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Cybersecurity · head to head

Teleport vs Trivy

Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trivy logo

Trivy

Cybersecurity

Open-source vulnerability and misconfiguration scanner

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Trivy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.; Trivy reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
  • They diverge on capability: Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Trivy covers Multi-target scanning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Teleport and Trivy actually diverge.

Attributes where Teleport and Trivy differ
AttributeTeleportTrivy
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, CloudLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes

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

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 Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

Only in Trivy

  • Multi-target scanning
  • Vulnerability detection
  • Misconfiguration checks
  • Secret detection

What people use each for

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

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot Trivy
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot Trivy
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot Trivy
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot Trivy

Trivy

  • Failing a pull request when a container image introduces a known CVEnot Teleport
  • Scanning Terraform and Kubernetes manifests for misconfiguration before applynot Teleport
  • Catching committed secrets as part of an existing CI stepnot Teleport

Where each one falls short

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

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Trivy

  • Reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
  • No built-in triage or exception workflow, so suppressing accepted risk is managed in config files
  • Findings are point-in-time from CI, with no continuous runtime monitoring unless you add the commercial platform

Pricing, plan by plan

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Trivy

Free
  • TrivyFree
    • Full scanner
    • Unlimited scans
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Choose Trivy if

  • You need multi-target scanning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want vulnerability detection.
Trivy review

Questions people ask

Is Teleport or Trivy better?
Neither clearly leads. Teleport starts at On request and Trivy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Teleport or Trivy?
Trivy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Teleport and Free for Trivy.
Does Teleport or Trivy run on more platforms?
Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud. Trivy runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use Trivy for free?
Yes. Trivy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is Teleport best used for?
Teleport is most often used for removing long-lived ssh keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity provider, producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for soc 2 or fedramp, giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rights, replacing a flat vpn with per-resource authorisation across servers, kubernetes and internal web apps. Of those, removing long-lived ssh keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity provider and producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for soc 2 or fedramp are not what Trivy is typically brought in for.
What can Teleport do that Trivy cannot?
Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests. Trivy covers Multi-target scanning, Vulnerability detection, Misconfiguration checks, Secret detection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Trivy: Is Trivy free?

Yes, open source from Aqua Security with no licence fee. Aqua sells a commercial platform around it.

Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Trivy: What can Trivy scan?

Container images, filesystems, Git repositories, Kubernetes clusters and infrastructure-as-code, for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, secrets and licences.

Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Trivy: Does Trivy need a server?

No. It is a single binary, which is a large part of why it became a default in CI.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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