CloudQuery vs CloudSploit

Cloud security posture management (CSPM) tools help teams monitor their cloud environments for misconfigurations, policy violations, and compliance risks. CloudSploit, now part of Aqua Security, is one of the earliest open-source CSPM tools, built to scan your AWS environment for problems and surface risks.

CloudQuery is a cloud governance platform. Rather than just scanning your cloud config data, CloudQuery gives platform teams complete visibility, persistent cloud asset inventories, and the ability to write and enforce policy-as-code across 70+ clouds and SaaS products.

So, what's the difference between a CSPM scanner like CloudSploit and a cloud governance platform like CloudQuery? Let's break it down.

CloudSploit and CloudQuery Features at a glance

Philosophy & architecture

CloudSploit is built for security teams who want immediate answers to a narrow question:

"Is anything misconfigured in our AWS account right now?"

It runs real-time checks against cloud APIs and compares them to a fixed set of rules. The output is fast, direct, and actionable, but it's ephemeral and not suitable for more complex governance workflows.

This approach works well for point-in-time assessments, but creates significant challenges when:

• You need to track changes over time
• You're managing resources across multiple cloud providers
• Different teams need access to the same data
• You want to correlate security findings with cost or operational data

CloudQuery takes a different approach. It syncs configuration data from multiple clouds into a normalized data model, stored in your database or warehouse. From there, you can write policies in SQL, run scheduled audits, build dashboards, etc.

It's not just about identifying drift—it's about creating a long-term governance layer over your cloud infrastructure.

Many organizations find that CloudQuery works best not as a replacement for their existing CSPM tools, but as a complement to their CSPM. While dedicated CSPMs excel at real-time security monitoring and alerting, they often exist in isolation from other operational data. CloudQuery works best by integrating security findings from your CSPM into our comprehensive cloud asset inventory, creating a single source of truth where security context meets operational reality.

By pulling CSPM data alongside configuration, cost, and resource metadata, CloudQuery allows security teams to prioritize findings based on business impact, helps operations teams understand security implications of infrastructure changes, and gives executives consolidated visibility across environments. This integration approach means you maintain your specialized security tools while breaking down data silos that prevent holistic cloud governance. Instead of choosing between tools, CloudQuery customers typically enhance their existing security investments by connecting them with broader cloud operations.

Use cases

CloudQuery is ideal if you need to

• Build a centralized, persistent cloud asset inventory across accounts and providers (including SaaS)
• Define custom governance policies and track violations over time
• Export and join config data with internal systems or cost data
• Go beyond security into compliance, cost optimization, and audit automation

CloudSploit is ideal if you

• Just need to scan AWS for misconfigurations
• Prefer predefined rules over writing custom ones
• Don't need historical context or data warehousing
• Want a quick, no-fuss CLI or dashboard output

Strengths & limitations

CloudQuery strengths

• Zero-ETL data pipelines
  Look, we've been there with the API rate limits and broken scripts. Our fully managed pipeline handles all that messy work for you—syncing from 70+ integrations while you focus on what matters.
• Single source of truth
  Ever tried tracking assets across AWS, GCP, and Azure at once? It's a nightmare without centralization. We normalize everything into one queryable layer, so you're not constantly switching between consoles.
• SQL-powered flexibility
  We don't lock you into rigid dashboards or limited queries. Need to track untagged resources? Find public buckets? Build custom compliance checks? Just write the SQL you already know.
• Built for real teams
  Security needs to talk to DevOps needs to talk to Finance. Our platform is designed for cross-team visibility with customizable views based on your actual organizational structure.
• Comprehensive security & compliance
  From CIS benchmarks to custom policies, we help you automate governance workflows that would otherwise take endless manual checks across multiple teams.
• Cost insights without another tool
  Why add another FinOps platform when you can query cost data alongside security and compliance? Identify savings opportunities using the same flexible SQL interface.

CloudSploit strengths

• Quick AWS security scans
  When you just need a fast check of your AWS environment without much setup.
• Predefined rule set
  If you prefer ready-made checks over writing your own queries, their approach might feel more accessible.
• Lightweight architecture
  No persistent storage means less to manage if you're just doing occasional scans.
• AWS specialization
  Their deep focus on AWS means good coverage for that specific cloud—though it's limited elsewhere.
• Part of Aqua Security
  Integration with their broader security portfolio if you're already in their ecosystem.
• Simple getting started experience
  Minimal configuration needed for basic security posture checks.

Verdict

If you're a security team looking for a fast and lightweight AWS misconfiguration scanner, CloudSploit still delivers, especially for smaller teams or development environments.

If you're building a governance layer over your cloud infrastructure, need multi-cloud visibility, or want to go beyond misconfigurations into real compliance, policy enforcement, and asset intelligence, CloudQuery is the better long-term foundation.

Ready to move beyond basic scanning?

CloudQuery helps you build a comprehensive governance layer that evolves with your cloud environment. Unlike point-in-time scanning tools, we provide the persistent visibility and team collaboration capabilities needed for modern multi-cloud environments.

Already using CloudSploit, but hitting its limitations? You're not alone. Many of our customers made the same journey, starting with basic scanning tools before realizing they needed a complete solution.

The best way to understand how CloudQuery transforms cloud visibility is to see it in action with your own cloud environment. Our team will walk you through a personalized demo tailored to your specific use cases, compliance requirements, and multi-cloud setup.

Let's discuss how CloudQuery can fit into your stack and solve your cloud governance challenges. We'll show you exactly how our platform can help you achieve what CloudSploit can't: comprehensive, continuous, and collaborative cloud governance.

Schedule your personalized demo today