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bearhug vs Prisma Cloud
Prisma Cloud, now evolving into Cortex Cloud, is a strong choice for enterprises standardised on Palo Alto Networks that need a full CNAPP. If you are a small team on AWS looking for simple per-account pricing and a five-minute set-up, bearhug may be a better fit. This page compares the two honestly, with sources for every price.
At a glance
| bearhug | Prisma Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Small teams on AWS without a security engineer | Enterprises standardised on Palo Alto Networks |
| Clouds | AWS | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, Alibaba Cloud (supported cloud providers) |
| Scope | CSPM for AWS | CNAPP: posture, runtime and application security (Cortex Cloud) |
| Pricing model | Flat price per AWS account | Annual subscription by number and type of resources (Cortex Cloud licence plans) |
| Published starting price | $100 per AWS account per month (AWS Marketplace) | Quote only |
| Deployment | Agentless; CloudFormation stack | Agentless posture; agent for runtime |
| Buying route | AWS Marketplace | Direct or through partners |
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.
Where Prisma Cloud is stronger
- Platform depth. Cortex Cloud combines posture management, runtime protection and application security in one platform.
- Multi-cloud coverage. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI and Alibaba Cloud are all supported.
- Palo Alto ecosystem. Organisations already using Palo Alto firewalls and security operations tools get a single vendor and shared data.
Where bearhug is a better fit
- A published price. $100 per AWS account per month, visible before you speak to anyone, rather than a quote-based subscription.
- Set-up in under five minutes. One CloudFormation stack per AWS account, and findings follow as Security Hub completes its first checks, usually within a couple of hours.
- Plain English by default. Every finding explains what is wrong, why it matters and how to fix it.
- One-click fixes. Public S3 buckets, open ports and missing CloudTrail logging can be fixed from the dashboard, with rollback.
- No long-term commitment. Billed monthly through AWS Marketplace on your existing AWS bill.
Credits, resources and a note on naming
Prisma Cloud Enterprise Edition was licensed with credits. Palo Alto Networks announced in February 2025 that Cortex Cloud is the next version of Prisma Cloud, and Cortex Cloud is licensed as an annual subscription based on the number and type of cloud resources protected.
Both models scale with the size of your cloud estate. bearhug’s price scales only with the number of AWS accounts you connect, however many resources each one holds.
What it costs for a small team
Take a start-up with three AWS accounts for production, staging and development. With bearhug, that costs $300 a month, or $3,600 a year, with every feature included and no long-term commitment.
Palo Alto Networks did not publish a list price for Prisma Cloud or Cortex Cloud when we checked on 24 September 2026, so you will need a quote. Cortex Cloud is licensed as an annual subscription based on the number and type of cloud resources you protect.
When you ask for a quote, it is worth confirming how resources are counted, what happens if your estate grows during the year and which modules are included. With bearhug, the only variable is the number of AWS accounts you connect. The units are different, so this is not a like-for-like comparison: bearhug counts AWS accounts, however many resources each one holds. bearhug also enables Security Hub and GuardDuty, and AWS bills their usage separately, depending on how much you use them.
bearhug vs Prisma Cloud questions
No. bearhug covers AWS cloud security posture management. It does not include runtime protection, application security or support for other clouds.
Palo Alto Networks did not list a public price for Prisma Cloud or Cortex Cloud when we checked on 24 September 2026. Pricing is by quote.
Yes. bearhug only needs a CloudFormation stack in each AWS account, so it can run alongside Prisma Cloud while you compare.
Try the simple, per-account alternative free for 14 days
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.