No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Calico Cloud vs Upwind comparison

Why PeerSpot?
Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Container Security
11th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (10th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd)
Calico Cloud
Ranking in Container Security
28th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
AI Observability (22nd)
Upwind
Ranking in Container Security
26th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
15th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (39th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (18th), API Security (11th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (25th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (30th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (11th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (18th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (8th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (7th), AI Security (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 2.4%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Calico Cloud is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Upwind is 2.8%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud2.4%
Upwind2.8%
Calico Cloud0.6%
Other94.2%
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
Olakunle Obasoro - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at Exponential Craft
Security posture has become visible and container risks are managed proactively
Regarding improvements for Calico Cloud, there is a need to build agentic security systems. I believe Calico Cloud is progressing towards this, and I believe they can enhance their teaching methods to facilitate adoption. Documentation needs continuous improvement. It is good and easy to read, but it can get better. Having a searchable summary feature, such as a chatbot, could help users quickly resolve issues without having to read extensive documentation. At the moment, I do not believe there are more improvements needed, but as mentioned earlier, there should be a focus on better documentation, possibly by embedding chatbot features that could respond to user prompts effectively.
Mohammed Mudasser - PeerSpot reviewer
AI/ML Engineer at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Runtime context has transformed how we prioritize exploitable cloud risks and protect workloads
I appreciate runtime context, which helps connect vulnerabilities and misconfigurations with actual workload behavior and network relationships, making it easier to prioritize remediation based on real exposure rather than simply working through a long list of security findings. The best features that stand out to me are contextual vulnerability prioritization, cloud workload visibility, and runtime security. I especially value how Upwind connects vulnerabilities with actual runtime behavior, which helps focus on exploitable risk rather than working through a long list of findings. It has helped us focus on actual exploitable risk instead of treating every vulnerability equally. By considering runtime activity, exposure, reachability, and sensitive data context, the team can prioritize remediation much faster and reduce unnecessary alert noise. I also value the runtime visibility and attack path context because it connects security findings with network behavior and actual workload. This makes investigations more actionable and helps the team move from simply detecting issues to understanding their real impact. The biggest positive impact has been the prioritization of cloud security risk and improved visibility. Instead of chasing every vulnerability, we can focus on issues that are actually exposed or active at runtime, which makes the security team more efficient and remediation more targeted.

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"
"Qualys TotalCloud has saved our time by giving us better asset visibility and risk-based prioritization, as it has reduced the time spent manually reviewing CVEs and deciding what to address first."
"I would definitely recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."
"I would definitely recommend it because it is easy to handle any cloud resources."
"The dashboards are particularly valuable as they offer a comprehensive view of the environment, highlighting any misconfigurations."
"Having everything in a single place to look for it and a single integration into ServiceNow has been the big transformation."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"One of the features I appreciate is the ability to generate daily reports without relying on anyone else."
"Calico Cloud has positively impacted my organization by improving the security of deployed applications while having greater control and visibility over communication between the different microservices."
"The impact of Calico Cloud is that we were able to achieve a more secure understanding of our security posture, access our containers knowing full well that all policies set were followed through, and see visually how everything was interconnected, which has impacted our business positively."
"The number one standout feature is the multi-cloud hybrid workload support, as the fact that Calico Cloud is not strictly bound to Kubernetes pods but can also utilize bare metal or virtual machines means it offers a unified control plane and allows for a single security policy to be applied and for traffic flow to be observed between VM-based databases and containerized applications running in Kubernetes, which is amazing for increasingly popular hybrid workloads."
"Calico Cloud has had a positive impact on our organization by improving both our Kubernetes security posture and operational efficiency."
"Calico Cloud has positively impacted my organization, especially on the security front, as it helped us anticipate security threats."
"Upwind has positively impacted my organization by reducing time to action and time to response by half."
"The combination of runtime visibility, security insights, and contextual risk prioritization makes it much easier to focus on the risks that actually matter."
"They are a great overall cloud security platform and they continue innovating and adding new features."
"My advice for others looking into using Upwind is that if you are seeking a strong CNAPP with an advanced runtime and strong CDR capabilities, this is the product."
 

Cons

"The cost of Qualys TotalCloud is high and could be more competitive."
"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."
"One thing that could be improved is the user experience and navigation."
"I would like the ability to disable certain default built-in policies as they can be misleading when creating dashboards. That is the top one."
"We encountered challenges identifying the correct resource category for certain items, such as those in containers or storage."
"Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple enough for everyone to understand."
"There is a lack of data segregation according to criticality or inventory."
"Overall, we are satisfied with it. However, the response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved. It is not yet in place according to requirements; it is not completely available even though the module has been released."
"Another issue is the resource footprint because Calico Cloud is an all-inclusive networking solution with many daemons running inside the cluster, putting a noticeable load on the Kubernetes API server in large clusters."
"Calico Cloud is a very good product with well-defined usage. I would appreciate seeing more improvement on real-time analysis capabilities."
"They may not have all the features that their competitor Cilium has, and they are doing a portion of what Cilium does and a portion of what Istio does."
"I think Calico Cloud could be improved by being a bit cheaper."
"The integration process of Calico Cloud with existing systems has its challenges."
"Upwind can be improved because its UI is a bit difficult to navigate."
 

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 cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"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."
Information not available
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) solutions are best for your needs.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
No data available
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise37
No data available
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
I was not involved in pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I can say that the setup was fast, within a quarter, an...
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvements, the features we are using in Qualys TotalCloud are working in the best optimal way, and I d...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
I have been using Qualys TotalCloud for the last eight months to scan the hardware and the virtual devices in our inf...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Calico Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Calico Cloud was determined by management who evaluated the...
What needs improvement with Calico Cloud?
I think there are a couple of issues with Calico Cloud, at least during the first time I used it more intensively. On...
What is your primary use case for Calico Cloud?
My main use case for Calico Cloud was primarily cloud network security. An unfortunate aspect of cloud architecture i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Upwind?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing process were pretty reasonable.
What needs improvement with Upwind?
I would appreciate more customizable dashboards and reporting for different teams, such as security operations, engin...
What is your primary use case for Upwind?
My main use case for Upwind is cloud security and workload protection. I primarily use it to gain visibility into clo...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
Upwind Security Upwind Platform for AWS Security Hub, Upwind Security Upwind for AWS Security Hub Extended
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
StockX, Yotpo, bill, Digital Turbine, nanit, CallRail, boomi
Find out what your peers are saying about Calico Cloud vs. Upwind and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.