aws-inventory vs Resource Counter: 2026 Comparison
aws-inventory is a free cyber asset attack surface management tool. Resource Counter is a free cyber asset attack surface management tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best cyber asset attack surface management fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Security teams and cloud architects auditing AWS accounts for the first time should start with aws-inventory; it maps your actual resource footprint without the sales pitch or subscription lock-in that comes with commercial CSPM tools. Running it once typically surfaces forgotten EC2 instances, orphaned storage, and untagged resources that balloon costs and expand your attack surface, which is why 169 GitHub stars cluster around teams doing manual cloud hygiene. Skip this if you need continuous compliance monitoring or real-time drift detection; aws-inventory is a one-time inventory sweep, not a managed control plane.
DevOps and cloud security teams managing sprawling AWS multi-region deployments will find Resource Counter valuable for the foundational visibility problem it solves: getting an accurate inventory of what you actually have before you can secure it. The command line approach keeps overhead minimal and makes integration into existing automation workflows straightforward, avoiding the bloat of GUI-heavy tools. Skip this if you need real-time monitoring or compliance reporting; Resource Counter is inventory-first, not a replacement for continuous asset management platforms.
