AWS CloudTrail vs AWS Security Hub: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
AWS CloudTrail is a free cloud security posture management tool. AWS Security Hub 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 available product data, here is our conclusion:
AWS teams that need immutable audit logs for compliance and incident response should start with CloudTrail; it's free, ships with AWS, and captures every API call across your account, making it the baseline that most security programs build on. The service is SOC 2 Type II certified and satisfies most regulatory audit requirements without additional tooling. Skip CloudTrail if you're looking for behavioral threat detection or real-time alerting on suspicious activity; it's a log collection engine, not an analytics platform, so you'll need a SIEM or security data lake downstream to actually find the signal in the noise.
Teams running AWS-native workloads who need fast visibility into misconfigurations without a separate vendor contract should start with Security Hub; it's free, runs natively across your account, and surfaces compliance gaps that most teams miss in their first month. The service maps to 200+ AWS best practices and integrates findings from GuardDuty, Inspector, and Macie without additional tooling. Skip this if you need multi-cloud posture management or deep forensics; Security Hub excels at AWS hygiene but doesn't prioritize response automation or investigation depth the way paid CSPM platforms do.
