AWS Config vs Security Monkey: 2026 Comparison
AWS Config is a free cloud security posture management tool. Security Monkey 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 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.
Teams managing sprawling AWS or GCP estates who need to catch misconfigurations before they become incidents should start with Security Monkey; its policy-change alerting catches drift that point-in-time scanners miss, and the 4,362 GitHub stars signal active community maintenance for a free tool. The historical tracking piece matters here,you're not just seeing what's wrong now, you're seeing what changed and when, which cuts investigation time significantly. Skip this if your cloud footprint is mostly Azure or you need automated remediation; Security Monkey alerts well but doesn't fix, leaving your team to manually close every gap it finds.
