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 $6/mo Custom
Number of plans 4 3
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model per-seat custom

Lite

$8/mo
  • Server performance
  • Shared Gateway locations
  • Session Duration Controls
  • Download Protection
  • Web Protection
  • VPN protocol variety
  • NordLynx VPN protocol
  • Multi-platform app support
  • Devices per license
  • 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
$11/mo
  • Server performance
  • Shared Gateway locations
  • Virtual Private Gateway locations
  • Server with Dedicated IP
  • IP allowlisting
  • Session Duration Controls
  • IP-based split tunneling
  • Download Protection
  • 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

$14/mo
  • Server performance
  • Shared Gateway locations
  • Virtual Private Gateway locations
  • Server with Dedicated IP
  • IP allowlisting
  • Cloud Firewall (FWaaS)
  • Device Posture Security
  • Session Duration Controls
  • IP-based split tunneling
  • Download Protection
  • 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

$6/mo
  • Server performance
  • Shared Gateway locations
  • Virtual Private Gateway locations
  • Server with Dedicated IP
  • IP allowlisting
  • Cloud Firewall (FWaaS)
  • Device Posture Security
  • Session Duration Controls
  • IP-based split tunneling
  • Download Protection
  • 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
  • Technical solution architect

Dev Security

Custom
  • 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

Custom
  • 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

Custom
  • 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 NordLayer and Aqua Security offer 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: At $8–$14/user/month they're sitting in the mid-market lane, undercutting Zscaler and Perimeter 81 but not trying to be the cheapest option in the room. The $6/user Enterprise floor signals they're actively hunting larger deals and willing to compress margin to win volume. Aqua Security: Full-stack cloud-native security with no self-serve entry point screams enterprise-only — they're not competing with Snyk on developer tooling price points or Wiz on PLG motion. Aqua is going after security-mature orgs with real budgets, likely landing in the same deals as Palo Alto Prisma and Wiz at the high end.

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