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Cybersecurity · head to head

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud vs Varonis Data Security Platform

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud logo

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native application protection platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Varonis Data Security Platform logo

Varonis Data Security Platform

Cybersecurity

Data security platform that maps effective permissions, content classification and access activity across file shares, Microsoft 365 and SaaS.

From
$100/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud listed on UK G-Cloud at £147.54 per unit for Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud, via reseller Phoenix Software Limited, with the billing period not stated on the listing; Varonis Data Security Platform deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • They diverge on capability: Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud covers Cloud Security Posture Management, Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud and Varonis Data Security Platform actually diverge.

Attributes where Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud and Varonis Data Security Platform differ
AttributePalo Alto Networks Prisma CloudVaronis Data Security Platform
Starting priceOn request$100/year
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Desktop

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity), founded (2005).

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 Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

  • Cloud Security Posture Management
  • Cloud Workload Protection
  • Cloud Network Security
  • Cloud Identity Security
  • Code Security
  • API Security
  • Data Security
  • Microsegmentation

Only in Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Effective permissions modelling
  • Content classification
  • Access activity auditing
  • Behavioural alerting
  • Blast radius view
  • Automated remediation
  • Stale data identification
  • Ransomware detection

What people use each for

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

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

  • Cloud Securitynot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • Cspmnot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • Cwppnot Varonis Data Security Platform

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Answering an auditor or a board asking exactly which sensitive files are reachable by every employee and who has opened themnot Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
  • Cleaning up Microsoft 365 sprawl where Teams, SharePoint sites and shared links accumulated faster than governancenot Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
  • Investigating an insider incident where you need a defensible record of what a departing employee accessed and whennot Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
  • Reducing the blast radius of a compromised account before an incident by removing global access groups and broken inheritancenot Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

  • Listed on UK G-Cloud at £147.54 per unit for Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud, via reseller Phoenix Software Limited, with the billing period not stated on the listing

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • The collection model requires granting the platform broad read access across the data you are trying to protect, which needs its own approval and creates a high-value target, and some change boards spend longer approving that access than approving the purchase.
  • Findings are produced far faster than remediation capacity: an initial scan routinely surfaces hundreds of thousands of overexposed objects, and fixing them means altering permissions owned by business units, so without an executive mandate it becomes a dashboard nobody acts on.
  • Licensing is driven by identity counts and connected data sources, so a directory full of stale accounts and service principals inflates the bill and every additional platform you connect adds cost, which quietly pushes organisations to leave their least-governed systems uncovered.
  • Coverage is deepest in the Microsoft estate and thinner elsewhere: connectors exist for other SaaS and database platforms but they do not all support the same classification, alerting and automated remediation, so a heterogeneous estate receives uneven protection at a uniform price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud

On request
  • Cloud SecurityFree
    • CSPM
    • CWPP
    • CIEM
  • Code SecurityFree
    • IaC security
    • SCA
    • Secrets scanning
  • Prisma Cloud EnterpriseFree
    • Full platform
    • API security
    • Data security

Varonis Data Security Platform

$100/year
  • Varonis Essentials$100/year
    • Data classification
    • Access visibility
    • Permission management
  • Varonis Professional$175/year
    • All Essentials features
    • Threat detection
    • User behavior analytics
  • Varonis Enterprise$300/year
    • All Professional features
    • Advanced analytics
    • Incident response

Which should you pick?

Choose Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud if

  • You need cloud security posture management.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want cloud workload protection.
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud review

Choose Varonis Data Security Platform if

  • You need effective permissions modelling.
  • You work on Web, Desktop.
  • You also want content classification.
Varonis Data Security Platform review

Questions people ask

Is Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud or Varonis Data Security Platform better?
Neither clearly leads. Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud or Varonis Data Security Platform?
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year.
Does Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud or Varonis Data Security Platform run on more platforms?
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud runs on Web, Api. Varonis Data Security Platform runs on Web, Desktop.
What is Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud best used for?
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud is most often used for cloud security, cspm, cwpp. Of those, cloud security and cspm are not what Varonis Data Security Platform is typically brought in for.
What can Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud do that Varonis Data Security Platform cannot?
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud covers Cloud Security Posture Management, Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Network Security, Cloud Identity Security. Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling, Content classification, Access activity auditing, Behavioural alerting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud: How much does Prisma Cloud cost?

Prisma Cloud pricing is not published publicly. Pricing is provided through the sales team via a custom quote based on your deployment scope and requirements.

Source
Varonis Data Security Platform: Is this data loss prevention?

No, and it is a common confusion. DLP watches data in motion and tries to stop it leaving. Varonis works on data at rest: where it is, who can reach it, and who touched it. They address different halves of the same problem and organisations frequently run both.

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud: Is there a free trial for Prisma Cloud?

No free trial is available without contacting the sales team. The company offers a demo through the product demo center or by requesting a demo through their sales process.

Source
Varonis Data Security Platform: On-premises or SaaS?

It is now sold principally as SaaS, with edge collectors deployed on your network to reach on-premises file shares and directories. Older on-premises deployments with Windows collectors and SQL Server still exist in the field and are being migrated.

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud: What do I need to do to get Prisma Cloud pricing and start a trial?

You must contact the sales team via the Contact Us link or request a demo. Pricing details are provided only through direct sales engagement.

Source
Varonis Data Security Platform: Does it need agents on every server?

Generally no. It collects through APIs and network protocols with service accounts, with collectors deployed near the data rather than agents on every host. That is one reason deployment is less invasive than the scale of the data suggests.

Varonis Data Security Platform: How long until it is useful?

Expect weeks to a few months depending on the size of the file estate and how quickly the service accounts and access are approved. The classification and behavioural baselining both need time before the alerts mean anything.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Can it fix the problems it finds automatically?

Yes, it can remove global access groups, repair broken inheritance and quarantine exposed files under policy. Most organisations run this in simulation first, because automatically changing permissions on live business data goes wrong loudly.

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