Cisco Secure Workload vs Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] comparison

Cisco and F5 are both solutions in the Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) category. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of F5 users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform and Cisco Secure Workload are competing security products. Cisco Secure Workload has the edge due to its advanced features and comprehensive approach, offering a robust solution for organizations seeking enhanced security.

Features: Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform offers real-time threat detection, compliance monitoring, and container security monitoring, making it suitable for environments requiring critical security insights. On the other hand, Cisco Secure Workload provides micro-segmentation, application dependency mapping, and extensive workload security, enabling efficient management in complex cloud environments.

Room for Improvement: Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform could enhance its Kubernetes integrations, simplify onboarding processes, and improve its user interface for better accessibility. Cisco Secure Workload could benefit from more straightforward initial deployment, increased feature integration with Cisco’s ecosystem, and improved support for non-Cisco environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform is noted for its straightforward deployment, making it ideal for smaller setups. Cisco Secure Workload, while requiring more planning during setup, is supported by robust customer service that effectively assists larger enterprises with complex security needs.

Pricing and ROI: Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform offers a cost-effective solution for startups and mid-sized companies seeking foundational threat protection. Conversely, Cisco Secure Workload, despite higher upfront costs, provides superior long-term ROI through advanced capabilities and scalability, making it more suitable for enterprises aiming for expansive security investments.

To learn more, read our detailed Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) Report (Updated: July 2026).

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Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)

July 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

Qualys TotalCloud

Featured Reviews

Robert Orłowski

IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.

Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities

Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.

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Raj Metkar

Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA

Discover internal application dependencies and create a dependency map

We actively seek improvements in integrating the Infoblox DDI platform with Cisco Secure Workload. This integration allows Cisco Secure Workload to learn about our networks and network tags, providing valuable insights into vulnerabilities related to the operating system and various applications installed on our servers. Recently, Cisco announced a new product called HyperShield, an AI-based autonomous micro-segmentation solution. While Cisco has not stated that HyperShield will replace Cisco Secure Workload, it represents a natural evolution for the company. HyperShield features dynamic policy discovery and enforcement; however, once policies are enforced, they do not change until a discovery occurs, requiring a re-enforcement process. This new platform operates autonomously, minimizing the need for user or security engineer intervention. I would have expected Cisco to incorporate more automatic discovery and enforcement features within the existing Cisco Secure Workload product. Instead of enhancing the current product, they have introduced a new solution. Cisco plans to honor existing Tetration licenses, allowing users to transition to HyperShield without additional costs, reflecting the investment enterprises have already made. From Cisco’s perspective, this represents a natural progression in their product line. While the product name changes, it seems more of a rebranding effort. The enhancements are greater autonomy, improved discovery, and automatic enforcement, which are now being introduced in HyperShield. Cisco Secure Workload offers automatic policy enforcement but cannot adjust policies dynamically as the application needs to change. Having used the platform for the past five years, the recent announcement has been reassuring. Cisco has confirmed that our investment in the platform will not go to waste. They will honor our existing licenses, providing a natural migration path to the new solution without any disruption

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Skyler Cain

Software Development Manager at Rent Dynamics

SecOps program for us, as a smaller company, is amazing; they know what to look for

They could give a few more insights into security groups and recommendations on how to be more effective. That's getting more into the AWS environment, specifically. I'm not sure if that's Threat Stack's plan or not, but I would like them to help us be efficient about how we're setting up security groups. They could recommend separation of VPCs and the like - really dig into our architecture. I haven't seen a whole lot of that and I think that's something that, right off the bat, could have made us smarter. Even as part of the SecOps Program, that could be helpful; a quick analysis. They're analyzing our whole infrastructure and saying, "You have one VPC and that doesn't make a lot of sense, that should be multiple VPCs and here's why." The architecture of the servers in whatever cloud-hosting provider you're on could be helpful. Other than that, they should continue to expand on their notifications and on what's a vulnerability. They do a great job of that and we want them to continue to do that. It would be cool, since the agent is already deployed and they know about the server, they know the IP address, and they know what vulnerability is there, for them to test the vulnerability and see if they can actually exploit it. Or, once we patch it, they could double-check that it can't be. I don't know how hard that would be to build. Thinking on it off the top off my head, it could be a little challenging but it could also be highly interesting. It would also be great if we could test a couple of other features like hammering a server with 100 login attempts and see what happens. Real test scenarios could be really helpful. That is probably more something close to what they do with the SOC 2 audit or the report. But more visualization of that, being able to test things out on our infrastructure to make sure we can or can't hit this box could be interesting.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the web API security and IoT scanning features the most. The user-friendly design of TotalCloud's interface enables customers to navigate it and use its full potential easily"

"I appreciate Qualys TotalCloud's ability to onboard any type of device with ease, including containers."

"One of Qualys' best features is its categorization, which allows us to see the types of assets, their security postures, and the AI-powered version of the tool."

"TotalCloud has been excellent in providing us with immediate access to all the products and features we need, such as CSPM, TruRisk Insights, and compliance reports, including CIS and HIPAA."

"I found the initial setup user-friendly."

"We were able to realize its benefits within 24 to 48 hours."

"TotalCloud's best feature is the integration of cloud accounts. It helps with the risk and security posture management of our cloud infrastructure."

"Qualys TotalCloud has significantly improved our organization by automating our reporting processes, reducing the time spent on report creation from two hours to less than fifteen to twenty minutes."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"The product provides multiple-device integration."

"By using Tetration insight, we are able to get the latency on our level accounts and we can determine whatever the issue is with the application latency itself."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that we don't have to do packet captures on the network."

"A complete and powerful micro-segmentation solution."

"Instead of proving that all the access control lists are in place and all the EPGs are correct, we can just point the auditor to a dashboard and point out that there aren't any escaped conversations. It saves an enormous, enormous amount of time."

"Generally speaking, Cisco support is considered one of the best in the networking products and stack."

"The solution is very user-friendly, which clients appreciate."

"The solution offers 100% telemetry coverage; the telemetry you collect is not sampled, it's not intermittent, it's complete, and you see everything in it, including full visibility of all activities on your endpoints and in your network."

More Cisco Secure Workload pros

"Threat Stack has connectivity."

"The most valuable feature is the SecOps because they have our back and they help us with the reports... It's like having an extension of your team. And then, it grows with you."

"We find the licensing and pricing very easy to understand and a good value for the services provided."

"The rules are really great. They give us more visibility and control over what's being triggered. There's a large set of rules that come out-of-the-box. We can customize them and we can create our own rules based on the traffic patterns that we see."

"The capacity to respond to evidence requests from the SOX auditors has significantly improved because of this tool."

"With Threat Stack, we quickly identified some AWS accounts which had services that would potentially be exposed and were able to remediate them prior to release of products."

"There has been a measurable decrease in the meantime to remediation... because we have so many different tech verticals already collated in one place, our ability to respond is drastically different than it used to be."

"It is scalable. It deploys easily with curl and yum."

More Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] pros

Cons

"Qualys's ticketing system can be confusing when assigning tasks to individuals, and support could be improved by offering instant call solutions with engineers in addition to ticket replies."

"In TotalCloud, I would suggest improvements in policy checks to cater to various inventory types like VPCs, subnets, S3 buckets, or IAMs. There is a lack of data segregation according to criticality or inventory."

"The cost of Qualys TotalCloud is high and could be more competitive."

"To be honest, I would move out from this tool because it does not give a full view of vulnerability."

"I sometimes have difficulty detecting or uninstalling certain versions of applications, which I have to do manually."

"There should be improvement from a dashboard perspective when collecting and showcasing data to lead management."

"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."

"In a future release, I suggest that zero-day vulnerabilities should be predicted in advance using AI technologies. The system is not 100% secure yet, so proactive threat hunting could be enhanced to be more proactive than the current system."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"The scalability of this solution needs to be improved."

"The emailed notifications are either hard to find or they are not available. Search capabilities can be improved."

"The interface is really helpful for technical people, but it is not user-friendly."

"The integration could be better, especially with different types of solutions."

"I would have expected Cisco to incorporate more automatic discovery and enforcement features within the existing Cisco Secure Workload product."

"I'd like to see better documentation for advanced features. The documentation is fairly basic. I would also like to see better integration with other applications."

"There was a controversy when Cisco reduced the amount of data they kept, and the solution became quite cost-intensive, which made its adoption challenging….Although they have modified it now, I preferred the previous version, and I wish all the functionality were back under the same product."

"It is not so easy to use and configure. It needs a bunch of further resources to work, which is mainly the biggest downside of it. The deployment is huge."

More Cisco Secure Workload cons

"The user interface can be a little bit clunky at times... There's a lot of information that needs to be waded through, and the UI just isn't great."

"The API - which has grown quite a bit, so we're still learning it and I can't say whether it still needs improvement - was an area that had been needing it."

"The compliance and governance need improvement."

"They could give a few more insights into security groups and recommendations on how to be more effective. That's getting more into the AWS environment, specifically. I'm not sure if that's Threat Stack's plan or not, but I would like them to help us be efficient about how we're setting up security groups. They could recommend separation of VPCs and the like - really dig into our architecture. I haven't seen a whole lot of that and I think that's something that, right off the bat, could have made us smarter."

"I would like further support of Windows endpoint agents or the introduction of support for Windows endpoint agents."

"The solution’s ability to consume alerts and data in third-party tools (via APIs and export into S3 buckets) is moderate. They have some work to do in that area... The API does not mimic the features of the UI as far as reporting and pulling data out go. There's a big discrepancy there."

"Some features do not work as expected."

"It's too expensive, but I'm always going to say that. It is very expensive compared to some other products."

More Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a middle management member, I do not have direct pricing knowledge, but based on the knowledge from our meetings, its pricing is competitive."

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."

"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."

"I am not sure about the pricing. From what I understand, it is a bit on the higher side, but I do not have the exact numbers."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

"The price is based on how many computers you're going to install it on."

"Pricing depends on the scope of the application and the features. Larger installations save more."

"It is not cheap and pricing may limit scalability."

"The pricing is a bit higher than we anticipated."

"The price is outrageous. If you have money to throw at the product, then do it."

"The cost for the hardware is around 300k."

"Regarding price, Cisco Secure Workload can be expensive if you don't have a budget. If you're not doing micro-segmentation, every extra security measure or enforcement you're putting on top of your existing environment will be an extra cost. It's not a cheap solution at all. But from my point of view, if you need to do micro-segmentation, this is one of the best tools I've seen for it. I can't compare that to Microsoft's solution because I haven't looked into it. I've looked into VMware and Cisco. Those are the only two that I know of. I didn't know that Microsoft could do micro-segmentation at all. Maybe they can, but I haven't heard anything about it."

"I'm happy with the amount that we spend for the product that we get and the overall service that we get. It's not cheap, but I'm still happy with the spend."

"We find the licensing and pricing very easy to understand and a good value for the services provided."

"It came in cheaper than Trend Micro when we purchased it a few years ago."

"It is a cost-effective choice versus other solutions on the market."

"Pricing seems to be in line with the market structure. It's fine."

"What we're paying now is somewhere around $15 to $20 per agent per month, if I recall correctly. The other cost we have is SecOps."

"It is very expensive compared to some other products. The pricing is definitely high."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

12%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Performing Arts

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	30

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

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

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?

The price is very expensive, actually.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?

To be totally honest, I do not have any best features because I have had a bad experience using this tool, especially...

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What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?

My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is vulnerability management and exposure management. I use this tool to evalua...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Workload?

CloudStrike offers antivirus capabilities and firewall features for servers and VDI but lacks automatic policy discov...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Workload?

We actively seek improvements in integrating the Infoblox DDI platform with Cisco Secure Workload. This integration a...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Workload?

When we onboarded Cisco Secure Workload, the usual use case was to discover internal application dependencies and cre...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys TotalCloud

July 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Workload

August 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL]

July 2026

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] report

Download Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

Cisco Tetration

Threat Stack, CSP,

Overview

Qualys TotalCloud enhances security posture across cloud environments with continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and risk visualization, ensuring efficient threat assessment and automated remediation for improved cyber risk reduction.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a robust suite of security tools essential for organizations managing multi-cloud infrastructures. By integrating cloud accounts and automating workflows, it supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering comprehensive vulnerability management and zero-day detection. The platform's user-friendly design, combined with its extensive risk management and unified threat assessment capabilities, enables organizations to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. TruRisk Insights provides clear insights on cyber risks, while the automation options streamline patch management and scanning processes. API integration across IaaS and SaaS environments further enhances resource allocation efficiency and saves time, addressing misconfigurations across cloud environments.

What are the most important features of Qualys TotalCloud?

Accurate Vulnerability Reports: Delivers precise and actionable insights for risk mitigation.
Zero-Day Detection: Identifies and addresses zero-day vulnerabilities proactively.
Unified Threat Assessment: Offers comprehensive evaluation of threats across the environment.
Extensive Risk Management: Manages risks effectively with advanced insights and prioritization.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides non-stop surveillance for vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud-Native Automation: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts using automation.
FlexScan for Internet-Facing VMs: Scans external VMs efficiently to detect vulnerabilities.
Dashboard Risk Visualization: Clear visualization helps prioritize vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances threat detection and response across clouds.
Time Savings: Automation reduces time spent on manual vulnerability management.
Resource Efficiency: Better allocation of resources through streamlined workflows.
Enhanced Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities for effective mitigation.
Integrated Cloud Accounts: Facilitates seamless cloud management and security.

Qualys TotalCloud is deployed in sectors needing rigorous vulnerability management, such as finance and healthcare. Companies utilize it to secure multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP, focus on compliance, and integrate security into CI/CD pipelines to detect and remedy threats pre-deployment.

Qualys

Cisco Secure Workload offers advanced auditing, micro-segmentation, and network visibility, automating policy presentation for improved security. It enhances application dependency mapping and provides comprehensive telemetry with strategic policy enforcement.

Cisco Secure Workload specializes in automating micro-segmentation, data center management, and traffic analysis. Its capabilities facilitate application dependency mapping and enhance internal micro-segmentation, providing invaluable network visibility. Users find its automation in policy presentation and strategic enforcement beneficial, along with granular control and scalability, despite needing improvements in scalability and integration capabilities. Enhanced notification features, troubleshooting options, and an efficient interface are desired for seamless deployment, along with stronger multi-tenancy, redundancy, and monitoring functions. Broader platform support and integrated cloud connectivity are desired for unified management across tools.

What are the most important features?

Auditing: Provides in-depth network analysis and security auditing capabilities.
Micro-Segmentation: Enhances network security by automating segmentation at a granular level.
Application Dependency Mapping: Visualizes connections and interactions between applications.
Network Visibility: Delivers comprehensive insight into network activities and dynamics.
Policy Discovery: Streamlines policy creation through automation and reduces manual intervention.
Comprehensive Telemetry: Offers complete coverage and insights for better security assessment.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security Measures: Offers robust features for network security improvement.
Automated Processes: Reduces manual efforts through automation, increasing efficiency.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with flexible scalability options.
Granular Control: Allows detailed control over network policies and enforcement.

Entities in finance, gas, and oil sectors utilize Cisco Secure Workload for networking site management and compliance maintenance. It integrates into extensive Cisco infrastructure, aiding routers, switches, and endpoints, thus supporting auditors in network synchronization and auditing needs.

Cisco

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] offers robust security features including endpoint monitoring, rule customization, and integration capabilities, with easy connectivity to cloud services like Docker and AWS.

Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] provides tools for enhancing security visibility across cloud infrastructure. It supports AWS and Docker integration, facilitating efficient threat detection and management. Users appreciate its capability to configure customizable alerts and monitor endpoints, sessions, API interactions, and cloud services. However, there are areas needing improvement, such as better serverless environment support and reduced alert frequency. The platform services smaller organizations by compensating for limited security resources with its comprehensive monitoring and auditing tools.

What are the key features?

Easy Cloud Service Integration: Streamlined connectivity with Docker and AWS for efficient monitoring.
Customizable Rule Sets: Tailor security rules to meet specific organizational needs.
Email Alerts: Receive timely notifications about security events and threats.
Interactive Session Monitoring: Track live sessions for suspicious activities.
API Integration: Connect effortlessly with third-party tools for an enhanced security posture.
SecOps Support: Assistance for organizations lacking dedicated security teams.

What are the benefits and ROI features?

Streamlined Threat Detection: Effective process monitoring to identify potential threats.
Cost Efficiency: Serves companies with limited resources by providing essential security functions.
Comprehensive Audits: Helps in regular examinations of cloud infrastructure, enhancing compliance.
Visibility into Cloud Operations: Offers a detailed dashboard for threat visibility and monthly vulnerability assessments.

In specific industries, Threat Stack Cloud Security Platform [EOL] is utilized for its strength in monitoring cloud infrastructure and preventing unauthorized access. Organizations in fields where cloud operations are critical use it for regular audits and monitoring. Its capabilities in threat management are leveraged to maintain secure operations and compliance, especially where there is no dedicated security team.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ADP, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)

StatusPage.io, Walkbase, Spanning, DNAnexus, Jobcase, Nextcapital, Smartling, Veracode, 6sense

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