A Prisma Cloud alternative, for on-premises and air-gapped compliance.
Prisma Cloud is Palo Alto Networks' CNAPP, focused on securing cloud workloads with compliance packs included. CISGuard is evidence-first CIS benchmark compliance across the estate cloud platforms do not reach: on-premises servers, desktops, browsers, and fully air-gapped networks.
Common reasons to look beyond Prisma Cloud.
- Prisma Cloud focuses on cloud workloads; on-premises servers and desktop estates fall outside its natural scope
- Compliance packs within a CNAPP serve security operations first; audit evidence is a derived output
- Air-gapped and sovereignty-constrained environments cannot rely on cloud-delivered platforms
- CNAPP breadth carries capability surface that compliance-led teams may not need or use
Where Prisma Cloud is genuinely strong
- Comprehensive CNAPP covering cloud security posture, workload protection, and code-to-cloud context
- Compliance packs spanning major standards for cloud environments
- Backed by Palo Alto Networks' broader security platform and threat research
- Strong fit for cloud-native security operations teams
Where CISGuard is materially different
- Coverage where CNAPPs stop: on-premises servers, desktops, and browser configurations
- Fully on-premises and air-gapped deployment with no cloud dependency
- Evidence-first design: 3,928 CIS controls mapped to NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and SOC 2
- Continuous scanning with drift detection scoped to benchmark posture
- Per-deployment licensing independent of workload counts or cloud consumption
- Managed onboarding across hybrid estates rather than self-service cloud connection
CISGuard is the right choice when:
- Organizations whose audit scope spans on-premises servers, desktops, and end-user configurations
- Air-gapped, defense, and sovereignty-constrained environments
- Compliance teams that need auditor-oriented evidence rather than security-operations dashboards
- Hybrid operators pairing a cloud-focused CNAPP with estate-wide CIS compliance
Migration questions, answered directly.
Is CISGuard a replacement for Prisma Cloud?
For CIS benchmark compliance and audit evidence across the full estate, yes. For cloud-native security operations, workload protection, and code-to-cloud analysis, Prisma Cloud has CNAPP depth CISGuard does not aim to match. The common pattern is complementary: Prisma Cloud for cloud security operations, CISGuard as the compliance evidence layer covering cloud and on-premises together.
Prisma Cloud includes compliance packs. What does CISGuard add?
Compliance packs within a CNAPP assess cloud resources and workloads. CISGuard assesses the estate a cloud platform does not reach: on-premises Windows and Linux servers, desktop fleets, and browser configurations, using 22 CIS Benchmarks and 3,928 controls. Every control is mapped to NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and SOC 2, so audit evidence covers the whole scope, not just cloud workloads.
Can CISGuard operate without any cloud connectivity?
Yes. CISGuard is designed for fully on-premises and air-gapped operation. Scanning, dashboards, drift detection, and evidence generation run entirely inside your environment, with benchmark updates delivered through offline packages. This makes CISGuard viable in classified, defense, and disconnected networks where cloud-delivered platforms are not an option.
What does "evidence-first" mean in practice?
It means the product's primary output is audit evidence, not security findings. Every scan produces per-control compliance status with framework mappings, timestamps, and drift history formatted for auditor consumption. Security-platform compliance modules typically produce findings that a compliance team then assembles into evidence; CISGuard inverts that, making the evidence the product.
How does CISGuard licensing compare to Prisma Cloud?
CISGuard uses per-deployment licensing: one predictable price per deployment covering all 22 benchmarks and framework mappings. We do not publish or characterize Palo Alto Networks' pricing; Prisma Cloud is licensed under its own model. When comparing, model your on-premises asset count as well as cloud workloads, since the two products meter different scopes.
Evaluating CISGuard against Prisma Cloud?
Our compliance engineers will walk through a side-by-side evaluation specific to your environment and audit scope.