Similarities #

• Both CloudQuery and CloudSploit are open-source projects.
• Both CloudQuery and CloudSploit can be used to detect security risks in cloud infrastructure accounts and support the big cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI, GitHub).
• Both CloudQuery and CloudSploit can be used to return a series of potential misconfigurations and security risks. In CloudQuery, this is done via Policies: plain SQL that should be executed after a sync completes. See AWS Policies, GCP Policies and Azure Policies, for example.

Key Differences #

• CloudQuery currently supports a self-hosted version and SaaS. CloudSploit is also available in self-hosted and SaaS versions,
• CloudQuery supports more cloud providers. Apart from AWS, Azure and GCP, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and GitHub, CloudQuery also supports Azure DevOps, Alibaba Cloud, Datadog, Gandi, Heroku, Kubernetes, Tailscale, Vercel, and many more.
• CloudQuery table and column names are generally more consistent and predictable, as they are taken directly from the cloud provider's API and/or SDK.
• Like CloudSploit, CloudQuery can store output as JSON, but it primarily supports collection into databases, data warehouses or data lakes like PostgreSQL, BigQuery, Snowflake and more. Postgres is recommended for use with built-in Policies. CloudQuery does not currently enable the storage of raw responses from the cloud provider's API: only normalized results can be stored.
• CloudQuery does not support self-healing out of the box, but self-healing-like functionality can be built on top of the policies provided by CloudQuery. Once a fix has been applied, CloudQuery can be synced again to validate the fix.

Use Case Focus #

• CloudSploit is primarily focused on security and compliance. It detects misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure and provides detailed security reports. It is tailored for security teams looking for quick visibility into security risks and misconfigurations across their cloud environments.
• CloudQuery, on the other hand, offers much broader use cases beyond just security and compliance. It can be leveraged for cloud asset inventory, cost management, and various types of audits. By syncing cloud infrastructure data to databases, it enables users to run custom SQL queries, which makes it more flexible for DevOps and cloud architects looking to build bespoke solutions around cloud infrastructure data.

Extensibility and Flexibility #

• CloudSploit operates with predefined security rules and checks. These checks are great for out-of-the-box security scanning but might require customization or additional setup if you have specific use cases outside of what is supported.
• CloudQuery offers greater extensibility and flexibility. Its plugin-based architecture allows users to not only collect a wide variety of cloud asset data but also transform and query it using SQL. Users can create their own policies using SQL or integrate with third-party tools to extend functionality. This makes it highly customizable for users with diverse requirements beyond security, such as cost optimization or infrastructure analytics.

Performance and Scalability #

• CloudSploit is typically designed for smaller to mid-sized deployments where real-time security scanning is required, and the infrastructure footprint is manageable.
• CloudQuery can scale across much larger infrastructures since it offloads the data processing to a database. This makes it more suitable for enterprise-scale environments where large datasets are involved and there’s a need for querying detailed cloud infrastructure information across multiple providers.

Deployment and Integration #

• CloudSploit offers a simple deployment option and can be integrated into continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to check cloud configurations as part of an automated workflow.
• CloudQuery can be integrated into a broader data pipeline, syncing cloud infrastructure data into data lakes or warehouses. This enables deeper integration with business intelligence tools, enabling users to leverage cloud data in ways that go beyond security, such as cost management, infrastructure optimization, and forecasting.

Community and Ecosystem #

• CloudSploit has a strong focus on its predefined security checks and maintains a vibrant community around these use cases. However, its primary user base revolves around security and compliance teams.
• CloudQuery benefits from a broader ecosystem due to its versatility and flexibility. It has a growing community of developers and cloud architects who build custom plugins and share SQL-based queries, covering diverse use cases ranging from security to cloud resource management.

Summary #