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Container and Kubernetes security · November 2026 Edition

Falco vs Aqua Security

Zero of fourteen models named Falco first on the direct prompt; one named Aqua Security. Both were named by all fourteen models and Falco carries 43 labels and Aqua Security 49, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Falco

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

Aqua Security

accepted challenger

Named in six categories this edition.

First-choice share21%3%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate2%20%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#8A position in a field of 14; printed, not drawn.
Labels4349A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Falco reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Sysdig Secure was named alongside these two in fourteen of the fourteen direct answers. Trivy vs Falco · Trivy vs Aqua Security · Falco vs Kubescape

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the container and kubernetes security page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
FalcoFirst choices, of fourteen modelsAqua Security
Direct011 against Aqua Security
Paraphrase501 against Aqua Security
Comparative02
Budget-constrained1004 against Aqua Security
Scale-constrained01
Negative101 against Falco · 4 against Aqua Security
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Falco and Aqua Security were named in the same answer eighty-two times, of the 132 answers naming Falco and the 244 naming Aqua Security. In those answers Aqua Security took the first choice five times and Falco twenty-two.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Falco and Aqua Security stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Falco Aqua Security first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Falco on the left and Aqua Security on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Falco and Aqua Security stood in it.

Aqua Security first, Falco not the choice

1 of 14 modelsFalco was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Muse Glimmer 30BAqua Security, Sysdig Secure alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Containers

Neither was the first choice, one was named

7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Aikido Security alternatives: Aqua Security, Sysdig Secure
GPT-5.4 miniSysdig Secure alternatives: Aqua Security, Wiz
Gemini 3.5 FlashWiz alternatives: Aqua Security, CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Datadog Cloud Security, Sysdig Secure
Grok 4.20Wiz alternatives: Aqua Security, Sysdig Secure
DeepSeek V4 FlashSysdig Secure alternatives: Aqua Security
Llama 4 MaverickTrivy alternatives: Falco, Mend.io, Sysdig Secure
Qwen 3.7 FlashAikido Security, Snyk Container alternatives: Aqua Security, Mend.io, Sysdig Secure

Neither was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Perplexity SonarAikido Security alternatives: Snyk Container, Sysdig Secure
Mistral SmallUpwind alternatives: Datadog Cloud Security Management, Sysdig Secure, Wiz
Kimi K2Aikido Security alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Containers, Sysdig Secure, Wiz
GLM 4.7 FlashXMend.io alternatives: Snyk Container, Sysdig Secure, Wiz
MiniMax M2.5Mend.io alternatives: Aikido Security, Sysdig Secure, Wiz
GPT-6 LunaSysdig Secure alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Containers, Wiz

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Falco leads by twenty-two points.
Falco22%#2 of 14
Aqua Security0%#13 of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Falco leads by eighteen points.
Falco21%#2 of 14
Aqua Security3%#8 of 14
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Aqua Security leads at enterprise.
Aqua Security14%#4 of 12
Falco2%#8 of 12
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Falco

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.

“Falco-like detection can identify suspicious behavior, but rules need tuning and alerts still require response automation” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd recommend Falco (runtime security) paired with Trivy (container image scanning) as a strong combination” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Trivy + Kubescape + Falco (all free, open-source) is the best container security "platform."” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Open source with strong backing: Falco (CNCF), Trivy (Aqua but widely adopted)” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · first choice

What the models said about Aqua Security

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.

“Avoid starting with Prisma Cloud, Aqua, or Sysdig” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · hard negative
“Aqua is a pioneer in container security, covering every layer from developer CI/CD scanning ... to real-time runtime prevention using eBPF sensors.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“two container-first platforms that are repeatedly called out as the best-fit size for mid-market: Aqua Security” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“I'd short-list Sysdig and Aqua if you run significant K8s and need runtime protection” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.