Aqua Real-Time CSPM vs Cloud Inquisitor: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
Aqua Real-Time CSPM is a commercial cloud security posture management tool by Aqua Security Software Ltd.. Cloud Inquisitor 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.
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 managing multi-account sprawl will find real value in Cloud Inquisitor for the one problem it solves well: surfacing resource ownership and orphaned assets that your actual CSPM misses. The free pricing and native AWS integration mean you can deploy it across accounts without procurement friction. Skip this if you need continuous compliance monitoring or remediation workflows; Cloud Inquisitor is a lightweight visibility tool for finding what you've lost track of, not a replacement for your posture management platform.
