Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs Cisco Secure Workload comparison

Aqua Security and Cisco are both solutions in the Cloud and Data Center Security category. Aqua Security is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.3, while Cisco is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.5. Additionally, 95% of Aqua Security users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Aqua Cloud Security Platform and Cisco Secure Workload are prominent cybersecurity solutions in the cloud security market. Cisco Secure Workload is viewed to have an edge due to its comprehensive features and strong perceived value, despite higher costs.

Features: Aqua Cloud Security Platform is noted for its strong container security, compliance capabilities, and easy scalability. Cisco Secure Workload offers advanced workload protection, application visibility, and integrated threat management tools, which provide it with an advantage.

Room for Improvement: Aqua Cloud Security Platform users have pointed out integration with third-party tools, enhancing user interface design, and improving monitoring capabilities as areas for development. Feedback on Cisco Secure Workload suggests enhancing intuitive management, improving documentation, and expanding training materials.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Aqua Cloud Security Platform is praised for its straightforward deployment process but experiences some delays in customer support. Cisco Secure Workload features a more complex deployment, offset by responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Aqua Cloud Security Platform is considered cost-effective with a good return on investment. Cisco Secure Workload's higher initial costs are seen as justified by its feature-rich offerings, providing a satisfactory ROI despite the expense.

To learn more, read our detailed Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Cisco Secure Workload Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Cisco Secure Workload

June 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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Samir Paul

Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Secures cloud workloads from build to runtime and has needed simpler setup and alert tuning

Regarding how Aqua Cloud Security Platform can be improved, the first area is the complex initial setup. Deployment and configuration can be complex, especially in large environments that require skilled resources. For Kubernetes environments, initial onboarding and policy setup takes time. Compared to Wiz onboarding, it is not very straightforward, as I have also worked with Wiz. The UI is powerful but not very simple for new users, as navigation and dashboard can be overwhelming. Alert noise and tuning are required because Aqua generates a large number of initial alerts that need tuning to reduce false positives. Additionally, pricing can be high depending on workload scale, especially for large Kubernetes and multi-cloud environments. For improvements to Aqua Cloud Security Platform, I think better integration with SOAR and XDR platforms, more AI-driven prioritization, and providing simpler out-of-the-box policies would be beneficial.

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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The agent and agentless scanning in TotalCloud, particularly the FlexScan method, is incredibly valuable. With traditional scanning approaches, we had to give IP ranges and whitelist IPs. All that is now simplified. FlexScan requires minimal intervention, and after configuration, it automatically collects data and performs necessary scans."

"Qualys TotalCloud provides a single, prioritized view of risk, reducing the workload associated with consolidating multiple sources for risk prioritization."

"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."

"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."

"The most valuable feature is extensibility."

"I would recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users because it is cost-efficient and has a good return on investment."

"I would definitely recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."

"Qualys TotalCloud has improved our security posture."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"The most valuable feature is the security."

"Aqua Cloud Security Platform has positively impacted my organization by helping with decreasing the number of compliancy issues with the company that we were working on."

"Support is very helpful."

"We find the Docker and Kubernetes support for container security most valuable."

"We use Aqua Security for the container security features."

"The main reasons we chose Aqua Security were the visibility it provided into the container platform and the great customer service."

"The CSPM product is great at securing our cloud accounts and I really like the runtime protection for containers and functions too."

"Previously, we were using multiple tools for scanning: container image scanning, Kubernetes security, runtime security, CSPM and on the IAC side, then we found one single solution, which is Aqua Cloud Security Platform, so it really added value for our organization."

More Aqua Cloud Security Platform pros

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

"Scalability is its most valuable feature."

"The scalability of Cisco Tetration is very good."

"This product does everything that you need it to do and more and does a lot to provide visibility in a network environment, save time and money, and make the organization IT operate in a much more streamlined fashion."

"The most valuable feature right now is to do with having visibility on the network — especially on our servers — and to be able to enforce some type of security measures."

"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."

"The most valuable feature is micro-segmentation, which is the most important with respect to visibility."

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

More Cisco Secure Workload pros

Cons

"Qualys TotalCloud has the potential to improve by integrating a hybrid platform for comprehensive management of both on-premises and cloud infrastructures."

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

"The onboarding process is a bit difficult. In the initial phase, it is very difficult to understand the features, what the dashboard contains, and what criteria they are using."

"Their support could be improved."

"I would appreciate additional integration options to connect Qualys TotalCloud with our other vulnerability management tools."

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

"Qualys TotalCloud's increasing complexity, due to the development and deployment of multiple solutions, is making the GUI difficult to navigate."

"The main area needing improvement is integration. Although the team is strengthening TotalCloud, integration can be enhanced with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and other sources."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"I would like Aqua Security to look into is the development of a web security portal."

"Aqua Security could improve the forwarding of logging into Splunk and into other tools, it should be easier."

"Sometimes I got stressed with the UI."

"It's a bit hard to use the user roles. That was a bit confusing."

"Aqua Security lacks a lot in reporting."

"Aqua Security lacks a lot in reporting. It provides all the open issues, but no actionable solution is provided."

"The user interface could be improved, especially in terms of organization and clarity."

"The solution could improve user-friendliness."

More Aqua Cloud Security Platform 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."

"There is some overlap between Cisco Tetration and AppDynamics and there are few DC tools, it would be great to have a single pane of glass, rather than have to jump between different tools."

"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."

"A feature that I was looking for was emailed alerts and notifications so we'd get them right away."

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

"The entire interface could be improved; it's ugly and uninviting, and Tetration tends to be a lot more cumbersome and not very intuitive compared to the biggest competitor's modern-looking GUI."

"It has an uninviting interface."

More Cisco Secure Workload cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."

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

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."

"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."

"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."

"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."

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

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

"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."

"The pricing of this solution could be improved."

"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."

"Aqua Security is not cheap, and it's not very expensive, such as Splunk, they are in the middle."

"It comes at a reasonable cost."

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

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

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

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

"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."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

20%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

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	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	15

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

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 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 valu...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aqua Security?

Compared to other vendors, Aqua Cloud Security Platform's pricing is good or lesser. The pricing part is acceptable, ...

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What needs improvement with Aqua Security?

I think Aqua Cloud Security Platform has a good, strong platform, but there are still other areas. For example, if we...

See all answers

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

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 6% of the time

AWS Security Hub vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

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Sysdig Secure vs Aqua Cloud Security Platform

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Aqua Cloud Security Platform

Compared 5% of the time

Snyk vs Aqua Cloud Security Platform

Compared 5% of the time

Wiz vs Aqua Cloud Security Platform

Compared 4% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Aqua Cloud Security Platform

Compared 4% of the time

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Illumio Segmentation vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 14% of the time

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 13% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 8% of the time

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 5% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys TotalCloud

July 2026

Download Qualys TotalCloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Aqua Cloud Security Platform

August 2026

Download Aqua Cloud Security Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Workload

August 2026

Download Cisco Secure Workload product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

Aqua Security Platform, CloudSploit, Argon

Cisco Tetration

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

Aqua Cloud Security Platform supports container environments with strong features such as Docker and Kubernetes integration, efficient vulnerability management, and seamless runtime protection, making it a key choice for cloud and container security.

Aqua Cloud Security Platform focuses on comprehensive container and cloud security enhancements. It offers robust tools for Docker and Kubernetes, efficient vulnerability management, and on-demand patching. The platform is praised for its Runtime Protection, Drift Prevention, and robust documentation, promoting seamless integration with existing platforms. Image scanning, Digital Threat Analysis, and sandboxing services accentuate security measures while integration with Docker Hub ensures ease of use. Scalable runtime policies, image assurance, and dynamic threat analysis simplify security tasks. Challenges remain in developing web security portals and greater standard server integration. Enhancing reporting, simplifying training, and improving log forwarding are key goals. Resource consumption, clearer roles, automation, and code analysis are vital future considerations.

What are the most important features of Aqua Cloud Security Platform?

Docker and Kubernetes Support: Ensures container security and streamlined operations.
Vulnerability Management: Efficient scanning and on-demand patching.
Strong Runtime Protection: Implements Drift Prevention and scalable policies.
Seamless Integration: Works with existing platforms for optimal performance.
Image Assurance and Threat Analysis: Provides thorough security checks and dynamic analysis.

What benefits or ROI can users expect?

Simplified Container Security: Streamlines container and cloud tasks for enhanced protection.
Enhanced Image Assessment: Detects configurations and risks efficiently.
Greater Data Protection: Ensures application visibility and security in deployments.
Flexible Licensing Models: Offers potential for reconsideration and optimization.

Aqua Cloud Security Platform is leveraged in industries focusing on container security, vulnerability scanning, and securing Kubernetes configurations within CI/CD pipelines. It is employed for image assessments and network security, demonstrating its efficacy in cloud applications and workload protection. Efficiently identifying misconfigurations and risks in cloud environments, it provides scanning for public clouds and docker environments, emphasizing data protection and application visibility tailored to customer-specific deployments.

Aqua Security

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

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

HPE Salesforce Telstra Ellie Mae Cathay Pacific HomeAway

ADP, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)

Buyer's Guide

Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Cisco Secure Workload

June 2026

Free Report: Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Cisco Secure Workload

Find out what your peers are saying about Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs. Cisco Secure Workload and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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