StackRadar vs Aqua Security Platform
Aqua Security is the enterprise container-security platform from the maintainers of Trivy, covering image scanning, Kubernetes security posture, runtime protection and supply-chain controls, sold to enterprises through sales.
Facts last checked . Prices and features change — verify with the vendor before deciding.
What Aqua Security Platform does well
- Built by the maintainers of Trivy, the most widely used open-source scanner.
- A full platform: image assurance policies, admission control, runtime protection, KSPM and a KBOM concept for the cluster itself.
- Long enterprise track record and a large customer base.
- Trivy and Trivy Operator remain free if you want only the scanner.
How Aqua Security Platform and StackRadar differ
The differences are about how the two are built and sold, not a feature checklist. Each point below is a structural fact you can verify on the vendor's own documentation.
- Quote-only enterprise pricing; entry points reported in the low tens of thousands of dollars per year.
- A platform sale with agents and enforcers in the cluster, where StackRadar is a single read-only scanner deployment.
- The free path (Trivy Operator) has none of the platform’s history, fleet view or exploitability ranking — those are the paid product’s job.
- StackRadar publishes its scanner source and its scoring formula and charges per cluster.
Side by side
| Axis | StackRadar | Aqua Security Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | One Helm chart in the cluster, source published; managed dashboard | Agents and enforcers in the cluster; vendor SaaS or self-hosted |
| Kubernetes runtime inventory | Yes — every running image, with its workload, Helm release and ArgoCD application | Yes |
| SBOM | CycloneDX 1.6 per running image (Syft), stored and re-checked as new advisories land | Yes, plus KBOM |
| Prioritisation | Radar Score — CVSS, EPSS and CISA KEV combined in a published formula | Vendor scoring with exploit intelligence |
| History and trends | 30 days (Free), 1 year (Pro), 2 years (Business) | Yes |
| Multi-cluster view | One dashboard across every cluster in the organisation | Yes |
| Scanner source | Published on GitHub; releases signed and version-pinned | Trivy is open source; platform is closed |
| Pricing | Published: Free $0 · Pro $59/mo · Business $199/mo | Quote-only |
| Data residency | EU only; only the SBOM leaves the cluster | SaaS regions or self-hosted |
Pricing
Aqua Security Platform: Aqua does not publish platform pricing; entry contracts are reported in the low tens of thousands of dollars per year, rising with scope. Trivy and Trivy Operator are free. StackRadar sits between the two: a hosted product with published per-cluster pricing from $0.
StackRadar: Free for one cluster with 30 days of history; Pro at $59 per month for up to five clusters and one year of history; Business at $199 per month for up to fifteen clusters and two years. Every plan scans every image you run. Full details on the pricing page.
Which should you choose?
Choose Aqua Security Platform if
- You need runtime protection, admission control and enforcement, not just visibility.
- You are buying a platform for a security organisation with a procurement process.
- You already standardised on Trivy and want the vendor’s commercial layer on top.
Choose StackRadar if
- You want the hosted layer Trivy Operator is missing — history, fleet view, exploitability ranking — at a published price.
- You want a read-only scanner whose source you can audit rather than an enforcement agent.
- You want EU-only data residency.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Aqua Security cost?
Aqua does not publish prices. Reported entry points are in the low tens of thousands of dollars per year for the cloud-security tier and higher for the full platform. Trivy and Trivy Operator are free.
Is StackRadar built on Trivy?
No. StackRadar generates SBOMs with Syft (from Anchore) and matches them against OSV.dev, and its scanner source is published so you can check exactly what runs in your cluster.