Secure Compass vs
AWS Security Hub
Security Hub gives you the raw findings. Secure Compass gives you the compliance score, the executive report, and the action plan — in 5 minutes, for free.
Run Free AssessmentNo credit card. Read-only access. 5-minute setup.
The short version
A security operations platform that aggregates findings from multiple AWS services. Powerful, but requires configuration, produces raw findings that need interpretation, and has no built-in reporting for non-technical stakeholders. Priced per resource.
An automated Well-Architected Security Review that gives you a compliance score, priority action items, public exposure detection, and executive PDF reports. 5-minute setup, free tier, and designed for CTOs and engineers — not SOC analysts.
Feature comparison
| Security Hub | Secure Compass | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Security operations & finding aggregation | Security posture assessment & reporting |
| Setup time | Hours to days (per-region, per-account) | 5 minutes (one CloudFormation stack) |
| Configuration required | Enable per region, configure integrations, tune findings | None — deploy IAM role and go |
| Assessment method | Aggregates findings from other AWS services | Automated scan against 228 security controls |
| Compliance frameworks | CIS Benchmarks, PCI-DSS, NIST (findings-based) | SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, NIST, FedRAMP |
| Executive reporting | No — console dashboards only | Yes — one-click PDF export for board presentations |
| Public exposure scanning | Limited (via Inspector/GuardDuty) | Dedicated scanner — 22 resource types |
| Well-Architected alignment | None | Built on the Security Pillar framework |
| Period-over-period trends | Basic finding counts | Scored compliance trends per principle |
| Target user | Security operations / SOC teams | CTOs, engineers, and auditors |
| Pricing | Per-resource consumption (variable) | Free tier available |
| Finding noise level | High — thousands of raw findings | Low — prioritised by design principle |
When to use which
Security Hub is better if you...
• Have a dedicated security operations team
• Need real-time threat detection and automated response
• Want to aggregate findings from GuardDuty, Inspector, Macie, and partner tools
• Run a SOC and need a SIEM-like aggregation layer
• Need automated remediation workflows with EventBridge and Lambda
Secure Compass is better if you...
• Need to know your security posture in 5 minutes, not 5 days
• Want a report you can hand to your CTO or board
• Are preparing for a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit
• Want to find publicly exposed resources across 22 resource types
• Don't have a dedicated security team to interpret raw findings
• Need compliance mapping, not just finding counts
• Want period-over-period improvement tracking
Key differences
Findings vs answers
Security Hub gives you findings — thousands of them. Secure Compass gives you answers: your compliance score is 72%, these 28 resources need attention, and here's the report for your board. The difference is the gap between data and decisions.
Configuration vs deployment
Security Hub needs to be enabled per region, per account. You configure which standards to check, which integrations to enable, which findings to suppress. Secure Compass is one CloudFormation stack that deploys a read-only IAM role — no configuration, no tuning, no per-region setup.
SecOps vs posture management
Security Hub is built for security operations — real-time detection, automated response, SIEM integration. Secure Compass is built for security posture management — assessment, scoring, compliance mapping, and reporting. Different tools for different jobs.
Raw output vs executive reporting
Security Hub has no concept of an executive report. Its output is a console dashboard designed for security engineers. Secure Compass produces PDF reports with compliance scores, trend comparisons, and priority recommendations — designed to be shared with non-technical stakeholders.
Consumption pricing vs free tier
Security Hub charges per resource unit with variable pricing that scales with your infrastructure. Secure Compass has a free tier that includes the full Security Pillar assessment and Public Exposure scanner for up to 5 accounts — no credit card required.
They're complementary, not competing
Security Hub aggregates raw findings from across your AWS services. Secure Compass takes the Security Pillar and turns it into scored, ranked, and reported output your CTO can read and your auditor can use. Many teams run both — Security Hub for real-time SecOps, Secure Compass for posture management and reporting.
Real-time finding aggregation and automated response
Scored assessment, compliance mapping, and executive reporting
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Secure Compass and Security Hub together?
Yes — and many teams do. Security Hub handles real-time security operations and automated response. Secure Compass handles posture assessment, compliance reporting, and executive visibility. They serve different purposes.
Does Secure Compass replace Security Hub?
No. They solve different problems. Security Hub is a security operations platform for aggregating and responding to findings in real time. Secure Compass is a posture management tool that scores your security against the Well-Architected Framework and produces reports.
Is Security Hub hard to set up?
It depends on your scale. For a single account in one region, it's straightforward. For multi-account, multi-region environments, you need AWS Organizations integration, per-region enablement, standard selection, and finding suppression rules. Secure Compass is one CloudFormation stack regardless of complexity.
Does Security Hub have compliance reporting?
Security Hub checks against CIS Benchmarks, PCI-DSS, and NIST standards, but the output is a compliance percentage in the console — not an exportable report. Secure Compass maps findings to SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, NIST, and FedRAMP with exportable PDF reports.
Which is cheaper?
Secure Compass has a free tier that covers the full Security Pillar assessment and Public Exposure scanner. Security Hub uses per-resource consumption pricing that varies with your infrastructure size. For small to mid-size environments, Secure Compass is significantly cheaper or free.
I already have Security Hub enabled. Why would I add Secure Compass?
Because Security Hub doesn't answer the questions your CTO and auditor are asking: "What's our security score? Are we SOC 2 ready? What should we fix first? Show me the trend." Secure Compass turns your AWS security state into those answers.