OpenSCAP vs CloudQuery
Both are alternatives to Vanta. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as CloudQuery vs OpenSCAP — same comparison, one verdict.
OpenSCAP
SCAP-standard configuration scanning and hardening for Linux estates.
The reference implementation of SCAP, with profiles for CIS benchmarks, DISA STIG and PCI DSS. Where the estate is Linux servers rather than cloud APIs, this is the long-established way to prove hosts are hardened to a named standard.
CloudQuery
Sync cloud infrastructure into your own database, then ask compliance questions of it.
An ELT framework that pulls cloud, SaaS and identity configuration into Postgres or a warehouse you own. Compliance becomes a query against your own data rather than a feature of somebody's platform, which also makes the evidence yours to keep.
Side by side
| OpenSCAP | CloudQuery | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 84 | 80 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MPL-2.0 (core) |
| Pricing | Free / self-host | Free / self-host core; paid cloud and premium plugins |
OpenSCAP edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
OpenSCAP
Strengths
- +An actual standard, recognised by auditors in regulated environments
- +Ships with Red Hat and Debian ecosystems; no new vendor
- +Remediation guidance, not only findings
Trade-offs
- −Host-level only — blind to cloud service configuration
- −Tooling and profile editing feel dated next to the cloud-native options
- −Narrow: one part of one control family
CloudQuery
Strengths
- +The evidence lands in a database you control and can retain for years
- +Broad source coverage beyond cloud — identity, SaaS, code hosting
- +Fits teams that already have a warehouse and BI layer
Trade-offs
- −You build the compliance logic; it ships the data, not the verdict
- −Several plugins and features sit behind the commercial tier
- −Furthest of these from anything an auditor would recognise unaided
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-09-01. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.