What offers better cloud security and value?

CrowdStrike and Wiz are two security providers that operate from vastly different locations. On the one hand, CrowdStrike has been in this space since 2011 and has cemented itself as a leader in endpoint detection and response solutions.

Meanwhile, Wiz is a cybersecurity startup founded in 2020 that aims to make a name for itself in the world of cloud security.

In this article, we examine how CrowdStrike and Wiz stack up against each other to determine which is best for you and your organization.

CrowdStrike vs Wiz: Comparison Table

CrowdStrikeWiz Pricing starts at $59.99 per year
(Falcon Go) Use their online portal to get quotes. Cloud-native application protection platformYesYes Cloud Security Posture ManagementYesYes Cloud Workload ProtectionYesYesProxy-Based or AgentlessFederated Proxy and Agentless Endpoint Detection and ResponseYesNoCloud Detection and ResponseYesYes

CrowdStrike vs Wiz: Pricing

As a disclaimer, this article compares CrowdStrike and Wiz and their overall product offerings. Although the focus is on cloud security solutions, we aim to highlight the general differences between providers as a whole.

CrowdStrike Pricing

CrowdStrike offers several cybersecurity solutions that meet different security requirements and business sizes.

Here's a brief summary of the price differences and features for each:

Falcon Go: $59.99 per year; Next generation antivirus, device control and rapid support. Falcon Pro: $99.99 per device, billed annually; All Falcon Go features plus firewall management. Falcon Enterprise: $184.99 per device, billed annually; All Falcon Pro features plus EDR, threat hunting, and intelligence capabilities. Falcon Elite: Contact sales for pricing; All Falcon Enterprise features plus IT cleanliness and identity protection. CrowdStrike Cloud Security: Contact sales for a quote; CSPM, ASPM, container security, and server threat diagrams.

CrowdStrike offers free trials for most of the subscriptions listed above. I recommend reviewing these experiences for interested buyers to learn about CrowdStrike's services and whether they fit your organization's needs.

Waze pricing

Wiz does not offer a standard price for its cloud services. Instead, it offers individualized curated pricing depending on your organization's current cloud workload and environment.

On their official website, Wiz has a quote request portal that asks a few questions before submitting a personalized quote. Here are some questions and details asked by Wiz:

How many fasteners do you use? (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.) Provide name and work email address. Job title, company name and phone number.

You can also get a 30-minute custom demo of Wiz through its official website. Like the price request, this can be accessed after providing some details.

CrowdStrike vs Wiz: Features Comparison

Area of ​​focus

While in the cybersecurity space, CrowdStrike and Wiz take different approaches to the services they're known for.

On the one hand, Wiz mainly deals with cloud environments and securing cloud infrastructures. This is achieved through cloud security posture management, vulnerability management, infrastructure entitlements management, cloud-native application protection platform consoles, and more.

On the other hand, CrowdStrike focuses more on endpoint security and is considered an industry leader with its EDR and XDR offerings. They also managed detection and response, NGAV, and threat hunting options.

To be clear, CrowdStrike has a dedicated Falcon Cloud Security product that overlaps with Wiz's offering. This consolidates CSPM, CNAPP and CIEM functionality into a unified console.

Despite these similarities, I think this is a good place to start in deciding which provider to choose. Are you looking for a solution that exclusively provides powerful visibility and protection for your cloud infrastructure? In this case, Wiz may be the best option.

Meanwhile, if you want a more comprehensive provider that offers cloud and endpoint security tools, CrowdStrike should be your first consideration.

Independent evaluations

If we look at independent reviews, we find that both CrowdStrike and Wiz rank well among their competitors in the cloud space.

In Forrester Wave's Cloud Workload Security report for Q1 2024, CrowdStrike was named a leader, while Wiz was recognized as a strong performer.

The report praised CrowdStrike for its CWS vision, robust container uptime protection, and robust agent-based CWP. Meanwhile, Wiz has been highlighted as a solid option for organizations that “prioritize agentless CWP, need attack path visualization, but only minimal protection for agent-based workloads.”

One thing to note is that this is Wiz's first inclusion in a Forrester report. Even though it's only four years old, I feel this shows how the company has already made a good impression on both end users and independent raters alike.

As for CrowdStrike, its repeated presence at the top of third-party reports shows that it remains one of the most influential players in cybersecurity today.

Agent-based versus agent-based

One of the main differences between the two is their choice regarding agent-based security and agentless security.

CrowdStrike is best known for its agent-based Falcon platform but has also introduced agentless security in recent years. Now, it is positioning its Falcon Cloud Security service as a unified, “flexible” agent-based and agentless platform, aiming to bring the benefits of both platforms into their software.

Meanwhile, Wiz's CSPM platform is an agentless solution that prioritizes ease of deployment, low maintenance needs, and scalability.

CrowdStrike vs. Wiz on Reddit

To complete this comparison, I explored online forums and communities like Reddit to see how well CrowdStrike and Wiz fare with different users around the world.

For both, user perception seems to be very positive. In the Cybersecurity Reddit community, a poster asked about other users' experience with Wiz and their cloud-based solutions.

“Wiz has been really effective for us. We chose it because it's agentless, which makes deployment very quick and straightforward. It's great at identifying vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, which is a big help,” said one commenter on this thread.

The commentator added: “The interface is very powerful, putting everything we need to see in one place, and although it is expensive, the amount of work it saves us justifies the cost.”

On the other hand, recent conversations around CrowdStrike have revolved around their involvement in a global IT outage in July 2024. In that incident, a faulty CrowdStrike Falcon sensor update caused a massive IT disruption affecting 8.5 million Windows devices around the world. You can learn more about the CrowdStrike outage in our news article.

Despite this, many users continue to express their support for CrowdStrike. In another post within the Cybersecurity Reddit community, one user had this to say in response to a question about whether they would continue using CrowdStrike:

“CrowdStrike has always been a respected brand with high performance metrics. Every company has their hiccups. The real question is how they deal with their mistakes. (IMO they handled it great. There was a fix in less than 12 hours and an automated fix in 24 “Some of my security solutions for software crash issues don't even come close, and most of the time, I have to prove it's their software for them to help,” the commenter said.

“The fact that CrowdStrike has gained so much attention in the media is a testament to the number of customers they have,” the commentator added.

SEE: Top 4 CrowdStrike alternatives and competitors in 2024 (TechRepublic)

Pros and cons of CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike pros

Agent-based and agentless solution. Deep cloud vision. It also offers EDR and XDR.

Cons of CrowdStrike

Participating in an IT outage in July 2024.

Pros and cons of Waze

Waze Pros

Full focus on cloud infrastructure security. Completely agentless live deployment and intuitive user interface.

Cons Waze

Fewer options regarding other security solutions.

Should your company use CrowdStrike or Wiz?

CrowdStrike and Wiz are both good options when it comes to securing your organization's cloud infrastructure. However, there are differences between the two that may influence your decision in favor of one over the other.

If you are looking for a provider with years of industry experience, robust real-time threat response, and an agent-based platform, CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security should be your choice. It is also the best option if your company is looking for additional security services, especially in the area of ​​endpoint security.

On the other hand, if you'd rather invest in a new cybersecurity provider that focuses solely on cloud security, Wiz is the better choice. It's also the obvious choice if you want a completely agentless solution and if your company isn't keen on working with CrowdStrike after the July 2024 outage.

SEE: Everything you need to know about the malicious cybersecurity threat (TechRepublic Premium)

methodology

My comparison of CrowdStrike and Wiz involved a head-to-head comparison of their software offerings, features, and overall value.

In particular, I took into account key differences between cloud providers, such as their focus, independent evaluations, and the choice between agent-based and agentless security. Research conducted on providers included a comprehensive review of official product documentation, available demos, and advertised use cases for each product.

In addition, real user feedback and verified third-party reviews were also taken into account to complete the final recommendations.