Compare
CSPM vs CNAPP: what does a small team actually need?
CNAPP platforms promise everything from code to runtime, and they are priced for the security teams that use all of it. If you run a smaller cloud estate without a dedicated security team, the more useful question is which risks you actually have and what it costs to cover them. This guide explains the difference in plain English, with published prices for the CNAPPs that suit smaller footprints.
The difference in one paragraph
CSPM (cloud security posture management) looks at how your cloud accounts are configured: public storage buckets, over-permissive access, open network ports, missing logging and encryption. CNAPP (cloud-native application protection platform) includes CSPM and adds protection for what runs inside your cloud: vulnerabilities in virtual machines and containers, Kubernetes security, code and infrastructure-as-code scanning, and often runtime threat detection. Every CNAPP contains a CSPM. Not every team needs the rest.
What each one covers
| Capability | CSPM | CNAPP |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud misconfigurations (storage, IAM, network, logging) | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance mapping (for example SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS) | Yes | Yes |
| Threat detection from cloud activity | Often, through the provider’s own services | Yes |
| Vulnerability scanning of virtual machines | No | Yes |
| Container and Kubernetes security | No | Yes |
| Code and infrastructure-as-code scanning | No | Usually |
| Runtime protection with an agent or sensor | No | Often, as an add-on |
| Typical buyer | Teams without a security engineer | Organisations with a security team |
bearhug is a CSPM for AWS. It uses AWS Security Hub for posture checks and Amazon GuardDuty for threat detection, explains every finding in plain English and fixes common issues in one click. It does not scan virtual machines, containers or code.
CNAPP pricing for smaller cloud footprints
Most CNAPP pricing is built around blocks of workloads or annual contracts. These are the published prices we could find, checked on the vendor’s own pricing page or AWS Marketplace listing on 13 October 2026. List prices change, and your own quote may differ.
| Platform | Type | Published starting price | Clouds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aikido Security | Developer-focused code, container and cloud security | Free developer plan; paid from $3,780 per 12 months for 10 users (Aikido on AWS Marketplace) | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and others |
| Cyscale | Agentless CNAPP for SaaS start-ups and SMEs | $850 a month, billed annually, up to 1,000 assets (Cyscale pricing) | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud |
| Wiz | Enterprise CNAPP | $24,000 per 12 months for 100 workloads, Wiz Essential (Wiz on AWS Marketplace) | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI |
| Orca Security | Agentless-first CNAPP | $7,000 per month for up to 100 workloads (Orca on AWS Marketplace) | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Alibaba Cloud |
| Cortex Cloud (formerly Prisma Cloud) | Enterprise CNAPP | Quote only (Cortex Cloud licence plans) | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Alibaba Cloud |
| bearhug (CSPM, for comparison) | AWS posture management | $100 per AWS account per month (AWS Marketplace) | AWS |
For a small estate of, say, three AWS accounts and 20 virtual machines, the entry blocks for Wiz and Orca are sized for five times as many workloads as you run. Aikido and Cyscale have lower entry points and are worth a look if you need code or container scanning as well as posture management. For more detail, see how much CSPM costs and our Wiz alternatives guide.
When CSPM is enough
- You run on one cloud. Most start-ups start on a single provider, and a tool focused on it is simpler and cheaper.
- You mostly use managed services. If your estate is Lambda, Fargate, RDS, S3 and DynamoDB, the provider patches the underlying servers and your main risk is how you configure the services.
- Nobody on the team is a security specialist. A tool is only useful if someone acts on its findings. Fewer, clearer findings beat a long list nobody has time to read.
- Your first compliance audit is coming up. Auditors for SOC 2 or ISO 27001 ask about configuration, logging and access first, which is CSPM territory.
When you need a CNAPP
- You run containers or virtual machines at scale and need to know which images or instances carry exploitable vulnerabilities.
- You use several clouds and want one view across all of them.
- You need to scan code and infrastructure-as-code before it reaches production, not just the result once it is deployed.
- You have a security team that can work through attack-path analysis, runtime alerts and vulnerability backlogs.
If that describes you, a CNAPP such as Wiz, Orca, Cortex Cloud, Aikido or Cyscale is likely to be a better fit than bearhug, and we would rather tell you now.
The middle path for growing teams
Many small AWS teams get most of the value of a CNAPP for much less by combining a few focused tools:
- A CSPM for configuration and threat detection, such as bearhug on top of Security Hub and GuardDuty.
- Amazon Inspector for vulnerability scanning of EC2 instances, container images and Lambda functions, billed by AWS (Amazon Inspector pricing).
- Dependency and secret scanning in your code repository, which most source-control platforms now offer.
When you outgrow that set-up, usually when a security team arrives, you can move to a CNAPP with a much clearer idea of what you need from it.
CSPM and CNAPP 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 vulnerability scanning, container and Kubernetes security, code and infrastructure-as-code scanning, and often runtime threat detection.
Among vendors with published prices in October 2026, Aikido Security has a free developer plan and paid plans from $3,780 a year for 10 users, and Cyscale starts at $850 a month billed annually for up to 1,000 assets. Wiz and Orca publish entry blocks for 100 workloads at $24,000 a year and $7,000 a month respectively. If you only need posture management on AWS, a CSPM such as bearhug costs $100 per AWS account per month.
Not always. If you run on one cloud, mostly use managed services and have no security engineer, misconfigurations are usually the biggest risk, and a CSPM covers them for a fraction of the cost. A CNAPP becomes worthwhile when you run containers or virtual machines at scale, use several clouds, or have a security team to act on its wider findings.
Related comparisons
Start with the posture risks you actually have
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.