Key Differences #

1. Open Source Plugin Based Architecture #

• CSPMs: Most CSPMs are proprietary, closed-source platforms. They come with pre-defined rules and integrations for popular cloud service providers but typically lack extensibility. Users are limited by the set of features and integrations provided by the vendor, with minimal ability to customize or extend functionality.
• CloudQuery: CloudQuery’s open-source plugin based architecture allows for maximum flexibility. Users can contribute to existing plugins or build new ones to integrate with proprietary APIs, SaaS applications, or any data source that isn’t natively supported. This provides a significant advantage in adapting to unique environments or integrating with lesser-known services.

2. Database Agnostic with Raw Data Access #

• CSPMs: These platforms often store data in proprietary, closed databases, with limited access to raw cloud configuration data. While users can query cloud data, they are typically restricted by vendor-specific query languages or tools. For instance, AWS Config uses its own subset of SQL, which limits interoperability with third-party BI or data analysis tools.
• CloudQuery: CloudQuery is database-agnostic, allowing you to store data in popular databases like PostgreSQL, BigQuery, Snowflake, and others. This makes it easier to leverage the SQL ecosystem and integrate with visualization or analytics tools such as Grafana and BI platforms. Users have full, raw access to all collected cloud asset data, providing greater control for custom analysis or compliance checks.

3. Policy Language #

• CSPMs: CSPM platforms generally use their own custom query languages to define security and compliance policies. These languages are often closed-source and unique to the vendor, which means users must learn and work within that specific ecosystem.
• CloudQuery: CloudQuery leverages standard SQL as the query engine for defining policies and rules. This makes it accessible to any engineer familiar with SQL and provides an open, standardized way to define security policies, perform audits, and query cloud data. SQL’s universality and flexibility mean users can write policies, perform analytics, and build dashboards all in a familiar language.

4. Pricing #

• CSPMs: These platforms often come with long-term contracts and variable pricing models. The cost typically increases based on the size of the organization, the number of cloud accounts, and the amount of data processed. This can make them expensive, especially for large enterprises or organizations with multi-cloud environments.
• CloudQuery: CloudQuery is built on open-source foundations and offers a range of plugins which are billed based on the number of rows synced. Other costs relate to the infrastructure where CloudQuery is hosted, such as the PostgreSQL (or other database) hosting (e.g., RDS, BigQuery) and compute resources for running the CloudQuery binary. This provides a more predictable and flexible pricing model, which can be significantly more cost-effective for organizations of any size.

5. Customization and Flexibility #

• CSPMs: While CSPMs provide robust, out-of-the-box security features, customization can be limited. Users often need to wait for vendor updates or new features, limiting agility when dealing with fast-evolving cloud environments or niche use cases.
• CloudQuery: CloudQuery’s open-source nature ensures a high degree of customization and flexibility. Users can modify policies, build custom plugins, or even adapt the underlying code to better fit their environment’s needs. This is especially advantageous for teams looking to scale or adopt a multi-cloud strategy where custom integrations or optimizations are critical.

6. Use Cases Beyond Security #

• CSPMs: The primary focus of CSPMs is security and compliance. These platforms are excellent at identifying misconfigurations and ensuring that cloud environments meet regulatory requirements, but their use cases are generally restricted to security-related monitoring and enforcement.
• CloudQuery: While CloudQuery excels at cloud security and compliance, it is not limited to these use cases. It can be used for cloud asset inventory, cost management, performance optimization, and other data-driven tasks. By collecting and storing comprehensive cloud infrastructure data in a database, users can run any kind of SQL query, enabling broader cloud management beyond just security concerns.

Conclusion #