Flow Security vs Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks comparison

Flow Security and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) category. Flow Security is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. Flow Security holds a 0.3% mindshare in DSPM, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 13.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Flow Security users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

Flow Security

Read 1 Flow Security review

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365 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto N...

Read 111 Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks reviews

24,429 Views
8,794 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Flow Security

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto N...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2025

Prisma Cloud and Flow Security are competitors in the cybersecurity sector offering cloud security solutions. Prisma Cloud has an advantage in support and integration, while Flow Security is noted for its feature richness and ROI potential.

Features: Prisma Cloud includes integrated security solutions, threat prevention, and extensive integration capabilities. Flow Security offers advanced data protection, risk management, and a focus on data-centric security.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma Cloud provides an easy deployment process and comprehensive customer support. Flow Security has a slightly more complex deployment but compensates with responsive customer service and detailed implementation guidance.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma Cloud generally requires a lower initial cost, appealing to budget-conscious businesses while still offering good ROI. Flow Security may have higher upfront costs but provides long-term value for data-sensitive businesses with its specialized features.

To learn more, read our detailed Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

August 2025

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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

Flow Security

Ranking in Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

11th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database Security (7th)

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto N...

Ranking in Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

111

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (6th), Container Security (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) category, the mindshare of Flow Security is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is 13.7%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks	13.7%
Flow Security	0.3%
Other	86.0%

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231631

Chief Information Security Officer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

It gives us a risk report that helps us refine our process management by highlighting where we might be exposed

Flow's distinctive capability to analyze both data at rest and data in motion grants us the ability not only to get full visibility and classification of the data within our managed databases but also to visualize the data flows both within and beyond our environment. This enables us to achieve a comprehensive understanding of all our sensitive data, even as it traverses through applications, shadow databases, and external services such as third-party entities and SaaS applications. What we aspire to achieve with Flow is extended visibility into the external services themselves, which will allow us to see the data they contain.

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Harsh_Vardhan

Cloud security architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Provides visibility and control that our customers need

Different modules are valuable for different customers. We are leveraging CSPM. It is one of the best solutions for comprehensive visibility into cloud resource configurations and compliance. It has a lot of out-of-the-box policies, and the visibility that we are getting is impressive. The DSPM module is valuable. This is the latest one that Palo Alto procured from Dig Security. No competitor provides this functionality in a single pane of glass. The support for Linux and container security is also very good. That is the beauty of Prisma Cloud. However, in terms of Windows security, Prisma Cloud is lacking because currently, there is no runtime protection available. The UI is very good. We get all the things within a single UI. It is easy to use. A new user can easily understand it. It is very user-friendly.

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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

"Before implementing Flow Security, we had no mechanism to alert us when third-party contractors were accessing sensitive data or moving it to locations with lower security. Now we know precisely where the data is stored and can assess the risk when someone wants to develop something. Flow Security lowers our risk of a data breach."

"Visibility and control are the most utilized features. A dashboard is available to us where we can view different categories. We can see any IAM-related risks, any discovered vulnerabilities, any incidents, or any network-level issues."

"I would say Twistlock is a fairly sophisticated tool."

"It also provides us with a single tool to manage our entire cloud architecture. In fact, we are using a multi-account strategy with our AWS organization. We use Prisma as a single source of truth to identify high- or medium-severity threats inside our organization."

"What I like most about Prisma Cloud is its zero-day signatures, maximum security, minimal downtime, cloud visibility, control, and ease of deployment."

"Prisma Cloud's inventory reporting is pretty good."

"I found the network queue sets useful. I also liked the Workload Protection Module, the vulnerability findings, and how the rule sets handle the vulnerabilities based on severity."

"The most valuable features are vulnerability monitoring, serverless access, container runtime features, and Defender."

"One feature we like is the amount of data Prisma gives us. Some infrastructure and platform vulnerabilities that in the cloud are hard to detect, and we were unaware of some of these. It's critical to shed light on these. For example, you create virtual machines and forget about them, but when you revisit them, some vulnerabilities may be detected."

More Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks pros

Cons

"It provides a good overview of our infrastructure, but I need more end-to-end visibility, and SaaS is one of the gaps."

"They charge seven workloads for monitoring one compute, and that is quite expensive. This makes it difficult to move fully with the compute part because of the workload."

"The UI is the worst."

"The alignment of Twistlock Defender agents with image repositories needs improvement. These deployed agents have no way of differentiating between on-premise and cloud-based image repositories. If I deploy a Defender agent to secure an on-premise Kubernetes cluster, that agent also tries to scan my ECR image repositories on AWS. So, we have limited options for aligning those Defenders with the repositories that we want them to scan. It is scanning everything rather than giving us the ability to be real granular in choosing which agents can scan which repositories."

"Prisma Cloud's application security capabilities should be enhanced."

"It would be nice Prisma Cloud merged its modules for CSPM and infrastructure as code. It would simplify the pricing and make it easier for customers to evaluate the solution because there are different modules, and you need to add it to your subscription separately."

"We would like to have the detections be more contemporaneous. For example, we've seen detections of an overprivileged user or whatever it might be in any of the hundreds of Prisma policies, where there are 50 minutes of latency between the event and the alert."

"The Palo Alto support needs to improve."

"I would like Prisma Cloud to improve its mapping feature to increase usability."

More Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Prisma Cloud's licensing system functions as expected with a solid licensing infrastructure."

"The price is high. In the future, when there are more competitors at the same level with different clouds, maybe the position will be different."

"The pricing of the solution is fair."

"If you pay for three years of Palo Alto, it's better. If you're planning on doing this, it's obviously not going to be for one year, so it's better if you go with a three-year license... The only challenge we have is with the public cloud vendor pricing. The biggest lesson I have learned is around the issues related to pricing for public cloud. So when you are doing your segmentation and design, it is extremely important that you work with someone who knows and understands what kinds of needs you will have in the future and how what you are doing will affect you in terms of costs."

"The cost depends on the pricing model. Compared to other solutions, the cost isn't that bad."

"This solution is good for a company with at least 400 people that must be connected remotely. For smaller companies, it can be too expensive."

"I find the pricing to be expensive."

"Regarding Prisma Cloud's pricing, we started small, and then we just kept on growing."

More Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

University

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	58

Questions from the Community

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What is your primary use case for Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?

Prisma Cloud helps support DevSecOps methodologies, making those responsibilities easier to manage.

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What Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform do you recommend?

We like Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks, since it offers us incredible visibility into our entire cloud system. We are able to easily see where our container vulnerabilities lie and and where cl...

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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 ...

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Also Known As

No data available

Prisma Public Cloud, RedLock Cloud 360, RedLock, Twistlock, Aporeto

Overview

Flow is a data security platform that combines Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) together with real-time detection and response to data security violations. Flow is not just your cloud security tool with a data scanning utility. It is the only platform that analyzes both data at rest and data in motion. By also following and analyzing all data flows in runtime, the platform enables security teams to regain control over all their data, including shadow data stores and applications across all cloud, on-prem, and SaaS environments.

Flow’s deep analysis of the organization’s data journey from origin to destination allows security teams to automatically catalog all their sensitive data (e.g. PII, PHI, PCI); visualize data flows; detect and remediate data risks; and effectively respond in real-time to data violations by providing the full context: who, what, when, where and why.

Flow Security

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks provides comprehensive cloud-native security solutions. It covers dynamic workload identity, automated forensics, and multi-cloud protection, ensuring robust security across diverse cloud platforms.

Prisma Cloud delivers advanced capabilities for managing cloud security across AWS, Azure, and GCP platforms. It offers dynamic workload identity creation, real-time monitoring, and seamless integration into CI/CD pipelines. With automation, centralized dashboards, and enhanced visibility, users effectively manage security misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. While optimizing cloud environments through runtime protection and compliance, Prisma Cloud faces challenges with its navigation, pricing, and limited automation capabilities. Users seek improvements in API security, role-based access controls, and documentation quality, emphasizing the need for enhanced customization and reporting features.

What are the important features of Prisma Cloud?

Dynamic Workload Identity: Enables unique workload identities for security purposes.
Automated Forensics: Offers detailed insights into threats and incidents automatically.
Runtime Protection: Provides ongoing detection and blocking of suspicious activities.
Multi-Cloud Security: Protects environments on AWS, Azure, and GCP simultaneously.
Compliance Management: Assists in meeting regulatory standards across cloud platforms.

What benefits or ROI should users consider in reviews?

Enhanced Security Posture: Strengthens cloud defense lines with proactive monitoring.
Centralized Dashboard: Offers unified oversight of multiple cloud environments.
Efficient Misconfiguration Handling: Quickly identifies and addresses security lapses.
Seamless CI/CD Integration: Integrates security within development workflows.
Improved Visibility: Provides transparent insights into security operations and alerts.

Industries like finance and telecom rely on Prisma Cloud for managing cloud security posture and container security. Teams utilize its capabilities across hybrid and multi-cloud settings to ensure compliance and robust threat protection. Features like misconfiguration detection and runtime monitoring are critical in promoting security objectives in these sectors.

Palo Alto Networks

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Amgen, Genpact, Western Asset, Zipongo, Proofpoint, NerdWallet, Axfood, 21st Century Fox, Veeva Systems, Reinsurance Group of America

Buyer's Guide

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)

August 2025

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