BlogBuyer's Guide

How to Find Trusted CSPM Solutions for AWS and Azure in 2026

Half the CSPM market claims "multi-cloud" and ships 90% of their checks for AWS. If you run both AWS and Azure, the evaluation is more precise. Here are the seven criteria that separate credible AWS + Azure CSPM solutions from the rest in 2026 — plus a vendor shortlist and the questions to ask on vendor calls.

11 min readUpdated October 2026

Seven Criteria for a Trusted CSPM

  1. Depth of per-cloud checks against the current CIS Benchmarks — not a two-year-old version. For AWS, expect 500+ checks across 70+ services. For Azure, 150+ checks across 15+ services.
  2. Agentless onboarding with least-privilege roles. IAM role for AWS; service principal for Azure. No agents in the cloud account for posture scanning.
  3. Compliance framework coverage: SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS 4.0, HIPAA, and FedRAMP for anything federal.
  4. Attack path context: can the tool chain findings across identity, network, and workloads — or does it just emit a flat list?
  5. Multi-account / multi-subscription support: AWS Organizations enumeration, Azure Management Groups walking. Auto-onboarding of new accounts matters once you're past 20.
  6. Pricing transparency: no $100K enterprise floor if you're a startup. Published pricing or honest usage-based model.
  7. Deployment flexibility: SaaS by default, self-hosted when regulated. Regulated industries always ask.

Vendor Shortlist for AWS + Azure

  • TigerGate — 576+ AWS checks, 162+ Azure checks, attack paths, self-hosted available, startup-friendly pricing.
  • Wiz — Agentless CNAPP leader, enterprise-only pricing. See Wiz alternatives.
  • Prisma Cloud — Broadest coverage, complex deployment. See Prisma Cloud alternatives.
  • Orca Security — Side-scanning approach. See Orca comparison.
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud — Strong Azure, decent AWS, no code security.
  • Lacework — ML-driven detection, broader CNAPP. See Lacework comparison.

Questions to Ask on Vendor Calls

  • How many checks for each cloud? Can you break down by service?
  • Which CIS Benchmark versions do you align to today?
  • Do you walk AWS Organizations and Azure Management Groups automatically?
  • Can you demonstrate an attack path that crosses AWS and Azure?
  • What's your startup pricing? Is there a free tier?
  • Do you offer a self-hosted deployment option? Air-gapped?
  • How quickly do you ship coverage for new cloud services?

Migration & Pitfalls

  • Rule mapping is lossy. Don't try to translate every exception from your old CSPM. Re-derive policies from intent.
  • Expect a finding-count shock. Run both tools in parallel on a representative subset for two weeks before enforcing gates.
  • Historical trend data doesn't transfer. Keep the old system readable for a quarter.
  • Auto-onboarding is non-negotiable at scale. If a vendor needs manual steps per account, you'll regret it at 100 accounts.

FAQ

Can one CSPM really serve AWS and Azure equally?

If the vendor invests in each cloud's native primitives, yes. Verify by asking for check counts and recent-service coverage.

Should I use the cloud-native tools (Security Hub, Defender)?

For AWS-only or Azure-only estates, maybe. For AWS + Azure, you'll end up correlating two dashboards — a third-party CSPM saves time.

How much should a CSPM cost?

For a 10-account AWS + Azure environment, expect $20K–$80K/year depending on vendor. Startup tiers start lower.

Try CSPM for AWS and Azure

TigerGate CSPM onboards both clouds in under 10 minutes. First scan completes inside the free trial.

Start Free Trial