which runtime enforcement features are included at each tier.

9

Check Point CloudGuard

Best for Check Point network customers extending into cloud

Website: https://www.checkpoint.com/

Best for: Check Point network customers extending into cloud

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Unified cloud-native security for posture, workloads, network and applications under Check Point Infinity; Strong fit for teams already running Check Point firewalls

Cons: Licensing is based on billable assets and utilised capabilities, which is hard to estimate without a scoping exercise

Check Point CloudGuard provides unified cloud-native security for cloud assets and workloads across multicloud environments, covering posture management, workload protection, cloud network security, container and serverless security, and application and API protection. It fits teams that already trust Check Point for network security and want cloud accounts governed with similar policy thinking, under the Check Point Infinity architecture, with central management and visualisation of assets, traffic, and risk across clouds.

CloudGuard pricing is based on the number of utilised capabilities, such as posture management, runtime protection, and identity safety, and the number of protected assets in the cloud environment, with a monthly billing report on billable assets. Check Point publishes no list price for CloudGuard CNAPP, so the quote depends on a scoping exercise that counts assets by type. Teams with no Check Point estate get no consolidation benefit and should compare CloudGuard directly against Wiz, Orca, and Defender for Cloud on posture depth and remediation workflow.

What to check before you buy

Use the decision table below to match your estate to a shortlist, then confirm the details in a written quote. Count your workloads, resources, and cloud accounts before the first sales call, and ask each vendor to quote on the same counts. Check whether posture scanning is agentless, whether runtime protection needs an agent, and how long deployment takes. Confirm data residency, retention, and which compliance frameworks are included, plus renewal terms and exit terms, including data export, before you sign.

Also check the billing unit in the contract, the averaging period for workload counts, and whether add-on modules such as code security, runtime sensors, or managed detection are included. Confirm trial terms in writing, including length, workload limits, and what happens to your data when the trial ends. Finally, run a proof of concept on a real account with real misconfigurations, and measure time to first findings, false positive volume, and time to remediate the top 10 risks, before you commit to a multi-year term.

FAQ

How much does enterprise cloud security cost?

Most enterprise cloud security platforms are sold by quote, with the bill set by workload count, resource count, or device count. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the exception here, with Defender CSPM at $5.11 per billable resource per month and server plans from $4.906 per server per month. Always ask for a quote on the same workload count.

Which cloud security platform is best for Azure?

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the natural first choice for Azure-heavy estates, because Foundational CSPM is free, pricing is published per resource, and management sits in the Azure portal. Wiz, Orca Security, and Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud also cover Azure well, so compare them when you run more than one cloud.

Do I need agents on every workload?

No, not for posture scanning. Wiz, Orca Security, and Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud all offer agentless posture scanning, and Defender for Cloud offers agentless vulnerability scanning in its CSPM tier. Runtime protection and container enforcement usually need an agent or sensor, so check which features need one before you buy.

What is the difference between CSPM and CNAPP?

CSPM, or cloud security posture management, finds misconfigurations and compliance gaps in cloud accounts. CNAPP, or cloud-native application protection platform, adds workload protection, container and Kubernetes security, identity entitlements, code security, and runtime detection in one platform. Most tools in this guide are CNAPP platforms that include CSPM.

How long does it take to deploy a cloud security platform?

Agentless platforms can show first findings within hours of connecting a cloud account, since they read configuration through APIs and do not install software on workloads. Agent-based runtime protection takes longer, because agents must be deployed, configured, and tuned per cluster. Allow two to six weeks for a full rollout across a large estate.

Should I choose one platform or several point tools?

One platform usually wins for enterprises, because it gives a single asset inventory, a single risk view, and one remediation workflow across clouds. Point tools can still win for a single deep need, such as container runtime enforcement or vulnerability scanning. Start with one platform, then add a point tool only for a gap the platform cannot close.

Sources we checked

  • Wiz pricing page: https://www.wiz.io/
  • Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud page: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud
  • CrowdStrike pricing page: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/pricing/
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing page: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/details/defender-for-cloud/
  • Orca Security pricing page: https://orca.security/
  • Sysdig Secure pricing page: https://sysdig.com/
  • Aqua Security pricing page: https://www.aquasec.com/
  • Check Point CloudGuard pricing page: https://www.checkpoint.com/
How we score

Need the method behind these picks?

We publish the criteria and the weights, so you can disagree with them.

The best cloud security platforms for enterprises#1 PICK