Buyer’s guide
The best CSPM tools for start-ups and small teams (2026)
Most CSPM comparisons are written for enterprises with a security operations team. This one is for start-ups and SMBs running on AWS, where the questions are simpler: what does it cost, how long does it take to set up, and will my team understand what it tells us? Yes, we make one of these tools. We have tried to be fair, and every price links to its source.
What to look for in a CSPM as a small team
- Transparent pricing. Can you see what you will pay before you speak to sales, and will it stay predictable as your infrastructure grows?
- Set-up time. A tool that takes weeks to roll out competes with your product roadmap for the same engineers.
- Findings you can act on. Hundreds of technical findings are only useful if someone can tell which ones matter.
- Remediation support. Guidance, or better still a fix you can apply and undo, turns findings into progress.
- Cloud coverage you actually need. Multi-cloud support is valuable if you use several clouds. If you are only on AWS, you may be paying for coverage you will not use.
Comparison table
Published starting prices are shown as each vendor lists them, so units and terms differ. Prices were checked on the vendor’s own pricing page or AWS Marketplace listing on 24 September 2026. List prices change, and your own quote may differ.
| Tool | Best for | Pricing model | Published starting price | Deployment | Clouds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bearhug | Small teams on AWS without a security engineer | Flat price per AWS account | $100 per AWS account per month (AWS Marketplace) | Agentless; CloudFormation stack | AWS |
| AWS Security Hub | AWS teams comfortable working with raw findings | Charged by AWS; per resource in the new Security Hub | See AWS Security Hub pricing; 30-day free trial | Native AWS service | AWS |
| Wiz | Large, multi-cloud organisations with security teams | Modular units: workloads, developers, log ingestion, sensors | $24,000 per 12 months for 100 workloads, Wiz Essential (Wiz on AWS Marketplace) | Agentless, optional sensor | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI |
| Orca Security | Multi-cloud teams wanting one CNAPP licence | Per concurrent workload | $7,000 per month for up to 100 workloads (Orca on AWS Marketplace) | Agentless, optional sensor | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Alibaba Cloud |
| Prisma Cloud (Cortex Cloud) | Enterprises standardised on Palo Alto Networks | Annual subscription by number and type of resources | Quote only (Cortex Cloud licence plans) | Agentless posture; agent for runtime | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Alibaba Cloud |
| Cyscale | SaaS start-ups and SMEs wanting multi-cloud coverage | Tiers by assets and connectors | $850 a month, billed annually, up to 1,000 assets (Cyscale pricing) | Agentless | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud |
| Intruder | Teams focused on vulnerability scanning | Plans plus per-target licences | Free plan; paid from $2,870 per 12 months for 5 targets (Intruder on AWS Marketplace) | External scanning plus cloud connectors | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Cloudflare |
| Aikido Security | Developer teams wanting code, container and cloud scanning | Tiers by number of users | Free tier; paid from $3,780 per 12 months for 10 users (Aikido on AWS Marketplace) | Connects to repositories and cloud accounts | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and others |
bearhug
bearhug is an AWS-only CSPM built on Security Hub and GuardDuty, for teams without a security engineer. Every finding is explained in plain English, common fixes take one click with rollback, and new critical issues trigger an email alert. It costs a flat $100 per AWS account per month through AWS Marketplace, with every feature included. Strengths: price, set-up in under five minutes, and findings the whole team can act on. Trade-offs: AWS only, and no container, code or runtime scanning.
AWS Security Hub
Security Hub is AWS’s own posture service and the foundation many other tools, including bearhug, build on. It runs checks against standards such as AWS Foundational Security Best Practices, CIS and PCI DSS (supported standards) and aggregates findings across accounts and regions. Strengths: native, broad and charged through your AWS bill. Trade-offs: findings are written for specialists, and remediation means building your own automation with EventBridge, Lambda or Systems Manager (AWS documentation). See our Security Hub comparison.
Wiz
Wiz is a leading CNAPP covering AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and OCI (supported environments), with agentless scanning, code and IaC security, and optional runtime sensors. Google completed its acquisition of Wiz in March 2026. Strengths: multi-cloud depth and breadth for large security teams. Trade-offs for a small team: its public entry price is $24,000 per 12 months for a block of 100 workloads (Wiz on AWS Marketplace), which is more platform than many start-ups need. See our Wiz comparison.
Orca Security
Orca is an agentless-first CNAPP with its SideScanning technology, covering AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud and Kubernetes (Orca solution brief). It is sold as a single licence per concurrent workload. Strengths: broad coverage with little to deploy. Trade-offs for a small team: the smallest public tier is $7,000 per month for up to 100 workloads (Orca on AWS Marketplace). See our Orca comparison.
Prisma Cloud (Cortex Cloud)
Palo Alto Networks announced in February 2025 that Cortex Cloud is the next version of Prisma Cloud. It is a full CNAPP covering posture, runtime and application security across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI and Alibaba Cloud (supported cloud providers). Strengths: depth and integration with the wider Palo Alto platform. Trade-offs for a small team: pricing is an annual subscription based on the number and type of resources, with no public list price. See our Prisma Cloud comparison.
Cyscale
Cyscale is an agentless CNAPP that describes itself as “cloud security designed for startups”, covering AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Alibaba Cloud. Every plan includes the full platform, priced by assets and connectors, with Pro at $850 a month billed annually for up to 1,000 assets (Cyscale pricing). Strengths: multi-cloud coverage and a published price aimed at SMBs. Trade-offs: asset counting means cost grows with your infrastructure. See our Cyscale comparison.
Intruder
Intruder is an exposure management platform built around vulnerability scanning of external infrastructure, web apps and APIs, with cloud security checks for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Cloudflare included in its plans (Intruder pricing). A free plan is available, and paid plans start at $2,870 per 12 months (Intruder on AWS Marketplace). Strengths: finding exploitable vulnerabilities from the outside. Trade-offs: cloud posture is one part of a wider scanner, rather than the focus. See our Intruder comparison.
Aikido Security
Aikido brings code scanning, dependency scanning, secrets detection, container scanning and CSPM together for developer teams, priced by number of users. There is a free tier, and paid plans start at $3,780 per 12 months for 10 users (Aikido on AWS Marketplace). Strengths: one tool across code and cloud, aimed at developers. Trade-offs: cloud posture is one module among many, and pricing grows with team size rather than with cloud accounts.
When bearhug is the right choice
You run on AWS, you do not have a security engineer, and you want to fix issues this week rather than evaluate a platform this quarter. You want a predictable bill of $100 per AWS account per month and findings that anyone on the team can understand.
When it is not
You run on Azure or Google Cloud, you need container or code scanning, or you have a security operations centre that needs SIEM integration. In those cases a broader CNAPP such as Wiz, Orca, Cortex Cloud or Aikido is likely to be a better fit, and we would rather tell you that now.
How we compiled this comparison
Each price comes from the vendor’s own pricing page or its public AWS Marketplace listing, checked on 24 September 2026. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say “Quote only”. Prices are in US dollars as listed, exclude taxes, and may vary by region, term and negotiated discount. Product descriptions are based on each vendor’s own documentation. If anything here is out of date, email support@bearhug.cloud and we will correct it.
CSPM buying questions
CSPM (cloud security posture management) checks how your cloud accounts are configured and tells you what to fix. CNAPP (cloud-native application protection platform) includes CSPM and adds workload, container, code and runtime protection. CNAPPs cover more, and usually cost more and take longer to roll out.
For some teams, yes. Security Hub runs the checks and collects the findings. What it does not do is explain them in plain English, prioritise them for a non-specialist or fix them for you, so small teams often need help acting on what it reports.
There is no single right figure. A sensible starting point is a tool that covers the cloud you actually use, costs a predictable amount as you grow and gets used every week. A tool nobody has time to read is money spent without any reduction in risk.
See how bearhug handles your own AWS account
14-day free trial. The paid plan is $100 per AWS account per month, billed through AWS Marketplace.
No credit card. No procurement. Starts from your AWS console.