NordLayer vs Aqua Security Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| NordLayer | Aqua Security | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $8/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | per-seat | custom |
Lite
- Server performance
- Shared Gateway locations
- Session Duration Controls
- Download Protection (new)
- Web Protection
- VPN protocol variety
- NordLynx VPN protocol
- Multi-platform app support
- Multi-factor authentication
- Always On VPN
- Auto-connect
- SSO
- Activity monitoring reports
- Dashboards
- Built-in integrations
- Custom integrations
- 24/7 tech-minded live chat/email support
Core
Popular- Server performance
- Shared Gateway locations
- Virtual Private Gateway locations
- Server with Dedicated IP
- IP allowlisting
- Session Duration Controls
- Split tunneling
- Download Protection (new)
- Web Protection
- VPN protocol variety
- NordLynx VPN protocol
- DNS Filtering by category
- Custom DNS
- Application Blocker
- Multi-platform app support
- Devices per license
- Manual configuration
- Multi-factor authentication
- Biometrics
- Always On VPN
- Auto-connect
- SSO
- Activity monitoring reports
- Device posture monitoring
- Dashboards
- Built-in integrations
- Custom integrations
- 24/7 tech-minded live chat/email support
- Dedicated account manager
Premium
- Server performance
- Shared Gateway locations
- Virtual Private Gateway locations
- Server with Dedicated IP
- IP allowlisting
- Cloud Firewall (FWaaS)
- Device Posture Security
- Session Duration Controls
- Split tunneling
- Download Protection (new)
- Web Protection
- VPN protocol variety
- NordLynx VPN protocol
- DNS Filtering by category
- Custom DNS
- Application Blocker
- URL-based split tunneling (Browser Extension only)
- Multi-platform app support
- Devices per license
- Manual configuration
- Site-to-Site connector
- Cloud LAN
- Browser Extension
- Multi-factor authentication
- Biometrics
- Always On VPN
- Auto-connect
- SSO
- User provisioning
- Activity monitoring reports
- Device posture monitoring
- Dashboards
- Built-in integrations
- Custom integrations
- 24/7 tech-minded live chat/email support
- Dedicated account manager
Enterprise offer
- Server performance
- Shared Gateway locations
- Virtual Private Gateway locations
- Server with Dedicated IP
- IP allowlisting
- Cloud Firewall (FWaaS)
- Device Posture Security
- Session Duration Controls
- Split tunneling
- Download Protection (new)
- Web Protection
- VPN protocol variety
- NordLynx VPN protocol
- DNS Filtering by category
- Custom DNS
- Application Blocker
- URL-based split tunneling (Browser Extension only)
- Multi-platform app support
- Devices per license
- Manual configuration
- Site-to-Site connector
- Cloud LAN
- Browser Extension
- Multi-factor authentication
- Biometrics
- Always On VPN
- Auto-connect
- SSO
- User provisioning
- Activity monitoring reports
- Device posture monitoring
- Dashboards
- Built-in integrations
- Custom integrations
- 24/7 tech-minded live chat/email support
- Dedicated account manager
Dev Security
- Code repo discovery and code scanning
- Vulnerability and risk scanning of container images
- Dynamic Threat Analysis (DTA) in a secure sandbox to detect sophisticated malware
- Open source health scoring
- Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) scanning
- Pipeline security with static pipeline analysis
- CI/CD posture management
- Integrity checks of code throughout the lifecycle
- Automated next-gen SBOM generation and analysis
- CI/CD, registry and SCM toolchain integrity and governance
Cloud Security
- Auto-discovery, inventory and risk assessment across cloud accounts
- Agentless cloud workload scanning
- Support of AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle and Alibaba Cloud environments
- Hundreds of configuration checks across compute, database, storage and identity resources
- Out-of-the-box compliance reporting
- eBPF-based real-time detection of malicious behavior
- Drift prevention to ensure immutability of workloads at runtime
- Advanced malware protection with malware blocking and deletion
- Service identity-based segmentation (firewall)
- Event audit trails, incidents view, and response policies
Platform
- End-to-end visibility across the entire SDLC
- Risk-based prioritization and insights
- Contextualized risk scoring
- Built-in compliance and custom reporting
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Broad integrations with third-party tools
NordLayer vs Aqua Security FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Neither has a free plan. But Aqua Security offers a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. NordLayer uses per-seat pricing, while Aqua Security goes with custom. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. NordLayer: Sitting in the mid-market lane for Zero Trust/business VPN tools — pricier than consumer VPN services rebranded for teams, but cheaper than full-blown Zero Trust platforms like Zscaler or Perimeter 81's higher tiers. The custom Enterprise floor of $6/seat (with a 200-user minimum) shows they'll undercut hard to land big logos, even if it means offering only Lite-tier features at that price. Aqua Security: With zero public pricing and a demo-gated sales process, Aqua positions itself as an enterprise-grade player competing with the likes of Wiz, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, and Orca — not a budget tool for small teams. They're chasing organizations with complex, multi-cloud workloads who need dedicated security engineering, not a DevOps team bolting on a scanner.
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