CipherStash Protect is a commercial database security tool by CipherStash. Formal Protocol Security is a commercial database security tool by Formal. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best database security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, integrations, company size fit, here is our conclusion:
Startups and SMBs handling sensitive customer data in PostgreSQL will find real value in CipherStash Protect's field-level searchable encryption, which lets you query encrypted columns without decrypting them server-side. The zero-knowledge key management model with one unique data key per value and immutable audit trails maps directly to NIST PR.DS and PR.AA requirements without requiring you to build that infrastructure yourself. Skip this if your schema is heavily relational with complex joins across encrypted columns, or if you need encryption at rest without application-layer involvement; CipherStash is a developer tool that demands TypeScript integration, not a drop-in database wrapper.
Mid-market and enterprise security teams protecting sensitive databases and APIs should pick Formal Protocol Security if your biggest headache is unauthorized data access slipping past network perimeters. Its protocol-aware reverse proxy intercepts and enforces access policies at the datastore layer itself, catching what network controls miss, and the automated PII/PHI classification plus real-time logging satisfy compliance requirements without manual tagging overhead. Skip this if your infrastructure is predominantly cloud-native SaaS with minimal on-premises databases; Formal's strength is hardening direct database connectivity, not governing third-party API consumption at scale.
TypeScript SDK for field-level searchable encryption on PostgreSQL databases.
Protocol-aware reverse proxy for datastores & APIs enforcing access policies
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Common questions about comparing CipherStash Protect vs Formal Protocol Security for your database security needs.
CipherStash Protect: TypeScript SDK for field-level searchable encryption on PostgreSQL databases. built by CipherStash. headquartered in Australia. Core capabilities include Field-level encryption for individual PostgreSQL columns, Searchable encryption (equality and free-text search on encrypted data), Encrypt strings, numbers, and JSON objects..
Formal Protocol Security: Protocol-aware reverse proxy for datastores & APIs enforcing access policies. built by Formal. headquartered in United States. Core capabilities include Protocol-aware reverse proxy for datastores and APIs, Real-time data access logging and session management, Automated PII and PHI data classification..
Both serve the Database Security market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.
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