Head to head
Aqua vs Upwind: which reaches your whole cloud estate faster?
Short answer
On our coverage weights Upwind scores 7.63 against 7.45 for Aqua. Aqua scores higher on clouds and environments named and integrations and reach; Upwind scores higher on agentless workload depth, path to first findings, risk context from day one, runtime layer when you need it and cost visibility before purchase. Aqua names 7 of 8 environments and Upwind names 4.
Desk research from public vendor pages read in September 2026, updated 2026-10-11. Editorial assessment; we did not run the products.
How do the scores compare?
| Criterion | Aqua | Upwind | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clouds and environments named 20% | 10.0 | 7.0 | Aqua |
| Agentless workload depth 25% | 6.8 | 8.0 | Upwind |
| Path to first findings 15% | 5.5 | 7.0 | Upwind |
| Risk context from day one 15% | 7.8 | 9.0 | Upwind |
| Runtime layer when you need it 10% | 9.0 | 9.4 | Upwind |
| Integrations and reach 7% | 7.6 | 7.0 | Aqua |
| Cost visibility before purchase 8% | 4.0 | 5.0 | Upwind |
| Total | 7.45 | 7.63 | Upwind |
Aqua
Upwind
Which environments does each name?
Aqua Security
Aqua's pricing page lists "Support of AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle and Alibaba Cloud environments"; its platform page names public, private and disconnected environments and states FedRAMP High authorization.
Source: Aqua pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Upwind
Upwind's homepage names AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and OCI as partnerships.
Source: Upwind homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
- Named on the vendor's pages we reviewed
- Not named on the pages we reviewed (this does not mean unsupported)
Named by both: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. Only Aqua: Alibaba Cloud, On-premises or private cloud and Disconnected (air-gapped). Only Upwind: none.
How does each see workloads?
- Coverage model
- Agentless posture visibility; the platform's depth comes from kernel-layer runtime enforcement.
- Runtime layer
- Kernel-layer enforcement that blocks attacks without killing the container and preserves memory evidence.
- Path to first findings
- Agentless posture first; workload depth needs the enforcement layer.
Aqua
- Coverage model
- Agentless scanning combined with eBPF runtime sensors; the design centers on the sensor.
- Runtime layer
- eBPF sensor with baselines of cloud activity and network flows, and forensic event timelines (CDR).
- Path to first findings
- Agentless scanning gives a first view; Upwind's runtime context, which it leads with, needs its sensor.
Upwind
What does each cost?
Aqua
Not published No list prices. Aqua says Dev Security pricing "is based on the number of code repositories" and Cloud Security is priced by workloads (EC2 instances, Fargate containers, Lambda functions); trial and demo on request.
Source: Aqua pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Upwind
AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: Upwind Cloud Security Platform $30,000.00; Upwind Managed Detection and Response 24/7 Service $6,000.00. The quantity each price covers was not captured in our read. 24-month and 36-month contracts are listed with savings. No price on Upwind's own site.
Source: AWS Marketplace: Upwind Cloud Security Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026
What does each claim?
Aqua
Upwind
Which should you choose?
Choose Aqua if
you value coverage of the most clouds and environments and a deep runtime sensor for detection and blocking.
Best fit: Teams with private or disconnected environments and container pipelines.
Choose Upwind if
you value a deep runtime sensor for detection and blocking and a ranked fix list from attack paths.
Best fit: Teams that want runtime context early and are ready to deploy a sensor soon after the first scan.
Frequently asked questions
Which scores higher for multi-cloud coverage, Aqua or Upwind?
Upwind scores 7.63 against 7.45 on our default weights. With equal weights the order is Upwind first (7.49 against 7.24). The coverage calculator lets you set your own weights.
Which clouds do Aqua and Upwind name?
Aqua: On the pages we reviewed: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, On-premises or private cloud and Disconnected (air-gapped). Aqua's pricing page lists "Support of AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle and Alibaba Cloud environments"; its platform page names public, private and disconnected environments and states FedRAMP High authorization. Upwind: On the pages we reviewed: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. Upwind's homepage names AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and OCI as partnerships.
Which is cheaper?
Aqua: Not published. Upwind: AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: Upwind Cloud Security Platform $30,000.00; Upwind Managed Detection and Response 24/7 Service $6,000.00. The quantity each price covers was not captured in our read. 24-month and 36-month contracts are listed with savings. No price on Upwind's own site. Neither figure is a quote for your estate.