AWS Config

Name: AWS Config
Brand: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rating: 4.4 (101 reviews)

Leader

Official Global LinkedIn page for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Est 2006|Valuation $2560B|2 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 10.9M|Website|Web traffic 1.1M|FTEs 148,001|HQ Seattle, Washington, US

MarketsConfiguration as Code (CaC)

Platform CoversPolicy Management IT Asset Management (ITAM)Infrastructure Monitoring

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative comparison

AWS Config vs Azure Policy - Both address governance and compliance within their cloud ecosystems. - Azure Policy pricing is published by the vendor; AWS Config costs are driven by recorded change volume. - For multi-cloud environments, AWS Config does not provide native coverage of non-AWS clouds. AWS Config vs Google Cloud Asset Inventory - Google Cloud Asset Inventory has different pricing and retention tradeoffs; retention and analytics may still incur storage and query costs. AWS Config vs Cloud Custodian - Cloud Custodian integrates with AWS Config and can deploy policies as Config Rules. Custodian can also use AWS Config as a resource database instead of repeatedly calling describe APIs. - Cloud Custodian is not necessarily a direct one-to-one replacement; many organizations use both: AWS Config as the system-of-record for resource state/history and Custodian as a policy engine and automation layer. AWS Config vs CSPM suites (Wiz, Prisma Cloud) - CSPM tools typically offer broader posture management, risk prioritization, and multi-cloud visibility. - CSPM pricing and commercial terms are often less transparent; AWS Config uses unit-based pricing that can be difficult to predict in aggregate. - For deep context such as vulnerabilities, identity context, or data exposure graphs, CSPM vendors may provide higher-level insights than AWS Config alone.

	AWS Config	Azure Policy	Cloud Custodian
Starting Price	Usage-based pricing tied to recorded changes and rule evaluations	Published pricing available from the vendor (may vary by agreement)	Open source (software itself is free); operational and cloud service costs apply
Typical fit	AWS-native configuration history and compliance evaluation across accounts/regions	Azure-native policy compliance and governance	Policy-as-code teams that want flexible automation and are willing to operate tooling
Key Strength	Integration with AWS services; configuration timeline/history; managed service	Integration with Azure resource model and policies	Highly customizable policies; strong automation patterns; can integrate with AWS Config
Key Weakness	Costs can grow in high-churn environments; some console/data-model limitations reported	Azure-only; may require additional vendor services for a full audit trail and reporting	Not fully managed; requires setup, maintenance, and operational discipline

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative comparison

AWS Config vs Azure Policy

Both address governance and compliance within their cloud ecosystems.
Azure Policy pricing is published by the vendor; AWS Config costs are driven by recorded change volume.
For multi-cloud environments, AWS Config does not provide native coverage of non-AWS clouds.

AWS Config vs Google Cloud Asset Inventory

Google Cloud Asset Inventory has different pricing and retention tradeoffs; retention and analytics may still incur storage and query costs.

AWS Config vs Cloud Custodian

Cloud Custodian integrates with AWS Config and can deploy policies as Config Rules. Custodian can also use AWS Config as a resource database instead of repeatedly calling describe APIs.
Cloud Custodian is not necessarily a direct one-to-one replacement; many organizations use both: AWS Config as the system-of-record for resource state/history and Custodian as a policy engine and automation layer.

AWS Config vs CSPM suites (Wiz, Prisma Cloud)

CSPM tools typically offer broader posture management, risk prioritization, and multi-cloud visibility.
CSPM pricing and commercial terms are often less transparent; AWS Config uses unit-based pricing that can be difficult to predict in aggregate.
For deep context such as vulnerabilities, identity context, or data exposure graphs, CSPM vendors may provide higher-level insights than AWS Config alone.

	AWS Config	Azure Policy	Cloud Custodian
Starting Price	Usage-based pricing tied to recorded changes and rule evaluations	Published pricing available from the vendor (may vary by agreement)	Open source (software itself is free); operational and cloud service costs apply
Typical fit	AWS-native configuration history and compliance evaluation across accounts/regions	Azure-native policy compliance and governance	Policy-as-code teams that want flexible automation and are willing to operate tooling
Key Strength	Integration with AWS services; configuration timeline/history; managed service	Integration with Azure resource model and policies	Highly customizable policies; strong automation patterns; can integrate with AWS Config
Key Weakness	Costs can grow in high-churn environments; some console/data-model limitations reported	Azure-only; may require additional vendor services for a full audit trail and reporting	Not fully managed; requires setup, maintenance, and operational discipline