Aqua Real-Time CSPM vs AWS Config: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, compared head to head.
Aqua Real-Time CSPM is a commercial cloud security posture management tool by Aqua Security Software Ltd.. AWS Config is a free cloud security posture management tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best cloud security posture management fit for your security stack. Independent and vendor-neutral: we never sell rankings.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, company size fit, deployment model, here is our conclusion:
Mid-market and enterprise teams managing AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud simultaneously will get the most from Aqua Real-Time CSPM because its agentless scanning paired with in-workload visibility actually catches misconfigurations that surface-level inventory tools miss. The vendor's support for VMs, containers, serverless, and Kubernetes clusters across 30+ compliance frameworks means you're not rebuilding mappings for HIPAA one year and PCI the next. Skip this if your organization runs primarily on a single cloud or needs sophisticated identity and access governance; Aqua prioritizes configuration posture over the identity layer, leaving supply chain risk assessment to adjacent tools.
AWS teams with drift-heavy environments should start here; AWS Config catches resource configuration changes in real time at zero marginal cost, making it the fastest way to enforce consistency across accounts. It's native to AWS, deploys in minutes, and feeds directly into compliance frameworks like CIS Benchmarks and PCI DSS without additional licensing. Skip this if you need cross-cloud CSPM or deep remediation automation; Config excels at visibility and audit trails for AWS-only shops, not orchestration across Azure or GCP.
