AWS Directory Service vs Tenable Cloud Security comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Tenable are both solutions in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.3, while Tenable is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.4. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.1% mindshare in IAMS, compared to Tenable’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 77% of Tenable users who would recommend it.

AWS Directory Service

Read 16 AWS Directory Service reviews

1,163 Views
1,105 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Tenable Cloud Security

Read 12 Tenable Cloud Security reviews

4,650 Views
558 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

AWS Directory Service

Tenable Cloud Security

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 2, 2024

AWS Directory Service and Tenable Cloud Security are products competing in the cloud management and security category. Tenable Cloud Security appears to have the upper hand due to its robust security features and comprehensive vulnerability management, justifying its higher cost despite AWS Directory Service being favored for its pricing and customer support.

Features: AWS Directory Service offers seamless integration with existing Microsoft Active Directory, support for multiple AWS services, and cost-effective identity management solutions. Tenable Cloud Security provides automated vulnerability scans, extensive compliance checks, and strong DevOps integration to enhance Shift-Left Security practices.

Room for Improvement: AWS Directory Service could enhance its advanced security features, expand beyond AWS ecosystems, and improve multi-cloud compatibility. Tenable Cloud Security may benefit from more competitive pricing, improving customer service consistency, and providing simpler integration processes with non-security-specific platforms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS Directory Service offers easy deployment within AWS environments and reliable customer support. Tenable Cloud Security is recognized for its well-documented deployment process across various platforms, although its customer service receives mixed reviews. AWS benefits from tight ecosystem integration, while Tenable provides broader security coverage.

Pricing and ROI: AWS Directory Service is generally more cost-effective, providing a favorable ROI with its competitive pricing and integration benefits. Tenable Cloud Security demands a higher initial investment, but users report significant ROI due to its advanced security capabilities. AWS targets budget-conscious organizations prioritizing directory services, whereas Tenable is preferred for those focused on comprehensive cloud security.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Directory Service vs. Tenable Cloud Security Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Directory Service vs. Tenable Cloud Security

April 2026

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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

AWS Directory Service

Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

18th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tenable Cloud Security

Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

15th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Security (23rd), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (14th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (15th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (12th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS Directory Service is 1.1%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Cloud Security is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Tenable Cloud Security	0.9%
AWS Directory Service	1.1%
Other	98.0%

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

Featured Reviews

Akram Zaki

IT Specialist at FlairsTech

Hybrid directory service has streamlined global server access and supported reliable daily operations

Some features in AWS Directory Service are not automated and are not scriptable, so they require manual work. In today's world where everything is pretty much automated and scriptable using AI, this is a downside. The price is another concern. AWS is really expensive. They provide an awesome service in general, but it's still expensive, very expensive. AD Connector is an application which connects my own Active Directory to AWS Directory Service or AWS infrastructure. There is a bit of latency which is bound by the AD Connector availability. If the AD Connector is having issues, there is a bit of latency, but in general, it's way better than Microsoft Azure. Still, it could be better. The migration was a bit challenging and required intensive planning and migration time. That is always a hassle. No matter which cloud environment you're moving into, the migration is sensitive because you're generally moving from on-premise to a cloud environment, so there is downtime and there are unexpected issues and errors. It needs very careful planning before doing the migration itself. AWS Directory Service is lacking a few things which could be better. Single sign-on federation is missing. SCIM provisioning is not available. In my company, we use other services for SSO federation, SCIM provisioning, and authentication because of these gaps. I would like AWS Directory Service to enroll a multi-factor authentication method. I would like to have an SSO federation where users, if we're hosting applications in AWS, would not need to log in to each application. Single sign-on would log in the user to their account and from there they can open all their applications without requiring a login each time. One of the other cons in AWS is that directories cannot span multiple regions because it's a region-bound architecture. This requires several directories for multi-region deployment. This is the case on my end because my company has several branches all over the world, so it requires several deployments.

Read full review

DragosCernat

Information Security Architect at WSP

Has significantly improved proactive monitoring through automated asset discovery and seamless integration with cloud environments

Making the system smarter would be beneficial. Adding modules for integration with AWS and Azure would be helpful. Adding capabilities for the scanner to automatically pick up changes and add assets automatically would be valuable. When discussing a big company, it is mandatory to have tools that will assist us rather than waiting for manual input to add hosts. Adding assets manually is prone to mistakes. Humans might forget to add an asset or make errors when adding multiple assets. Taking the human element out of the context and making it more streamlined is the future for security. The human should be involved where expertise is needed, such as analysis and decision-making. Currently, with resource constraints, we need tools to collect and aggregate data, eliminate false positives as much as possible, and present relevant information to employees for action.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What we appreciate most about AWS Directory Service is the high availability."

"It's a pretty good solution in terms of performance with good availability and minimal downtime."

"AWS has eliminated the downtime we waste when our on-premises resources go down."

"The solution integrates well with other tools, particularly through single sign-on, allowing users to connect to various applications using just one password, including email."

"We like the fact that it's got such great redundancy."

"This is a managed directory service (by AWS) that offers a hands-free solution for our team as we are not required to hire or train people to manage Active Directory features and high availability backups, there is no security patching required on an operating system level or Active Directory malware attack, and we are able to easily integrate other AWS services."

"Provides good performance and availability."

"AWS is very helpful and very useful for the infrastructure because that's how you can manage your Microsoft Office 365 user accounts with AWS-managed Microsoft Active Directory Services."

More AWS Directory Service pros

"If you have multi-cloud tenancy using AWS and Azure, you can have a single dashboard where you can onboard all the cloud infrastructure and have visibility into it."

"The product's visibility and remediation work fine for me."

"Tenable Cloud Security excels in vulnerability detection, one of its strongest features. Another valuable feature is software composition analysis, which highlights and automates the detection of security flaws. Additionally, their knowledge base is excellent; if anything goes wrong, they provide clear guidance on what needs to be done to address specific vulnerabilities."

"The solution’s vulnerability management feature has helped us identify and mitigate risks well."

"The key benefit lies in having the largest and most up-to-date database. When it comes to using any Tenable product, it excels in finding vulnerabilities and providing analytics."

"Ermetic can provide super visibility for our cloud environment (we are using AWS), the dashboard is simple to use, the findings provide all of the information you require, it provides detection and remediation, and creating a Jira ticket from a finding is just one click away."

"Ermetic can provide super visibility for our cloud environment (we are using AWS)."

"The product's deployment phase is easy."

More Tenable Cloud Security pros

Cons

"AWS Directory Service needs to improve processing."

"I would like to see better integration with other business solutions."

"The group policy can be improved."

"To get CloudWatch to monitor your memory and storage, you have to do some configuration within your server, which sometimes results in errors."

"Some of the security protocols are difficult to understand."

"Currently, there is no option to integrate our on-premises Cisco AWS Directory Service, requiring some manual configuration."

"I'd rate the solution at a six out of ten, simply based on the cost. It's very expensive."

"I would like to grant partial access to a table contained in a database without having to provide full access to the whole database."

More AWS Directory Service cons

"Ermetic needs to improve its security scanning. I would like to see more dynamic graphical forms."

"We still maintain Tenable Cloud Security but have reduced the number of licenses. We now use it occasionally to validate specific items rather than monitoring the entire surface, for which we use Element."

"If Tenable Cloud Security offers a complete Cnapp solution with CWP, CIEM, and Waap security, it will be able to compete with other competitors."

"There is a need for the support team to improve their response time since it is one of the areas where the product's technical team has certain shortcomings."

"I do think there might be room for more integrations. This could allow for further customization and flexibility, essentially offering different functionality options to accommodate various budgets."

"I have faced several bug incidents with the solution"

"In my experience, Tenable Cloud Security is not very stable."

"I didn't find anything that wasn't useful or needed to be added."

More Tenable Cloud Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay an annual subscription fee."

"AWS' pricing is fair, and costs can be cut if you look carefully at when you're using it."

"The pricing depends because with AWS there are two types of directory objects: 30,000 and 500,000. It varies. AWS provides the pricing calculators so we can get an estimate from there as per the company requirement of how many users and objects that we need to create. So we can go to that portal, put in the data, and get the quotation. There are no extra licensing fees. It's all included."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The tool's pricing is fair."

"The tool's price is good compared to other brands. The tool's subscription is for a year."

"There is a need to opt for a subscription-based pricing model to use Tenable Cloud Security. I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Performing Arts

10%

Government

10%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Directory Service?

The pricing is very good because it is low and there is no management cost. You do not need to hire any system administrator to manage your Active Directory.

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Directory Service?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering AWS Directory Service?

I would like AWS Directory Service to enroll a multi-factor authentication method. I would like to have an SSO federation where users, if we're hosting applications in AWS, would not need to log in...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Tenable Cloud Security?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Tenable Cloud Security?

We had other solutions that we used. One solution was that we did not have something exactly similar to what Element is doing. For example, we were using Bitsight, Evelin, and also Tenable Cloud Se...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ermetic CSPM?

I wasn't involved with the pricing, setup cost and licensing for Tenable Cloud Security.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs AWS Directory Service

Compared 29% of the time

Okta Platform vs AWS Directory Service

Compared 24% of the time

Omada Identity vs AWS Directory Service

Compared 12% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs AWS Directory Service

Compared 11% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs AWS Directory Service

Compared 10% of the time

More AWS Directory Service Competitors

Wiz vs Tenable Cloud Security

Compared 9% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Tenable Cloud Security

Compared 7% of the time

FortiCNAPP vs Tenable Cloud Security

Compared 5% of the time

Orca Security vs Tenable Cloud Security

Compared 5% of the time

Plerion vs Tenable Cloud Security

Compared 4% of the time

More Tenable Cloud Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AWS Directory Service

May 2026

Download AWS Directory Service product report

Buyer's Guide

Tenable Cloud Security

April 2026

Download Tenable Cloud Security product report

Also Known As

AWS Managed Microsoft AD

Ermetic, Ermetic Identity Governance for AWS

Overview

AWS Directory Service offers a cloud-based infrastructure for managing secure access, allowing seamless integration with other services and reducing hardware costs. It enhances reliability and access management for enterprises.

AWS Directory Service is integrated with Amazon services such as EC2 and RDS, providing high availability, quick replication, and seamless disaster recovery. Its cloud-based nature eliminates the need for hardware management, delivering cost efficiency and robust secure access management. Users benefit from its role-based mechanisms, redundancy, scalability, and low downtime, addressing diverse access and management needs. Despite its strengths, difficulties with integration, automation, and user interface have been noted. The lack of single sign-on and multi-factor authentication, along with challenges in migration and configuration, highlight areas for improvement. Users also desire expanded regional coverage and better integration with CloudWatch.

What are the key features of AWS Directory Service?

Cloud Infrastructure: Provides a cloud-based directory eliminating the need for physical hardware.
Secure Access Management: Ensures managed access and hybrid operations across networks.
Integration with EC2 and RDS: Supports seamless integration with Amazon EC2 and RDS.
High Availability: Offers robust and reliable directory service with minimal downtime.
Role-Based Mechanisms: Allows precise control over permissions and access levels.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Cost Efficiency: Saves expenses related to hardware and its maintenance.
Scalability: Adapts to increasing company needs effortlessly.
Performance: Delivers consistent directory performance without disruptions.
Redundancy: Provides exceptional backup solutions to prevent data loss.

AWS Directory Service is predominantly leveraged in industries requiring secure data management and integration with Microsoft Active Directory. It's widely used for domain authentication and policy implementation in sectors such as banking, where centralized data processing and enhanced security layers are crucial. Its role in managing ACL permissions and IAM for special access is critical, especially in environments handling sensitive information.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Tenable Cloud Security is a comprehensive solution designed to help organizations secure their cloud environments across various platforms, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. It offers continuous visibility, compliance management, and threat detection to ensure that cloud infrastructure and applications are protected from vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

Tenable Cloud Security exemplifies a comprehensive Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) by providing a unified solution that covers the entire cloud security lifecycle, from development to runtime. This platform is designed to address vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, threats, and compliance risks across multi-cloud environments, making it an essential tool for organizations adopting cloud-native architectures. In practice, Tenable Cloud Security integrates security into the development process through its shift-left approach, particularly with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security. This ensures that security measures are embedded early in the development lifecycle, allowing teams to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before they reach production. Once in production, the platform continues to provide real-time visibility into cloud environments, enabling continuous monitoring and proactive threat detection.

The solution's comprehensive protection spans various aspects of cloud security, including the identification and remediation of misconfigurations, automated compliance management, and advanced threat intelligence. By automating these processes, Tenable Cloud Security reduces the manual effort required to manage cloud security, freeing up resources for more strategic initiatives.

What are the key features of Tenable Cloud Security?

Unified Platform: Covers the entire cloud security lifecycle, from development to runtime, providing comprehensive protection.
Shift-Left Approach with IaC Security: Integrates security early in the development process, ensuring that vulnerabilities are caught and remediated before deployment.
Continuous Monitoring: Offers real-time visibility and monitoring of cloud environments, enabling proactive threat detection and response.
Automation: Streamlines security operations, reducing the need for manual intervention and increasing operational efficiency.
Comprehensive Threat and Compliance Management: Identifies and mitigates vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance risks across multi-cloud environments.

What are the benefits of using Tenable Cloud Security?

Improved Security Posture: Early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities lead to a stronger overall security posture.
Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces the workload on security teams, allowing them to focus on higher-priority tasks.
Risk Reduction: Proactively identifies and addresses risks before they impact production environments.
Simplified Compliance: Helps organizations meet and maintain compliance with industry standards, reducing the complexity and cost of audits.

Tenable Cloud Security is particularly valuable in industries with stringent regulatory requirements, such as finance, healthcare, and retail. For example, in the financial sector, it helps organizations ensure compliance with regulations like PCI-DSS while safeguarding sensitive data across cloud environments.

In summary, Tenable Cloud Security is a robust CNAPP solution that integrates security throughout the cloud lifecycle, providing comprehensive protection and operational efficiency for cloud-native environments.

Tenable

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Tyler Technologies, Bilfinger, BarkBox, MongoDB, airSlate, Adama, Latch, Cloudinary, Riskified, AppsFlyer, IntelyCare, Aidoc, 42Dot, and more.

Buyer's Guide

AWS Directory Service vs. Tenable Cloud Security

April 2026

Free Report: AWS Directory Service vs. Tenable Cloud Security

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Directory Service vs. Tenable Cloud Security and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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