Anchore Enforce is a commercial container security tool by Anchore. Anchore Secure is a commercial container security tool by Anchore. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best container security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, integrations, company size fit, here is our conclusion:
Mid-market and enterprise security teams operating Kubernetes environments need Anchore Enforce for its policy-as-code enforcement model, which closes the gap between vulnerability scanning and actual compliance gates in the pipeline. Pre-built policy packs for FedRAMP, NIST, and DISA compliance plus runtime monitoring of live clusters means you're covering both ID.AM (asset inventory) and DE.CM (continuous monitoring) without bolting on separate tools. Skip this if your organization lacks the infrastructure-as-code discipline to maintain JSON policies or if you need vulnerability remediation guidance; Anchore Enforce is strict enforcement, not hand-holding.
Mid-market and enterprise teams with strict vulnerability governance will get the most from Anchore Secure, specifically its ability to track historical vulnerability exposure without forcing rescans of every image each time a new CVE drops. The SBOM generation through Syft and policy-based compliance checks directly address NIST ID.RA risk assessment requirements. Skip this if your team needs runtime threat detection; Anchore is a scanning and inventory tool, not a behavioral enforcement platform.
Policy enforcement & compliance mgmt for container security across SDLC
Container & source code scanning for vulnerabilities, malware, and secrets
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Common questions about comparing Anchore Enforce vs Anchore Secure for your container security needs.
Anchore Enforce: Policy enforcement & compliance mgmt for container security across SDLC. built by Anchore. Core capabilities include Pre-built policy packs for FedRAMP, NIST, DISA, and Docker CIS compliance, Runtime monitoring of Kubernetes clusters and namespaces, License management with copyleft detection..
Anchore Secure: Container & source code scanning for vulnerabilities, malware, and secrets. built by Anchore. Core capabilities include Container image vulnerability scanning, Source code scanning, SBOM generation using Syft..
Both serve the Container Security market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.
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