Prowler vs Checkov: Runtime CSPM vs IaC Scanning

Prowler and Checkov get compared because both find cloud misconfigurations, but they look in different places. Checkov reads infrastructure-as-code files before anything is deployed. Prowler reads the live cloud account through its APIs after it is deployed. Most teams that care about either end up running both. Figures below were checked October 23, 2026 on GitHub (Prowler, Checkov).

Quick answer

Sources: Prowler source at tag 5.45.0 and the Checkov README and source, checked October 23, 2026.

Verdict: they solve different problems, so run both. Checkov stops a public S3 bucket from being merged. Prowler finds the public S3 bucket someone created in the console, the one in an account Terraform never touched, and the IAM user whose access key has not rotated in a year. If you can only run one, run the one that matches where your risk is: Checkov when everything goes through IaC, Prowler when it does not.

Runtime scanning vs IaC scanning

IaC scanning is fast and cheap to act on. A failing check in a pull request costs the author a few minutes. It only sees what is in the repository, though. Manual console changes, resources created by other teams, defaults set by the provider and account-level settings (root MFA, password policy, CloudTrail in every region, GuardDuty enabled) never show up in a Terraform file.

Runtime scanning sees the account as it is, whatever created it. The cost is that findings arrive after deployment, and fixing them means going back to the code or the console. A team with both gets early warnings in pull requests and a daily check that the account matches what the code says.

What Checkov covers

Checkov scans Terraform, Terraform plan, CloudFormation, AWS SAM, Kubernetes manifests, Helm, Kustomize, Dockerfiles, Serverless, Ansible, Bicep, ARM and OpenTofu. It also scans CI files for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure Pipelines, Bitbucket Pipelines, CircleCI and Argo Workflows, and detects secrets (Checkov features, checked October 2026). Its graph-based policies can check relationships between resources, such as a bucket and its policy, which simple attribute checks miss.

The README's examples for package and container image scanning (sca_package, sca_image) pass a Prisma Cloud API key with --bc-api-key. Treat IaC and secrets scanning as the open-source part.

One bucket, two findings

Take an S3 bucket defined in Terraform without a public access block. Checkov flags it in the pull request with policy CKV2_AWS_6, and the author adds the block before merge. Months later an engineer disables Block Public Access on that bucket from the console while debugging a CDN issue and forgets to turn it back on. The Terraform file still passes Checkov, because the file did not change. Prowler's next scan reports the bucket through s3_bucket_level_public_access_block, and the finding lists the compliance requirements it breaks. A terraform plan would also show the drift, but only for resources in state and only when someone runs it.

Both projects ship often: Checkov published 61 releases in the twelve months to October 2026, the latest being 3.3.30 on October 20, and Prowler published 65 (Checkov releases, Prowler releases).

Prowler can scan IaC too

Prowler has an iac provider. At 5.45.0 it does not have its own IaC rules: it runs Trivy (trivy fs) on a local folder or a cloned repository and converts the results into Prowler findings (iac_provider.py). By default it runs Trivy's misconfiguration and secret scanners, and you can add vulnerability and license scanning. The Prowler container image bundles Trivy; a pip install needs Trivy installed separately.

That makes the IaC comparison really Checkov against Trivy's misconfiguration rules, with Prowler as the wrapper that gives you one output format and one place to look. Checkov has more IaC frameworks and CI file types. The Prowler route is convenient if you already use Prowler and want IaC findings in the same CSV, OCSF or SARIF output. Prowler's compliance frameworks map to its cloud checks; IaC findings are not mapped to them.

Running each one

Checkov against a Terraform folder, with SARIF for GitHub code scanning:

pip install checkov
checkov -d ./infra --framework terraform
checkov -d ./infra -o sarif

Prowler against the same folder, through its IaC provider (Trivy must be on the PATH):

pip install prowler
prowler iac --scan-path ./infra --output-formats sarif csv

Prowler against the live AWS account those files deployed to, with the CIS AWS Foundations 7.0 framework:

prowler aws --compliance cis_7.0_aws

Which to pick

Pick Checkov for pull request and pre-commit checks on IaC and CI files. It has the wider IaC coverage, and graph checks catch problems between resources.

Pick Prowler for continuous scanning of live accounts and for compliance evidence: CIS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and the rest, mapped per finding.

Run both when your infrastructure is mostly in code but not entirely, which describes most AWS estates. If you want the Prowler half without operating the web app, Kevra Security runs it for you with daily scans of your cloud accounts.

Related: Prowler vs Trivy, Prowler vs Steampipe, open-source CSPM tools compared.

FAQ

Is Checkov a CSPM?

No. Checkov scans infrastructure-as-code and CI files before deployment. A CSPM such as Prowler scans the deployed cloud account. Checkov's docs say Prisma Cloud, which maintains Checkov, extends it with runtime scanning.

Can Prowler scan Terraform?

Yes. prowler iac --scan-path ./infra scans Terraform and other IaC formats. Prowler runs Trivy under the hood for this, so the rules are Trivy's misconfiguration checks.

Is Checkov free?

The Checkov CLI is open source under Apache-2.0. The README's package and container image scanning examples use a Prisma Cloud API key.

Should I use Prowler or Checkov?

Use Checkov in pull requests to catch IaC misconfigurations before deploy, and Prowler to scan live accounts for drift, manual changes and account-level settings. They overlap very little.

Do Prowler and Checkov output SARIF?

Yes. Checkov supports -o sarif. Prowler supports --output-formats sarif for its IaC provider only.

Prowler is a trademark of its owners. Kevra is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Prowler. Kevra Security runs the open-source Prowler project (Apache-2.0) as a managed service.