Spacelift
Tenable
| Feature | Spacelift | Tenable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $35/mo | Free / from $3990/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | platform-teams, devops-engineers, infrastructure-teams, enterprises | security-teams, compliance-officers, it-operations, vulnerability-managers |
| Founded | 2020 | 2002 |
| Iac Orchestration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Policy Engine | ✓ | ✗ |
| Drift Detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Modules Registry | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vcs Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Approval Workflows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vulnerability Scanning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Asset Discovery | ✗ | ✓ |
| Risk Prioritization | ✗ | ✓ |
| Compliance Reporting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Web App Scanning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cloud Security | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Spacelift Pros
- Multi-IaC support
- Excellent policy engine
- Good drift detection
- Strong collaboration tools
✗ Spacelift Cons
- Premium pricing
- Newer platform less proven
- Learning curve for policies
✓ Tenable Pros
- Comprehensive vulnerability coverage
- Excellent asset discovery
- Good risk prioritization
- Strong compliance reporting
✗ Tenable Cons
- Expensive for large environments
- Complex initial setup
- Scanning can impact performance
The Verdict
Spacelift is built for platform teams and devops engineers, with a focus on iac-orchestration and policy-engine. Tenable targets security teams and compliance officers and leads with vulnerability-scanning and asset-discovery.
On pricing, Spacelift is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $35/mo compared to $3990/mo for Tenable. That $3955/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.