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Cybersecurity · head to head

BigID vs CKAN

BigID logo

BigID

Cybersecurity

Data discovery and classification across cloud, on-premise and unstructured stores

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
CKAN logo

CKAN

Government

Open Source Data Portal Platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CKAN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BigID pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.; CKAN the package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • They diverge on capability: BigID covers Structured and unstructured scanning, CKAN covers Dataset Management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigID and CKAN actually diverge.

Attributes where BigID and CKAN differ
AttributeBigIDCKAN
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, API, Self-hostedWeb
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
FoundedUnknown2006

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigID

  • Structured and unstructured scanning
  • Identity correlation
  • Data security posture management
  • Access intelligence
  • Privacy request support
  • Retention and minimisation
  • AI data controls
  • Policy and remediation workflow

Only in CKAN

  • Dataset Management
  • Data Harvesting
  • API Access
  • Visualization
  • Extensions
  • DataPusher
  • Harvester
  • Third-party Tools

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigID

  • A bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migrationnot CKAN
  • A privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s recordsnot CKAN
  • A security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker doesnot CKAN
  • A company building retrieval augmented AI that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a modelnot CKAN

CKAN

  • Publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portalnot BigID
  • Self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an APInot BigID

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigID

  • Pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.
  • Scanning large unstructured estates is slow and computationally expensive, so most organisations sample rather than scan everything, which reintroduces uncertainty into the very question they bought the tool to settle.
  • Classification accuracy on messy unstructured content requires tuning, and out of the box false positives on things like reference numbers create a large triage backlog that a small governance team cannot clear.
  • It discovers and reports but does not remediate, so realising value requires a separate process and often separate tooling to actually delete, restrict or move the data it flags.
  • It is built for large enterprises and both the price and the administrative overhead are disproportionate below a few thousand employees, where a lighter DSPM tool covers the security use case for far less.

CKAN

  • The package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • Only Solr 9 and Solr 8 are supported, and from CKAN 2.10 they are the only Solr versions supported at all
  • A working deployment requires PostgreSQL, Solr, Redis, nginx, supervisor and uWSGI to be installed and maintained separately
  • Python 3.10 or later is required

Pricing, plan by plan

BigID

On request
  • BigID Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by number of data sources and data volume
    • Discovery and classification core
    • Optional DSPM, access intelligence and AI security modules licensed separately

CKAN

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Data Management
    • API Access
    • Visualization

Which should you pick?

Choose BigID if

  • You need structured and unstructured scanning.
  • You work on Web, API, Self-hosted.
  • You also want identity correlation.
BigID review

Choose CKAN if

  • You need dataset management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want data harvesting.
CKAN review

Questions people ask

Is BigID or CKAN better?
Neither clearly leads. BigID starts at On request and CKAN at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigID or CKAN?
CKAN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for BigID and Free for CKAN.
Does BigID or CKAN run on more platforms?
BigID runs on Web, API, Self-hosted. CKAN runs on Web.
Can I use CKAN for free?
Yes. CKAN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BigID starts at On request.
What is BigID best used for?
BigID is most often used for a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration, a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records, a security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker does, a company building retrieval augmented ai that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a model. Of those, a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration and a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records are not what CKAN is typically brought in for.
What can BigID do that CKAN cannot?
BigID covers Structured and unstructured scanning, Identity correlation, Data security posture management, Access intelligence. CKAN covers Dataset Management, Data Harvesting, API Access, Visualization.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigID: What does BigID cost?

It is quoted by data source count and volume. Reported contracts run from roughly 15,000 to 175,000 US dollars a year, and add-on modules such as AI security posture are licensed on top.

CKAN: Is CKAN open-source and what license is it available under?

Yes, CKAN is an open-source data management system built on Python and available on GitHub. The license terms are available on their GitHub repository.

Source
BigID: Does it handle unstructured data?

Yes, and that is its main advantage. It classifies data in files and shares and correlates findings back to individuals, not just to data types.

CKAN: Does CKAN offer commercial support for organizations?

Yes, CKAN offers commercial support through certified providers including Link Digital and Datopian. Support includes advisory services, application development, integration, managed hosting, and web development.

Source
BigID: Will it delete the data it finds?

Not by itself in most deployments. It identifies and routes findings; deletion and remediation happen through your own processes or connected systems.

CKAN: Who is responsible for hosting costs when running CKAN?

Organizations deploying CKAN are responsible for their own hosting infrastructure. Commercial providers like Datopian and Link Digital offer managed hosting services if organizations prefer not to self-host.

Source
BigID: Is it a privacy tool or a security tool?

Both are sold from the same discovery core. Buyers increasingly come from security wanting data security posture management rather than from legal wanting privacy.

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