AWS Scout2 vs AWS Security Toolbox (AST): Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
AWS Scout2 is a free cloud security posture management tool. AWS Security Toolbox (AST) 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:
Security teams auditing AWS accounts on a budget should start with AWS Scout2 because it maps configuration findings directly to NIST CSF 2.0 Govern and Manage functions without licensing friction. The tool's API-driven approach identifies misconfigurations across IAM, S3, and networking in minutes, and at 1,700+ GitHub stars it has real production validation from teams who've forked and customized it. Skip this if you need continuous monitoring or remediation workflows; Scout2 is a periodic assessment tool, not a runtime control platform.
Security teams with limited budgets who need to audit their AWS account without vendor lock-in should start with AWS Security Toolbox; it bundles AWS's native tools,IAM Access Analyzer, Config, Security Hub,into a single container, eliminating the friction of stitching them together manually. The free pricing and 286 GitHub stars signal adoption by practitioners who've validated it works for baseline assessments and compliance checks. Skip it if you need continuous posture monitoring or remediation workflows; AST is a point-in-time scanner, not a platform replacement.
