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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Trivy comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Container Security
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (10th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Ranking in Container Security
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Container Management (8th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (6th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (3rd)
Trivy
Ranking in Container Security
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 4.6%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trivy is 2.3%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud4.6%
Trivy2.3%
Qualys TotalCloud1.8%
Other91.3%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
RW
Head Of IT at Cirrus Response
Cloud security has cut investigation time and now reveals threats faster but needs simpler oversight
When deploying AI applications, my key security concerns with Microsoft Defender for Cloud are data loss, leakage of data, and guardrails around the actual AI, and I am hoping that this is going to help me put those guardrails in place and identify data exfiltration. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not helped me manage and secure multi-cloud environments, as we are 100 percent Microsoft and have not really got it in any other environment at all. I am not yet using the unified AI-powered security feature offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet using the integrated XDR feature of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet utilizing the GenAI threat protection features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. That is also coming and a lot of that will come from learning it here. I have enabled the agentless scanning in my cloud environment with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Assessing the impact on my workload protection without needing to install agents with Microsoft Defender for Cloud makes it a lot easier, but it also identifies a lot more, which puts more load on me sometimes. I would advise another organization considering Microsoft Defender for Cloud that it is the most logical route to follow if their whole ecosystem is Microsoft. It is easy to implement and it is very self-explanatory when doing it, making sense to just follow the steps as it is too simple, really. I would rate this review a 7.5 out of 10.
Utsav Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Consultant at Ernst & Young
Maintain operational efficiency by detecting misconfigurations and vulnerabilities
The vulnerability scanning feature is excellent as it supports various container capabilities like Docker and Sharma. It also offers repository scanning in the source code domain, allowing pre-push code scans. The misconfiguration detection works well for CloudFormation, Docker files, and Terraform. Its compliance support, like NIST, ensures that configurations align with standards. Trivy helps me significantly detect misconfigurations missed by the ops engineers or in Terraform by the naked eye. It ensures that my deployments are free of misconfigurations and vulnerabilities.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"One of Qualys' best features is its categorization, which allows us to see the types of assets, their security postures, and the AI-powered version of the tool."
"By integrating TotalCloud, we have significantly reduced vulnerabilities in our deployment pipeline."
"I would rate Qualys TotalCloud ten out of ten."
"The dashboards are particularly valuable as they offer a comprehensive view of the environment, highlighting any misconfigurations."
"I would recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users because it is cost-efficient and has a good return on investment."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable feature is its ability to link clusters of assets, providing a clear model of deployments, vulnerabilities, and statuses."
"The ability to identify cloud misconfigurations, prioritize security risks, and monitor cloud resources from a single platform is quite valuable."
"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."
"The solution's robust security posture is the most valuable feature."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud has improved our security poster by at least 100 percent."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the vulnerability assessments and the glossary of compliance."
"Provides a very good view of the entire security setup of your organization."
"Defender gave us more substantial visibility into our security, helping us increase our overall security posture and manage risks throughout the entire organization."
"Azure Security Center helped us in recovering from our mistake."
"It's got a lot of great features."
"The valuable features include the ability to manage devices and the fact that Defender can replace other security tools like SCCM."
"I can see vulnerabilities in the images of any applications deployed in the Kubernetes environment or as container applications."
"The most valuable feature of Trivy is its easy integration with the CI/CD pipeline."
"Trivy is particularly useful for checking if Docker images have critical vulnerabilities before they reach production."
"It is open-source."
"Trivy is most valuable for its ability to scan all repository files and dependencies."
"One of the great features of Trivy is that it helps me scan items such as AWS credentials and GCP service accounts."
"It's customizable, allowing me to add any rules and format HTML templates as I wish."
"The vulnerability scanning feature is excellent as it supports various container capabilities like Docker and Sharma."
 

Cons

"To be honest, I would move out from this tool because it does not give a full view of vulnerability."
"The price is very expensive, actually."
"In my opinion, what can be improved in Qualys TotalCloud includes pricing and container scanning."
"I think Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its handling of zero-day vulnerabilities and supply chain management because modern ransomware attacks not only target prime critical infrastructures but also the supply chain system."
"The downside is only in container security, but it has not been a long time since they introduced these models."
"Their support could be improved."
"TotalCloud could improve the classification of vulnerabilities. Specifically, it could enhance the categorization of what aspects fall under patches resolved by OS or software updates and what pertains to configuration adjustments."
"One thing that could be improved is the user experience and navigation."
"There are challenges with the licensing policies, which are quite complicated."
"One of the main challenges that we have been facing with Azure Security Center is the cost."
"I rate Microsoft support five out of 10. It gets better once you're escalated past the first and second levels. It's difficult to get the necessary support when tickets are first opened."
"After getting a recommendation, it takes time for the solution to refresh properly to show that the problem has been eliminated."
"Early on, the lack of transparency is a challenge. Microsoft does not tell you the cost when they launch something."
"If a customer is already using Okta as an SSO in its entire environment, they will want to continue with it. But Security Center doesn't understand that and keeps making recommendations. It would help if it let us resolve a recommendation, even if it is not implemented."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud could be improved by adding capabilities for NetApp files and more PaaS resources from other vendors, not just Microsoft."
"The user interface of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, like many Microsoft portals, undergoes frequent changes and feature relocation."
"In our CI/CD pipelines, Trivy lacks built-in functionality for report analysis."
"One drawback I have observed with Trivy is the difficulty in building or integrating a UI, particularly for an operator in the NetSuite example."
"Having little experience can hinder the ability to connect it to a user-friendly UI effectively."
"Trivy is not scalable; however, I have scanned very large projects with it. It is stable but not scalable according to my experience."
"The reporting could be a little better."
"Trivy can improve by providing an output in PDF format. Additionally, it takes longer to scan container images built with many layers."
"Trivy generates many false positives, flagging non-existent vulnerabilities. Improvements could include better contextual analysis or granular filtering."
"Currently, the container image scanning is static. A dynamic scanning capability during runtime would be a significant advantage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"The price of the solution is good for the features we receive and there is an additional cost for Microsoft premier support. However, some of my potential customers have found it to be expensive and have gone on to choose another solution."
"Currently, Microsoft offers only one plan at the enterprise level which is $15 per machine."
"Understanding the costs of cloud services can be complicated at first. As with a lot of things in the cloud, it can be quite hard to understand the end cost, but it becomes clearer over time. Early on, the lack of transparency is a challenge. Microsoft does not tell you the cost when they launch something. It is clever marketing, and there is room for improvement there. There should be clarity from the start."
"We only use the free tier, so we haven't faced any pricing, setup costs, or licensing challenges."
"There is a helpful cost-reducing option that allows you to integrate production subscriptions with non-production subscriptions."
"Pricing is a consideration, but we strive to keep costs low by enabling only necessary services."
"The cost of the license is based on the subscriptions that you have."
"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a five to six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
I was not involved in pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I can say that the setup was fast, within a quarter, an...
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvements, the features we are using in Qualys TotalCloud are working in the best optimal way, and I d...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
I have been using Qualys TotalCloud for the last eight months to scan the hardware and the virtual devices in our inf...
How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?
Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening acros...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was that the license cost was the only consideration. Setup an...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
To improve Microsoft Defender for Cloud, I think pricing-wise, the license price is a little bit higher from an inges...
What needs improvement with Trivy?
Trivy's marketing and awareness need improvement. Not everyone knows about it, which isn't ideal given its capabiliti...
What is your primary use case for Trivy?
I use Trivy ( /products/trivy-reviews ) to scan code for vulnerabilities before deployment. Our projects, which are d...
What advice do you have for others considering Trivy?
I recommend Trivy to others due to its powerful and useful features. However, I suggest increasing its marketing to r...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Trivy and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,743 professionals have used our research since 2012.