cfn-nag vs TaskCat
cfn-nag
github.com
TaskCat
aws-ia.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | cfn-nag | TaskCat |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Infrastructure Testing Tools | 8.0 (#9) | 6.6 (#26) |
| Integrations | The project documents running cfn-nag in GitHub Actions workflows and deploying it in AWS CodePipeline through the AWS Serverless Application Repository. | The documentation describes CI/CD integration with GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and AWS CodePipeline. |
| License | The project uses the MIT License, which grants permission to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and sell the software subject to its terms. | The GitHub repository lists an Apache-2.0 license. |
| Purpose | cfn-nag scans CloudFormation templates for patterns that may indicate insecure infrastructure. | TaskCat tests AWS CloudFormation templates by deploying them across multiple AWS Regions and reporting pass or fail for each Region. |
| Support | The project directs users to submit bug reports and feature requests through its GitHub issue tracker. | The documentation directs users to its guides, GitHub issues, and community discussions for help. |
Plans
In their own words
cfn-nag
cfn-nag is free, MIT-licensed software that scans AWS CloudFormation templates for patterns that may indicate insecure infrastructure. It checks for overly permissive IAM policies and security-group rules, disabled access logging or encryption, and password literals. The scanner accepts JSON, .template, YAML, and YML files, and recursively processes subdirectories when given a directory. Results print to standard output, with JSON output available; failures return a non-zero exit code while warnings return success. Installation is documented through RubyGems and Homebrew, with Ruby 2.5 or later required for gem installation. A Dockerfile and Docker Hub image are provided. cfn-nag can run in GitHub Actions and AWS CodePipeline. Profiles, deny lists, per-resource suppressions, and custom rules support policy tailoring. Static analysis needs supplied parameter values to assess them and does not inspect false Fn::If outcomes by default.