Aqua Security
Runtime-first cloud-native security, from the makers of Trivy
Overview
Aqua Security sells the Aqua Platform, a cloud-native application protection platform that scans code and images and enforces policy at runtime through an in-workload agent, across clouds, on premises and air-gapped sites. Aqua Secure AI guards AI applications at runtime, and Aqua Compass, an MCP server, supports agent-led incident investigation. Aqua also maintains the open-source Trivy scanner.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 14 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- Code repo discovery and code scanning
- Container image and IaC scanning
- Dynamic Threat Analysis sandbox for malware
- Automated SBOM generation and pipeline integrity checks
- Agentless workload scanning and CSPM across AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle and Alibaba Cloud
- eBPF-based real-time detection
- Drift prevention and malware blocking
- Service identity-based segmentation
Use cases
What you can produce with Aqua Security
- Vulnerability, malware and IaC scanning of code, images and pipelines before deployment
- Runtime enforcement that blocks unsafe actions inside containers, Kubernetes, serverless and VMs
- Vulnerability prioritisation based on packages that actually execute in production
- Runtime protection for AI applications, including prompt-injection and jailbreak blocking
- Agent-led incident investigation and containment policies through the Aqua Compass MCP server
- Runtime risk dashboards that express exposure in monetary terms
- The open-source Trivy scanner, free under Apache 2.0
Aqua's differentiator is enforcement inside running workloads: it sees which vulnerable packages actually execute, blocks unsafe actions inline and works where cloud APIs cannot reach, including air-gapped sites. Secure AI and the Compass MCP server add prompt-level protection and agent-assisted containment with a human approving each step.
Weigh the March 2026 Trivy compromise, in which attackers published malicious Trivy releases and defaced Aqua's internal GitHub repositories, before trusting any scanner unpinned in CI. Pricing is quote-only. Best for large teams running regulated, container-heavy estates.
What we found
Aqua Security is one of the original container security companies, headquartered in Boston and Ramat Gan, Israel, and it now sells the Aqua Platform, a cloud-native application protection platform. Unlike agentless-first rivals, Aqua builds its pitch on an agent that runs inside workloads, so it can see what actually executes and block unsafe actions in containers, Kubernetes, serverless functions and VMs, including disconnected and air-gapped sites. It also maintains Trivy, a widely used Apache-licensed open-source scanner, plus kube-bench and Tracee.
Its AI work comes in two halves. Aqua Secure AI protects AI applications at runtime, tracking which models are in use and evaluating prompts to block injection and jailbreak attempts. In April 2026 Aqua released Aqua Compass, an MCP server that lets customers build agents to investigate runtime incidents, recommend containment and generate a hardened policy, with a person approving the action, along with dashboards that express risk in money. Earlier versions of this page credited Aqua with a feature called Verified Exploit Paths; no Aqua page describes one.
The caveat is the Trivy compromise of March 2026. Attackers known as TeamPCP abused Trivy's release pipeline to publish versions carrying credential-stealing code. Aqua admitted its token rotation after an earlier incident had not been atomic, and on 22 March the attackers defaced all 44 repositories in Aqua's internal GitHub organisation within about two minutes. Aqua brought in Sygnia, released clean versions, and said its commercial products use a lagging fork with no sign of impact.
Pricing is not published: Dev Security is charged by code repository and Cloud Security by workload, and the AWS Marketplace listing sells Shift Left, Protect and Ultimate plans by private offer; that listing showed 4.2 from 68 ratings, read 14 October 2026. Co-founder Dror Davidoff handed the chief executive role to Mike Dube in November 2025. Aqua last raised $60 million in January 2024 at a valuation above $1 billion and remains independent.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Aqua Security's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Aqua Security unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
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