Prowler Cloud

Prowler Cloud is a managed platform for assessing cloud security, tracking compliance, and guiding teams through fixes. It suits organizations that want ongoing visibility across cloud and adjacent systems without granting the scanner write access. Its strongest case is broad, read-only assessment; teams should look elsewhere if they require automatic remediation or a price that stays flat as monitored accounts grow.

Overview

Prowler says it runs more than 2,500 checks and maps findings to over 70 compliance frameworks, including ISO 27001. Its coverage spans cloud infrastructure, SaaS, Kubernetes, containers, and infrastructure-as-code providers. Scheduled scans across providers and continuous compliance make it a fit for teams that need an ongoing picture rather than a one-off review.

Cloud accounts connect through a read-only role, and Prowler says it does not write back to connected environments. That limits the risk of a scanner changing production systems, but fixes remain the team's responsibility: Prowler ranks findings by severity and supplies step-by-step guidance rather than applying changes automatically.

Key features

Assessment breadth: Cloud asset inventory, IaC scanning, identity risk analysis, and attack path analysis give teams several views of exposure alongside configuration checks. This range is useful when security work spans multiple environments, though it still leaves prioritization and remediation work to people.

Guided response: Lighthouse AI explains fixes, and an MCP Server supports AI agents. These tools can help teams interpret findings, but they do not change the absence of automated remediation.

Workflow connections: Jira, Slack, and email alerts can route findings into team workflows; Power BI, API access, and AWS Security Hub integration support reporting and security operations.

Security and deployment choices: Prowler states that it has SOC 2 Type 2, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2 or higher in transit, and SAST, DAST, and SCA on every build. Private Cloud can run in a customer's cloud, data center, or air-gapped environment with customer-selected data residency, a useful option for organizations with deployment constraints.

Pricing

The 15-day free trial costs nothing and includes every check and compliance framework, with no cloud account limit. It is a substantial evaluation window for teams that want to assess broad coverage before committing, but it is time-limited rather than a continuing free managed service.

Prowler Open Source costs nothing and includes the Apache-2.0 CLI, SDK, and self-hosted Local Server. The CLI and Local Server can run locally, in CI/CD, or inside Kubernetes; Local Server adds a web UI and REST API. Community support replaces the enterprise support included with Prowler Cloud, so this route best suits teams able to operate the tooling themselves.

Prowler Cloud is $99 a month, billed monthly, per provider account, GitHub repository, or Microsoft 365 tenant; annual billing saves 20%. The plan includes enterprise support and managed scanning, but the per-resource-unit pricing means the bill rises with the number of monitored accounts, repositories, or tenants. The separate starting-price figure is From $79/mo (annual), so compare the annual commitment against monthly billing when estimating cost.

Prowler Private Cloud has custom pricing and unlimited resources, with deployment in a customer cloud, data center, or air-gapped environment. It is the relevant option for organizations that need deployment control or broad scale, though custom pricing makes it less straightforward to budget than the standard plan.

Platforms

Prowler Cloud supports API, Linux, self-hosted, and web use. That mix accommodates managed access as well as teams that prefer command-line or customer-controlled deployments.

Who it's for

Prowler identifies small startups, growing mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises as its intended users. Startups and smaller teams can begin with the open-source tools or use the trial to assess coverage; organizations that need managed scans and enterprise support can choose Cloud. Larger or more regulated environments may favor Private Cloud when air-gapped deployment or customer-selected data residency is important.

Pros and cons

Pro: Coverage across cloud, SaaS, Kubernetes, containers, and IaC, with more than 2,500 checks and over 70 framework mappings, supports broad posture reviews.

Pro: Read-only account access and no write-back reduce the chance that scanning changes connected environments.

Pro: Free CLI and Local Server options let teams run tooling locally, in CI/CD, or Kubernetes without a managed-plan charge.

Con: Remediation guidance is not automated, so teams must plan and implement fixes themselves.

Con: Cloud pricing is per provider account, repository, or tenant, which can make costs grow as coverage expands.

Alternatives

Kubescape is a free Apache 2.0 option with a CLI and self-hosted Kubernetes operator; choose it when Kubernetes-focused, self-managed tooling is the priority. C3M Cloud Control offers a free assessment for up to 2 cloud accounts, making it worth considering for a small-scope initial review. Onam Security API Security has a forever-free tier limited to 1 cloud account, 500 resources, and 30-day finding history, so it suits teams whose needs fit those caps.

Armor has a free plan and an endpoint-priced premium tier; consider it when endpoint protection capabilities such as malware protection, file integrity monitoring, and intrusion prevention are the focus. Qualys TotalCloud offers a free license with limited API calls for control evaluation, a possible fit for a constrained evaluation. CrowdStrike Falcon Surface is another paid security option with a free trial.

Microsoft Defender for Individuals is a paid, multi-platform option with Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans; choose it when individual or household device protection is the need. Skyhigh Private Access is a paid option for readers comparing private-access software.

Browse Cloud Security Platforms, Cloud Vulnerability Scanners, Security Configuration Management Software, and Cloud Security Posture Management Software for category-level comparisons.

Verdict

Choose Prowler Cloud if your team needs recurring, multi-environment security checks, compliance visibility, and guided fixes while keeping cloud access read-only. Its broad coverage and self-hosted alternatives make it adaptable, but the per-account pricing and manual remediation are reasons to look elsewhere if cost predictability or automatic fixes matter more.