Head to head
Cortex Cloud vs Orca: which reaches your whole cloud estate faster?
Short answer
On our coverage weights Orca scores 9.09 against 7.75 for Cortex Cloud. Cortex Cloud scores higher on runtime layer when you need it and integrations and reach; Orca scores higher on clouds and environments named, agentless workload depth, path to first findings, risk context from day one and cost visibility before purchase. Cortex Cloud names 5 of 8 environments and Orca names 7.
Cortex Cloud is the product formerly sold as Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks announced the merger with Cortex CDR on 13 February 2025.
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 | Cortex Cloud | Orca | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clouds and environments named 20% | 9.2 | 10.0 | Orca |
| Agentless workload depth 25% | 7.6 | 9.8 | Orca |
| Path to first findings 15% | 6.0 | 9.0 | Orca |
| Risk context from day one 15% | 8.8 | 9.6 | Orca |
| Runtime layer when you need it 10% | 9.2 | 7.6 | Cortex Cloud |
| Integrations and reach 7% | 9.0 | 8.2 | Cortex Cloud |
| Cost visibility before purchase 8% | 3.0 | 6.5 | Orca |
| Total | 7.75 | 9.09 | Orca |
Cortex Cloud
Orca
Which environments does each name?
Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud (formerly Prisma Cloud)
The Cortex Cloud posture page offers "agentless, full-coverage visibility across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, and Alibaba Cloud".
Source: Cortex Cloud posture management · Read 11 Oct 2026
Orca Security
The platform page names AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud. The Orca Sensor page names public cloud, private cloud and on-premises.
Source: Orca Security platform overview · 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, Oracle Cloud and Alibaba Cloud. Only Cortex Cloud: none. Only Orca: Tencent Cloud and On-premises or private cloud.
How does each see workloads?
- Coverage model
- Posture, vulnerability and attack-surface modules work from cloud APIs; the pages reviewed lead with a runtime agent and do not name agentless workload scanning.
- Runtime layer
- Cortex Cloud Runtime Security, a performance-optimized agent, plus CDR from the Cortex CDR merger.
- Path to first findings
- API-based posture first; workload depth comes from the runtime agent.
Cortex Cloud
- Coverage model
- Agentless SideScanning reads each workload's runtime block storage and rebuilds its file system in a read-only view, covering Linux and Windows VMs, containers and images, and serverless.
- Runtime layer
- Orca Sensor, eBPF-based, for Linux, Kubernetes and Windows; can be configured to terminate processes and shows which vulnerable packages actually execute. Optional.
- Path to first findings
- Agentless connection to each cloud account; Orca states SideScanning "deploys in minutes". No agent rollout is needed for the first inventory.
Orca
What does each cost?
Cortex Cloud
Not published No public price; the Cortex Cloud page offers only Request a Demo. CNAPP is included at no additional cost for Cortex Cloud Runtime Security customers.
Source: Cortex Cloud posture management · Read 11 Oct 2026
Orca
AWS Marketplace lists four contract tiers by concurrent EC2 workloads: Small (up to 100) $7,000.00, Small-Medium (300) $12,000.00, Medium (500) $17,000.00, Large (1,000) $30,000.00. The listing has 1-month and 12-month tabs; we did not capture which term these figures belong to, so confirm the term on the listing. No price on Orca's own site.
Source: AWS Marketplace: Orca Security CNAPP Cloud Security Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026
What does each claim?
Cortex Cloud
No speed, count or customer figure from Cortex Cloud is quoted on this site.
Orca
Which should you choose?
Choose Cortex Cloud if
you value coverage of the most clouds and environments and a deep runtime sensor for detection and blocking.
Best fit: Palo Alto Networks estates and Prisma Cloud customers moving onto Cortex Cloud.
Choose Orca if
you value coverage of the most clouds and environments and deep agentless reads of every workload.
Best fit: Teams with workloads across several clouds, including Oracle, Alibaba or Tencent, who need a full agentless inventory before any agent rollout.
Frequently asked questions
Which scores higher for multi-cloud coverage, Cortex Cloud or Orca?
Orca scores 9.09 against 7.75 on our default weights. With equal weights the order is Orca first (8.67 against 7.54). The coverage calculator lets you set your own weights.
Which clouds do Cortex Cloud and Orca name?
Cortex Cloud: On the pages we reviewed: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud and Alibaba Cloud. The Cortex Cloud posture page offers "agentless, full-coverage visibility across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, OCI, and Alibaba Cloud". Orca: On the pages we reviewed: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud and On-premises or private cloud. The platform page names AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud. The Orca Sensor page names public cloud, private cloud and on-premises.
Which is cheaper?
Cortex Cloud: Not published. Orca: AWS Marketplace lists four contract tiers by concurrent EC2 workloads: Small (up to 100) $7,000.00, Small-Medium (300) $12,000.00, Medium (500) $17,000.00, Large (1,000) $30,000.00. The listing has 1-month and 12-month tabs; we did not capture which term these figures belong to, so confirm the term on the listing. No price on Orca's own site. Neither figure is a quote for your estate.