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ConfigCobra vs CIS-CAT Pro
CIS-CAT Pro is the Center for Internet Security’s own downloadable assessor that you run yourself, and it needs a CIS SecureSuite Membership; ConfigCobra is a hosted, read-only service that scans Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS and adds an inventory, impact analysis and daily monitoring. CIS-CAT Pro suits teams that assess many operating systems and servers against CIS Benchmarks, while ConfigCobra suits teams that want cloud tenants scanned and tracked without installing anything.
At a glance
Facts about CIS-CAT Pro come from its official documentation and CIS pages, last checked 2026-11-02. Where those pages are silent, the table says “Not documented”.
| ConfigCobra | CIS-CAT Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A read-only cloud posture service for Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS, built around CIS benchmarks, an inventory and impact analysis | CIS-CAT Pro Assessor, a tool that “evaluates the cybersecurity posture of a system against recommended policy settings” and reports how closely it conforms to CIS Benchmarks |
| Clouds covered | Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud, AWS | The Coverage Guide lists the CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark v7.0.0 (Microsoft 365 Commercial Cloud only) and several Intune benchmarks. Its Azure, AWS and Google Cloud entries are Kubernetes service and Linux image benchmarks (for example AKS v2.0.0, EKS v2.0.0, GKE v2.0.0); no general Google Cloud Platform benchmark is listed |
| Benchmarks / checks | CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations v7.0.0 (160 controls); four CIS Azure benchmarks (339 controls); CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundation v5.0.0 (93 controls); four CIS AWS benchmarks (306 controls). Severity estimate and evidence per finding | CIS Benchmarks; the docs mention both “more than 80” and “100+” benchmarks. Results are scored 0 to 100. Automated recommendations it cannot assess are reported as Manual |
| Asset inventory (what objects it collects) | One inventory across clouds. Microsoft 365: users, guests, admins, groups, devices, enterprise apps, app registrations, mailboxes, SharePoint sites, policies, domains, licences, directory roles. Azure, Google Cloud and AWS: resources with their security properties | Not documented |
| Risk views (inactive users, guests, app secrets…) | Built-in views such as users inactive 90 days, guests who never signed in, expired or soon-expiring app credentials, high-privilege app permissions | Not documented |
| Cost and licence savings | Views for unused paid licences, licences of inactive users and unattached disks | Not documented |
| Remediation impact analysis | Yes: shows the affected users, groups, apps, policies or resources before you apply a fix, with impact level High / Medium / Low / None | Not documented. The HTML report highlights non-compliant settings and remediation steps |
| Drift monitoring and scheduled scans | Every connected cloud is scanned automatically every day; an ad hoc scan can be started any time; drift detection alerts when a control regresses (no configurable schedule) | Integrates with the CIS-CAT Pro Dashboard and CIS SecureSuite Platform to view compliance over time. Scheduled scans: Not documented |
| Notifications | Email notifications for findings and drift | Not documented |
| Reports and evidence | PDF report, audit-ready evidence export, CSV export of the inventory, read-only auditor seat | TXT, CSV, HTML, XML and JSON outputs; for Microsoft 365, HTML, JSON and ARF reports plus JSON and CSV evidence |
| AI assistant (MCP) | Yes: native MCP server for MCP-compatible assistants | Not documented |
| Multi-tenant / MSP use | Yes: multiple tenants from one workspace | Not documented |
| How it runs | Hosted service; read-only access, no agents | Software you download and run on a host you control (Java 21; GUI and CLI bundles). Microsoft 365 assessments also need PowerShell 7.6 |
| Access it needs | Read-only: Microsoft Graph read permissions (Microsoft 365), Reader plus a read-only Graph policy permission (Azure), a viewer-level service account (Google Cloud), an assume-role (AWS) | For Microsoft 365: certificate-based sign-in to an Entra application with Microsoft Graph, Exchange Online (Exchange.ManageAsApp) and SharePoint (Sites.FullControl.All) application permissions with admin consent, and the Global Reader role |
| Licence / pricing model | 14-day free trial with full access; then annual subscription (Continuous Compliance) or per-tenant Assessment License for MSPs and auditors | Requires a CIS SecureSuite Membership; without a licence file it runs in CIS-CAT Lite mode. Membership categories are End User, Academic, Nonprofit and SLTT Government; the price depends on the category and employee count and is not shown in the page text |
What CIS-CAT Pro does well
CIS-CAT Pro comes from the organisation that publishes the CIS Benchmarks, so it is built around that content. Its documentation says it can assess “remote or local target systems whether they reside in the cloud or on-premises”, and its coverage extends well beyond cloud tenants: Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems, plus many other technologies.
- Breadth. The documentation cites more than 80 CIS Benchmarks, and the product page cites 100+. If you must assess servers, workstations and applications as well as a tenant, one assessor can cover all of them.
- Output formats. TXT, CSV, HTML, XML and JSON are listed, and results are scored from 0 to 100.
- Runs where you choose. The assessor is installed on a host under your control, which suits environments that prefer software they operate themselves.
- A Microsoft 365 assessment for the same benchmark version. The docs list the CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations Benchmark v7.0.0, introduced in the Assessor in v4.60.0.
- Membership benefits. CIS says Members also get the SecureSuite Platform, a dedicated Member Success Manager and enhanced technical support. US SLTT governments and US public academic institutions are eligible for no-cost membership.
Where ConfigCobra is different
ConfigCobra is a hosted service focused on cloud tenants. It covers Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS in one place and goes beyond benchmark checks.
Modules
- CSPM. CIS benchmark checks for Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS. Every finding carries evidence and a severity estimate. The severity is our own prioritisation estimate, because CIS publishes none. A dashboard shows the compliance score, passing and failing controls and the most severe failures.
- Inventory & Insights. One inventory with a per-cloud view and an All clouds view, a relation graph showing how objects connect, findings linked to the objects they concern, built-in risk views and CSV export.
- Cost & licence optimisation. Three views of the inventory: unused paid licences, licences of inactive users and unattached disks.
- Remediation impact analysis. For a failing control it shows what changes in your environment if you apply the fix, with the effect, a confidence level and a prepare step.
- Monitoring & drift detection. Daily automatic scans, ad hoc scans on demand, and email notifications when a control regresses.
- Reports & evidence. A PDF report with a timestamped tenant snapshot, an audit-ready evidence export and a read-only auditor seat for clients or external auditors.
- AI assistant. An MCP server so you can ask an MCP-compatible assistant about posture, findings and global admins, answered from live scan data.
- Multi-tenant workspace. Assess subsidiaries or client tenants from one place.
ConfigCobra is read-only and never changes your tenant. For each finding it generates a copy-paste remediation script or portal steps that you run yourself.
The free trial lasts 14 days with full access to every available module and control.
Which one to choose
- Choose CIS-CAT Pro if you need to assess operating systems, servers or other technologies against CIS Benchmarks, you already hold or plan to hold a SecureSuite Membership, or you want the assessor to run on a host you operate.
- Choose ConfigCobra if your scope is cloud tenants across Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS, you want an inventory, licence and disk views, impact analysis before fixes and daily scans without installing software, or you manage several tenants as an MSP.
- Run both if you have a mixed estate: use CIS-CAT Pro for hosts and ConfigCobra for the cloud tenants, and keep the two result sets side by side.
The same Microsoft 365 benchmark version appears in both, so findings for a tenant can be compared control by control.
How to move or run them side by side
- List what is in scope: tenants and subscriptions for ConfigCobra, hosts and other technologies for CIS-CAT Pro.
- Start the 14-day ConfigCobra trial and connect one tenant with read-only access. Nothing is installed and nothing in the tenant is changed.
- If you already run CIS-CAT Pro for Microsoft 365, keep its schedule. Compare its HTML report with the ConfigCobra findings for the same CIS Microsoft 365 Foundations v7.0.0 controls.
- Note that the CIS-CAT Pro setup creates an Entra application and assigns roles in your tenant, while ConfigCobra uses read-only permissions.
- Use ConfigCobra’s impact analysis before applying a fix, then run your own remediation script or portal steps.
- After the fix, start an ad hoc scan to confirm the control passes. Daily scans then watch for drift.
Sources
- cisecurity.orghttps://www.cisecurity.org/cybersecurity-tools/cis-cat-pro
- cisecurity.orghttps://www.cisecurity.org/cis-securesuite/pricing-and-categories
- ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.orghttps://ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/About/
- ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.orghttps://ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/Coverage%20Guide/
- ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.orghttps://ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/Assess-M365/
- ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.orghttps://ciscat-assessor.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/Installation%20and%20License%20Management/
Facts about CIS-CAT Pro come from its public documentation, last checked 1 Nov 2026. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
See where your cloud stands
ConfigCobra checks Microsoft 365, Azure, Google Cloud and AWS against the CIS benchmarks, read-only.