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Flow Security [EOL] vs Imperva Data Security Fabric comparison

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (11th), Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Flow Security [EOL]
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Imperva Data Security Fabric
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Database Security (2nd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (13th), Data Security Platforms (DSP) (4th)
 

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.
reviewer2231631 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
reviewer1876449 - PeerSpot reviewer
BDM at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Has provided wide data coverage and supports flexible implementation for growing database environments
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security offers the most comprehensive coverage range of database types, which is a significant advantage. It has very flexible implementation modes and an understandable console. Even someone who is not a database administrator could work with it, understand the security events, and comprehend the data activity monitoring events.Data is the most important asset in any organization and the primary target of hackers. Imperva SecureSphere Database Security provides one of the best solutions to analyze data, maintain GDPR compliance, and help investigate any incidents. It is user-friendly and can start with a small scope. Unlike competitors such as IBM Guardium and Oracle, customers can start with a small scope and scale every year. This advantage allows them to invest less money initially while learning the solution. Year after year, they can add value scope and cover more databases in their organization with high quality. We have been working with Imperva SecureSphere Database Security for about 10 years. I started working with this project about five years ago.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With TotalCloud, we can scan through the API. If we are not able to deploy cloud agents on the machine, we can use the API."
"CSPM is currently the most used feature, and we are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs."
"TotalCloud's best feature is the integration of cloud accounts. It helps with the risk and security posture management of our cloud infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"Qualys TotalCloud has improved our security posture."
"Qualys TotalCloud provides a single, prioritized view of risk, reducing the workload associated with consolidating multiple sources for risk prioritization."
"The scalability is good as well. I would rate it ten out of ten."
"If someone were to ask me to review Qualys TotalCloud, I would summarize it as an end-to-end solution for cloud security with visibility and governance-grade controls without needing to manage multiple disconnected tools."
"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."
"I like almost everything about the solution, including sensitive data scanning, which is the most important, the data discovery is great as well, and I like the activity monitoring, which was the main reason we purchased the tool."
"The level of detail provided is excellent, allowing the resources that manage the actual devices to determine whether or not the activity is a legitimate concern and to rectify the activity in a timely manner."
"We are very satisfied with this product; it's simple to use, customize and administer, and installation is simple and easy, even on mainframe."
"We use it for database security, vulnerability analysis, discovery, and handling requests from applications and users."
"The technical support for Imperva is super, super, super."
"The time to detect vulnerabilities has gotten a lot quicker."
"If it's used for security, this, or systems like this, are the last line of defence, and you will prevent incursions, or at least know what happened, and what was stolen."
"The most valuable features of Imperva SecureSphere Database Security are vulnerability assessment, enrichment security policy, and security."
 

Cons

"Qualys TotalCloud has the potential to improve by integrating a hybrid platform for comprehensive management of both on-premises and cloud infrastructures."
"I would appreciate additional integration options to connect Qualys TotalCloud with our other vulnerability management tools."
"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."
"Regarding improvements to Qualys TotalCloud, I suggest that user navigation can be enhanced because initially, many users found it complicated and had trouble understanding the platform due to information being spread across multiple tabs."
"I think Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its handling of zero-day vulnerabilities and supply chain management because modern ransomware attacks not only target prime critical infrastructures but also the supply chain system."
"Qualys TotalCloud needs to enhance its scanning capabilities in the IP domain, as it currently lacks the functionality to resolve IPs to their corresponding domain names."
"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."
"Two areas for improvement in Qualys TotalCloud are the speed of the public cloud platform and vulnerability detection."
"It provides a good overview of our infrastructure, but I need more end-to-end visibility, and SaaS is one of the gaps."
"There were many stability issues with the upgrade procedure. The technical support team didn't know how to handle them."
"It would be better to update the solution by using a GUI that guides me, rather than through a CLI."
"I would like to see integration such that there is support for different kinds of environments, such as on-premises versus cloud."
"The deployment is not easy."
"A disadvantage of Imperva SecureSphere Database Security, particularly relevant for ex-Soviet Union countries where there is Russian influence, is that we don't cover Russian types of databases."
"Technical support for this solution is insufficient. If you have a professional then you can handle it, but if you are a regular customer then it is difficult."
"There are delays in responses from technical support, but you do get a response per SLA."
"The solution needs local support."
 

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."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Its price seems higher compared to other tools, but it is worth it. If they could adjust the pricing and make it comparable with other tools, that would be great."
"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."
Information not available
"The pricing over-all depends on the entry level. For example, if support and maintenance are about $20,000 - $25,000, the initial cost can be five times more. It is less expensive for the company to maintain the client than to make the deployment."
"I know it's not cheap."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis, and it is a good value for the money."
"It is quite expensive. We wanted it in my former organization, but the price was very high. So, we couldn't purchase it. I moved to a different organization, and this organization has purchased it."
"Imperva is too expensive for small and medium-sized enterprises. They're missing out on technology that helps them manage their data security better. Data security is essential because even the strongest network may be attacked from the inside without it."
"The setup and license are quite expensive."
"The pricing is reasonably good in South Africa."
"Pricing is low and scalable to add features and volume."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise34
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvement, remediation still belongs to the cloud team, which is one of the issues we faced with Qualys...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is regarding the cloud visibility that we were not having previously. Previous...
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Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
Imperva SecureSphere Database Security, jSonar, Imperva's Data Security Posture Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
BlueCross BlueShield, eHarmony, EMF Broadcasting, GE Healthcare, Metro Bank, The Motley Fool, Siemens
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, Imperva, Oracle and others in Database Security. Updated: September 2026.
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