Overview

Aikido CSPM is a cloud security posture management tool for teams that want configuration, identity, and compliance risks surfaced alongside broader application and infrastructure security checks. It is a stronger fit for teams consolidating those workflows than for organizations seeking a tool that makes infrastructure changes on their behalf.

Cloud accounts connect through read-only APIs, with no agents required. Aikido supports AWS, Azure, GCP, and selected other providers such as DigitalOcean. Its hybrid deployment model pairs broad visibility with a deliberate boundary: it can guide a fix or generate a pull request for some issues, but it does not automatically change infrastructure.

Key features

Posture checks and inventory: A cloud asset inventory and checks for risks such as public storage buckets, unencrypted databases, open SSH ports, and overly permissive IAM policies give teams concrete configuration issues to investigate across cloud environments.
Context-aware prioritization: Scoring that elevates higher-impact production issues over lower-impact staging findings helps teams direct remediation effort toward the risks that matter more.
Cloud Search and alerts: Plain-language queries across cloud resources can be turned into real-time alerts for matching assets, making the search capability useful for ongoing monitoring as well as investigation.
Guided remediation: Guided fixes and auto-generated pull requests for some cloud issues can shorten the path from finding to proposed change. Teams retain control of infrastructure changes; this is not automated remediation.
Adjacent security coverage: The offering also includes container image scanning, AWS EC2 vulnerability scanning, Infrastructure as Code checks, outdated runtime detection, SBOM management, identity risk analysis, and attack path analysis. That breadth can suit teams looking to join posture work to neighboring security checks, though the listed capabilities alone do not establish how deeply each is covered.
Compliance: Checks map to SOC 2 and ISO 27001, with reporting that can sync with Vanta and Drata. The broader framework set includes OWASP Top 10, CIS, NIS2, and PCI.

Pricing

The Developer plan costs 0.00 USD per free, billed free forever. It includes 2 users, 10 repos, 2 container images, 1 domain, 1 cloud account, 10 AI AutoFixes/mo, and 250k protected requests/mo, with CSPM among its cloud features. Its one-account ceiling makes it a sensible starting point for an individual developer or a small evaluation, but not a multi-account estate.

Basic costs 300.00 USD per month, billed as a total fee including 10 users. It raises the limits to 100 repos, 50 container images, 3 domains, 3 cloud accounts, unlimited AI AutoFixes/mo, and 10M protected requests/mo. This is the first paid step for a small team that needs more cloud accounts and capacity than Developer allows.

Pro costs 600.00 USD per month, billed as a total fee including 10 users. It adds 200 repos, 100 container images, 10 domains, 10 cloud accounts, 30 VM scaling groups, unlimited AI AutoFixes/mo, and 20M protected requests/mo. Same-day support is included, which gives teams with time-sensitive questions a concrete reason to move beyond Basic.

Advanced also costs 600.00 USD per month, billed as a total fee including 10 users. For the same stated monthly price as Pro, it offers 500 repos, 200 container images, 20 domains, 20 cloud accounts, 100 VM scaling groups, unlimited AI AutoFixes/mo, and 50M protected requests/mo, plus priority support in Slack or MS Teams. Teams with greater capacity needs or a need for priority support should weigh Advanced against Pro; the listed limits favor Advanced, while the plans do not state how those differences are otherwise qualified.

Enterprise has custom pricing and includes Enterprise-grade modules. The user inclusion, quotas, and monthly totals make the published plans easier to compare, but teams should match limits to their wider Aikido usage rather than cloud accounts alone.

Platforms

Aikido lists API, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows support, alongside multi-cloud coverage. Its cloud connections use read-only APIs, so teams do not need to deploy agents for CSPM access.

Who it's for

Aikido CSPM suits developers and security teams that want cloud posture checks, prioritization, search, compliance reporting, and guided fixes in a wider security offering. It is particularly practical for teams able to review proposed changes and manage infrastructure remediation themselves. The free one-account plan is narrow for larger environments; Basic and above expand account and usage limits. Teams that require CSPM to automatically remediate infrastructure should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pro: Read-only, agentless cloud access reduces the operational work of connecting accounts while leaving infrastructure changes under team control.
Pro: Production-aware prioritization and searchable resources that can trigger alerts support both triage and ongoing visibility.
Pro: The free plan includes CSPM and lasts forever, giving a small setup a way to start without a subscription.
Con: Developer is capped at one cloud account, limiting its usefulness for teams managing multiple accounts.
Con: Remediation is guided or proposed for some issues rather than applied automatically, so teams must own the final infrastructure changes.
Con: Advanced and Pro carry the same 600.00 USD per month total price, so buyers need to compare the stated quotas and support rather than assume a higher price buys a higher tier.

Alternatives

Mondoo CSPM is worth considering for teams seeking a free-forever open-source option with cloud, Kubernetes, OS, SaaS, and API scanning, a Kubernetes operator, an extensible provider system, and asset inventory.

Prowler Cloud may fit teams that want a 15-day free trial with no cloud account limit and access to every check and compliance framework during the trial.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Secret Management is a narrower alternative for teams evaluating secret management rather than broad cloud posture management.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a free license with limited API calls for control evaluation; consider it when that evaluation path matches your needs.

Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud API Security is another paid option for teams comparing cloud API security tools.

Cloudanix charges 3.49 USD per month per monitored asset, billed at month-end, with a 100-asset minimum; its Cloud Pro Posture plan includes CSPM, CIEM, compliance, and attack paths.

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security is a paid alternative billed per endpoint, with plan-specific data-retention terms.

Sysdig Secure bases licensing on the number of hosts in a customer's environment, including compute instances for CSPM.

For broader category comparisons, see Cloud Security Posture Management Software, Interactive Application Security Testing Software, DevSecOps Platforms, and Infrastructure as Code Security Software.

Verdict

Aikido CSPM is a strong fit for teams that want multi-cloud posture checks tied to prioritization, search, compliance workflows, and guided remediation within a broader security toolkit. Its agentless, read-only access and free entry tier make it approachable, while paid plans raise account and workload limits. Choose another tool if automatic infrastructure remediation is essential, or if the one-account free ceiling is too restrictive and the paid capacity does not fit your needs.

	Aikido CSPM	PMAP
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	$300/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Linux, macOS, Web, Windows	api
Free plan	Yes	—
Deployment model	hybrid	—
IaC scanning	Yes	—
Container scanning	Yes	Yes
Remediation workflows	Yes	Yes
SBOM management	Yes	—
Compliance reporting	Yes	Yes

Aikido CSPM vs PMAP

Aikido CSPM

PMAP