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Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs Qualys VMDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aqua Cloud Security Platform
Ranking in Container Security
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud and Data Center Security (12th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (15th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (13th), Software Supply Chain Security (9th), DevSecOps (10th)
Qualys VMDR
Ranking in Container Security
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (6th), Vulnerability Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Aqua Cloud Security Platform is 3.1%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 2.4%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Qualys VMDR2.4%
Aqua Cloud Security Platform3.1%
Other94.5%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

Burak AKCAGUN - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust and cost-effective solution, excelling in scalability, on-premises support, and responsive technical support, making it well-suited for enterprises navigating stringent regulatory environment
The most crucial aspect is runtime protection, specifically image scanning before preproduction and deployment. Customers find it invaluable to have the ability to check for vulnerabilities in an image before deployment, similar to a sandbox environment. This feature ensures that customers can identify any potential issues with the image, such as misconfigurations or vulnerabilities, before integrating it into their workloads and infrastructure. In their source pipeline, companies can identify issues before deploying changes. This is crucial because customers prefer resolving any problems or misconfigurations before the deployment process. Software change security, including GSPM Cloud, is a key feature customers seek in their infrastructure.
Ankesh Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time responses and reporting streamline vulnerability management
Qualys VMDR provides a real-time response and reporting feature, which is excellent. It allows us to see real-time graphs and reports for every asset, server, and more, which is very user-friendly. Our clients have given good feedback, and they are satisfied with the tool. We use it daily to fix vulnerabilities by connecting with infrastructure to remediate. The feedback from the client side is very good.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The CSPM product is great at securing our cloud accounts and I really like the runtime protection for containers and functions too."
"The most valuable feature is the security."
"The most valuable feature of Aqua Security is the scanner."
"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use and manage."
"The DTA, which stands for Dynamic Threat Analysis, allows me to analyze Docker images in a sandbox environment before deployment, helping me anticipate risks."
"Aqua Security helps us to check the vulnerability of image assurance and check for malware."
"Aqua Security allowed us to gain visibility into the vulnerabilities that were present in the container images, that were being rolled out, the amount of risk that we were introducing to the platform, and provided us a look into the container environment by introducing access control mechanisms. In addition, when it came to runtime-level policies, we could restrict container access to resources in our environment, such as network-level or other application-level access."
"Their sandboxing service is also really good."
"The reporting functionality is great."
"The prioritization feature is great. I think it has all of the advanced features that we need."
"The most valuable feature is that this solution is very lightweight."
"The product's patch management is excellent for keeping our critical servers and third-party applications updated efficiently."
"Qualys VM has allowed us to know the vulnerabilities we need to prioritize based on the threat levels and the possible impact if there's an intrusion."
"Qualys VMDR provides a real-time response and reporting feature, which is excellent."
"Qualys VM had a recent upgrade and the newer version is supporting the cloud."
"The Vulnerability Management and Patch Management features are the most valuable features of this solution."
 

Cons

"Aqua Security could provide more open documentation so that their learning resources can be more easily accessed and searched through online. Right now, a lot of the documentation is closed and not available to the public."
"Aqua Security could improve the forwarding of logging into Splunk and into other tools, it should be easier."
"The integrations on CICD could be improved. If Aqua had more plugins or container images to integrate and automate more easily on CICD, it would be better."
"The user interface could be improved, especially in terms of organization and clarity."
"Aqua Security lacks a lot in reporting."
"There's room for improvement, particularly in management capabilities as it may not be comprehensive enough for all customers, and it has been lacking in the realm of cloud security posture management."
"Sometimes I got stressed with the UI."
"The solution could improve user-friendliness."
"There seems to be a lack of easy onboarding into Qualys."
"When tested on Zero day, there were errors."
"The user interface (UI) is quite complicated."
"If AI features were integrated, it could enhance the capabilities significantly."
"There's a need to upgrade or fix the potential vulnerability rate. Around 20,000 potential vulnerabilities were showing in Qualys VMDR, but none of the other tools showed them. When we checked, it wasn't the case. Support explained that even small issues were being counted as vulnerabilities, causing issues in our audit. So, the security features could be improved to identify vulnerabilities accurately."
"Support could be improved since the response can be slow."
"There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports."
"Finding things in management can be quite difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aqua Security is not cheap, and it's not very expensive, such as Splunk, they are in the middle."
"The pricing of this solution could be improved."
"It comes at a reasonable cost."
"Dealing with licensing costs isn't my responsibility, but I know that the licenses don't depend on the number of users, but instead are priced according to your workload."
"They were reasonable with their pricing. They were pretty down-to-earth about the way they pitched their product and the way they tried to close the deal. They were one of the rare companies that approached the whole valuation in a way that made sense for our company, for our needs, and for their own requirements as well... They will accommodate your needs if they are able to understand them and they're stated clearly."
"We do see over $100,000 in terms of price, for mid-size programs. You likely will pay more than $100,000 without any discount. It is a bit pricey."
"The tool's pricing is expensive and I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"In Nigerian Naira, we spend about roughly four to five million to use this solution and this is expensive compared to solutions like Nessus."
"Qualys VM is reasonably priced."
"When you want to cover yourself for scalability, you will be charged for the number you place on the scan itself."
"Qualys is a pay-as-you-go model, so there's flexibility to the pricing."
"The solution is costly."
"Qualys VM is better suited for medium to large companies because the price can be too much for smaller customers."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise69
 

Questions from the Community

What do you think of Aqua Security vs Prisma Cloud?
Aqua Security is easy to use and very manageable. Its main focus is on Kubernetes and Docker. Security is a very valuable feature and their speed of integration is very good. The initial setup was ...
What do you like most about Aqua Security?
Customers find it invaluable to have the ability to check for vulnerabilities in an image before deployment, similar to a sandbox environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aqua Security?
It comes at a reasonable cost. When compared to Prisma Cloud, it is more budget-friendly.
What do you like most about Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports.
 

Also Known As

Aqua Security Platform, CloudSploit, Argon
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HPE Salesforce Telstra Ellie Mae Cathay Pacific HomeAway
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Qualys VMDR and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.