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Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP vs Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.5
Qualys TotalCloud boosts efficiency, reduces manual effort, decreases risk, and offers significant cost savings with a notable ROI.
Sentiment score
7.3
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP improves security and compliance, reduces manual tasks, boosting efficiency and ROI with automation.
Sentiment score
3.7
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks boosts efficiency and ROI with XSOAR integrations, though ROI quantification can be challenging.
It has saved about 90% of our time.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
TotalCloud has generated overall savings of 30 to 40 percent across various departments.
Security Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
CallStream helps us integrate and automate tasks.
Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP
The compliance has improved as our overall compliance score against CIS benchmark has improved from around 72 to 92% within the first three months of adoption.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
This helped my team cut manual review time by roughly twenty to twenty-five percent, allowing me to reallocate effort to proactive cloud security improvements.
Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.
Monitoring cloud security automatically ensures a return on investment.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
The solution provides a good ROI, especially for regular customers, offering discounts for three-year licenses.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I don't think the tool in itself is very capable of doing that, but we have XSOAR and other tool integrations done on the platform, so this can be accomplished.
Technical Solutions Architect at IBM
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Qualys TotalCloud support is praised for efficiency and staff knowledge but criticized for delays and inconsistent quality.
Sentiment score
6.6
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP offers excellent, knowledgeable support but could improve initial response times at the basic support level.
Sentiment score
6.6
Cortex Cloud's customer service is praised for prompt, knowledgeable support and effective troubleshooting, earning high user ratings.
They are helpful, respond to my queries, and can answer any question.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Qualys's tech support is highly responsive, providing multiple ways to interact with them.
Service Manager, Security Operations at CDA IT SOLUTIONS
Qualys' customer service provides quality answers, but the response time is long, even though it is within the SLA.
Works at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
When I need help or have open questions, or if I require the capability to deploy a quick test environment, there are always people I can contact at Check Point to get my information or the environment as fast as I need it.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
I have a dedicated support engineer and a presales engineer dedicated to me.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
Customer support for Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP has been responsive and knowledgeable.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
If I make it a high priority, they have resolved one query within 20 minutes.
Assistant Security Architect at Cloudnomics
If local Indian support cannot resolve an issue, global tech support aligns promptly within the agreed SLA.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Fast response times and knowledgeable staff who understand the intricacies of the system.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Qualys TotalCloud excels in scalability, efficiently supporting diverse environments and business sizes, though it may require skilled management.
Sentiment score
7.7
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP scales well across clouds, with reliable performance and strong security compliance, despite licensing concerns.
Sentiment score
4.5
Palo Alto's Cortex Cloud is scalable and efficient, with easy onboarding, but can be costly for higher licenses.
We started our organization about nine months back. We started with about 30 users, and we now have more than 100 users.
CIO at a venture capital & private equity firm with 11-50 employees
Our organization currently uses it to manage over 1200 web applications.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
It is absolutely scalable, and I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
retired at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Visibility scales without performance issues as my environment expands.
Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP scales efficiently in the multi-cloud environment.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
I never had any performance-related issues.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
For stability, scalability, mean time to response, and potential incident investigation improvements, I would give it a nine or probably even a ten.
Business Development Team Lead at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Onboarding endpoints and assets on Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is very easy.
Assistant Security Architect at Cloudnomics
The platform is able to auto-shut certain resources that are not in use through the agentless scan feature.
Technical Solutions Architect at IBM
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Qualys TotalCloud is highly stable with reliable support, 99.9% uptime, minimal bugs, and effective maintenance communication.
Sentiment score
8.1
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP is reliable and efficient, handling large-scale workloads with minimal downtime despite occasional minor latency issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is praised for its stability, reliability, and seamless security performance without latency or issues.
Overall, the support provided has been excellent.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
It is a stable solution, which is why we chose it.
CIO at a venture capital & private equity firm with 11-50 employees
Continuous monitoring is crucial to ensure system stability and avoid vulnerabilities or threats.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
If there are errors, it is sometimes challenging to elaborate or troubleshoot since it is not transparent enough to understand what to search for.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
It is rapidly evolving, and sometimes mistakes occur, necessitating testing.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
My impression of Cloud Runtime Security in stopping attacks in real-time is that I have never had an issue where it has let something through, causing an outage or concerns to the customer.
Business Development Team Lead at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
However, now in Cortex Cloud, I have not seen any lag or buffer.
Assistant Security Architect at Cloudnomics
My evaluation of how stable and reliable Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is very positive.
Technical Solutions Architect at IBM
 

Room For Improvement

Users suggest enhancing Qualys TotalCloud with clearer reports, better integration, intuitive UI, AI risk assessments, and improved documentation.
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP needs better integrations, user interfaces, support, automation, and documentation to enhance functionality and user satisfaction.
Cortex Cloud's interface and costs challenge users, with needs for improved integration, efficiency, and identity management features.
Ideally, the scanner should automatically detect and scan all subdomains, even if not explicitly defined, ensuring comprehensive vulnerability assessment.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
Ideally, updates should be more immediate, enabling quicker implementation of solutions.
Project Lead at Persistent Systems
Our goal is to integrate all these functions into Qualys, creating a single dashboard for comprehensive security monitoring and management.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I need more integration from the code-to-cloud principle.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
It would be nice to have periodic updates on what people should do, maybe with some analysis or something.
Information Security Officer at Cargus
I require consistency in the user interface to ensure everything is streamlined into the same look and feel.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
Regarding the generative AI security tool, I know for sure it's Agentic.
Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The solution is quite premium in cost compared to alternatives such as Wiz.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
There is not a clear MSP model compared to other vendors such as CrowdStrike.
Business Development Manager For Palo Alto Networks at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is high yet justified by comprehensive features and flexibility, benefiting larger enterprises seeking robust security.
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP offers flexible licensing with varied costs, seen as high but valuable for security management.
Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive.
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Pricing is managed by our finance team; however, Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches.
Vice President at Inspira Enterprise
In terms of ROI, we can see time savings for audit preparation of at least 30-40%.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
It is not cheap, of course, yet it is a necessity.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
From a licensing and cost perspective, it is really competitive.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
The solution is costly, with high-end capabilities suitable for enterprises.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Today, it is smart and easy to calculate the licenses.
Cloud Security Manager at T-Systems International GmbH
 

Valuable Features

Qualys TotalCloud offers comprehensive vulnerability detection, cloud security management, and automation with insightful dashboards for efficient threat management.
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP offers visibility, compliance, and threat intelligence, enhancing security management and governance across multi-cloud environments.
Cortex Cloud enhances security management with AI-driven threat detection, automation, and seamless CI/CD integration, reducing response times significantly.
This view of risk helps reduce the work we would have to do to combine multiple sources to prioritize risk.
Works at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It will help cybersecurity professionals monitor the cloud and find vulnerabilities.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
We are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
One of the main reasons we use the solution is that it is great at identifying risks that are critical to our business.
Information Security Officer at Cargus
The CDR helps detect anomalous behavior and respond to threats before they become an issue.
Cloud Engineer at Cloudar
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP offers a unified, modular platform that combines CSPM, CWPP, CIEM, code security, and cloud detection and response.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
AI/ML aids in anticipating remediation for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities, and automatic remediation can be easily configured.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks has reduced the time spent on incident investigations, and if I had to estimate, I would say it has cut our investigation time in half.
Sr. Compliance Analyst at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
This simplifies the management of shared responsibility among different people and entities, allowing you to use one single tool instead of having dozens of different tools to orchestrate and integrate.
Business Development Manager For Palo Alto Networks at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
8th
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
8th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st)
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
14th
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
7th
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
7th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Cloud and Data Center Security (8th), Container Security (13th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (8th), Compliance Management (6th)
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto N...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
29th
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
13th
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
16th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (11th), Software Supply Chain Security (6th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (7th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (7th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

RO
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.
reviewer2751468 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Boosts security and compliance in multi-cloud environments while real-time threat detection enhances risk management
Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP flagged a misconfiguration in our AWS S3 bucket that had overly permissive access settings. That configuration could have exposed our sensitive data to the public internet. The platform not only identified the issue but also provided remediation that our team was able to apply immediately. This prevented a potential data exposure. Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP offers a unified, modular platform that combines CSPM, CWPP, CIEM, code security, and cloud detection and response. The agentless workload posture, real-time threat detection and response, multi-cloud coverage and visibility, compliance automation, and one-click remediations stand out as its best features. I find myself relying on the risk management engine and prioritization the most day-to-day. In any cloud environment, you are flooded with findings, misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and compliance gaps. Without prioritization, it is overwhelming for our team to take care of the posture. CloudGuard's risk scoring helps us cut through incidents. This makes remediation faster and focused instead of wasting time checking every alert. We get to fix the issues that pose real business risks. Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP has positively impacted our organization at a significant level. We get greater visibility and control across all our cloud environments. Some biggest benefits we have seen are faster detection and remediation of misconfigurations, improved compliance posture, reduced risk exposure, operational efficiency, and cost savings. Overall, it has made our cloud environment more secure, compliant, and easier to manage while freeing up our teams to focus on projects instead of chasing alerts.
SJ
Technical Solutions Architect at IBM
Cloud security has improved as AI-driven runtime protection detects threats and reduces incidents
In my opinion, Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks could be improved or enhanced in various ways. I don't have an idea about that yet because for that you actually need to use two or three different other tools to make a basic comparison. If you ask me how good the tool is, I would fairly rate it quite high. The tool is very popular, and customers can already see that it is one of the cloud leaders in the security space. The platform had a very good feature which provides documentation links about how to use a specific feature on the UI. It takes you to the proper documentation page where it suggests what to do and tells you about the steps that need to be done for a resource deployment. My thoughts about improving the product which I believe could greatly aid vendors is that it used to be a very user-friendly tool, but now they have incorporated everything under one umbrella. It has XDR, XSOAR, and Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. Before, we used to have separate modules and separate environments for each of these capabilities or features. Right now, it is a little complex and users would take their own time to know the tool better. This is something that would have been way better, but I would say there would be different opinions on this. Talking about user-friendliness, it has decreased now.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) solutions are best for your needs.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Construction Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business58
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise58
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CloudGuard Workload Protection?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been reasonable for the value it delivers. The initial setu...
What needs improvement with CloudGuard for Cloud Intelligence?
One area that Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP could use improvement is the navigation when switching between modules. A ...
What is your primary use case for CloudGuard for Cloud Intelligence?
My main use case for Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP is strengthening cloud security posture, monitoring configurations,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
I am not fully aware of the pricing and licensing of Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. The pricing is also based on...
What needs improvement with Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
In my opinion, Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks could be improved or enhanced in various ways. I don't have an idea...
What is your primary use case for Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
The usual use cases for Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks that I have been working with mostly are as simple as dete...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management, Dome9, Check Point CloudGuard Workload Protection, Check Point CloudGuard Intelligence
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Symantec, Citrix, Car and Driver, Virgin, Cloud Technology Partners
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP vs. Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.