kicks3 vs s3cario: 2026 Comparison
kicks3 is a free security scanning tool. s3cario is a free security scanning tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best security scanning fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
DevOps teams and cloud security practitioners who need fast S3 exposure discovery will find kicks3 valuable for its focused approach: it crawls web content for bucket references and immediately tests access controls, catching misconfigurations before they're exploited. At 34 GitHub stars with a free model, it's lightweight enough to run in CI/CD pipelines without adding operational overhead. Skip this if you need continuous monitoring or remediation workflows; kicks3 is a point-in-time scanner, not a compliance engine.
AWS teams with S3 buckets exposed to multiple permission models will benefit most from S3cario's scenario-based testing, which catches permission misconfigurations that static policy reviewers overlook. The tool is free and requires no agent deployment, making it practical for teams running quick permission audits across dozens of buckets. Skip this if you need continuous compliance monitoring or CIEM-style access analytics; S3cario is a one-time assessment tool, not a runtime guardian.
