Vendor Comparison
Compare Hilt and Wiz. Wiz is the standard for cloud posture (CSPM): config, IAM, and vulnerabilities at rest. Hilt adds runtime data movement governance. See where each fits and where they run together.
Hilt and Wiz answer two different questions about your cloud, and a mature program wants both answered. Wiz is the leading cloud security posture management (CSPM) platform: it scans your cloud configuration, identity permissions, and workload images to find what is exposed or misconfigured before anyone touches it. Hilt is a data movement governance platform: it watches data movement at runtime, metadata only by default, off the path, and surfaces when a specific move is abnormal for the identity behind it, while the data is moving. Hilt is additive to Wiz, not a rip and replace. Posture plus runtime movement.
This guide compares the two across what each one sees, when it sees it, and how the two layers fit together. For a broader view of the category, see our guide on data exfiltration prevention.
Wiz built the modern CSPM category and is genuinely strong at it. Its agentless scanning maps your cloud at rest: misconfigured storage buckets, over-permissive IAM roles, exposed ports, public-facing resources, and unpatched images across build and runtime. The Wiz Security Graph correlates those findings into attack paths, so a team can see how an exposed asset chains into a real risk and fix the highest-leverage problems first. For reducing exploitable surface area before anyone moves a byte, Wiz is the standard, and Hilt does not replace it.
Teams that run Wiz also notice where the posture question ends. Posture tells you what is exposed and who could reach it. It is not built to answer what actually moved: a permitted identity, on access it was correctly granted, reading and sending data in a pattern that does not fit. That move never trips a misconfiguration finding, because nothing is misconfigured. The role was supposed to have that access. That is the runtime layer Hilt adds.
| Capability | Hilt | Wiz |
|---|---|---|
| Core question | Is this data movement abnormal for this identity, right now? | What is exposed, misconfigured, or vulnerable, and who could reach it? |
| When it sees | At runtime, while data moves | At rest and at build time (posture) |
| Vantage | Data movement at the kernel (metadata by default) | Agentless config, IAM, and image scanning |
| Primary signal | Behavioral anomaly in actual movement | Misconfiguration, exposure, vulnerability, attack path |
| Domains covered | Cloud workloads + endpoints + network | Cloud configuration, identity, and workloads |
| Response | Host-level network isolation (quarantine), from the control plane | Prioritized remediation guidance and ticketing |
| Overhead | Off the path, ~0.1% of a core, 4 to 8 MB | Agentless scan (no runtime path) |
For a full category view, see the complete comparison.
This is the clean line between the two, and both sides of it matter. Wiz answers the posture question: across your cloud accounts, what is misconfigured, what is over-permissioned, what is exposed, and which of those facts chain into a real attack path. That is a complete and valuable picture of risk before anything happens, and it is the right place to start hardening a cloud estate.
Hilt answers a different question that posture cannot reach: of the moves that are happening right now, on access that is correctly configured, is this one abnormal for the identity behind it. A service account that was always allowed to read a production database, reading far outside its baseline volume and shipping to a destination it has never used, is not a posture finding. The configuration is correct. The behavior is not. Hilt watches that movement at the kernel, resolves it to a real identity, and surfaces the pattern as it forms.
| Question | Hilt | Wiz |
|---|---|---|
| Is this bucket misconfigured or public? | Not its job | Yes (core strength) |
| Is this IAM role over-permissive? | Not its job | Yes (core strength) |
| Is this image vulnerable or unpatched? | Not its job | Yes (core strength) |
| Did a permitted identity just move data abnormally? | Yes (core strength) | Not its job |
| Is a normal-looking role exfiltrating at runtime? | Yes (at the kernel) | Posture is correct, so no finding |
| Can you isolate the host while the move is live? | Yes (quarantine, never inline) | Remediation guidance, not runtime containment |
The takeaway is not that one tool is better. It is that posture and runtime movement are two layers, and the dangerous exfiltration of the last few years lives in the seam: a permission that was granted on purpose, used in a way nobody modeled. Wiz closes the exposure that should never have existed. Hilt catches the move that uses an exposure that was supposed to exist.
A fair comparison names where Wiz is the better fit, and there is a lot of it. If your immediate need is to inventory cloud risk, find misconfigurations and over-permissioned identities, prioritize vulnerabilities across build and runtime, and reason about attack paths before an incident, Wiz is excellent and Hilt does not try to do that work. Its agentless model deploys fast and gives broad coverage of your cloud posture without touching the runtime path. For a team standing up cloud security and hardening surface area, Wiz first is the right call.
Hilt is not a CSPM and will not tell you that a bucket is public or a role is over-permissive. It is built for the question that opens after the posture is clean: is the access you correctly granted being used in a way that does not fit.
Hilt is the right addition for teams that already run Wiz (or another CSPM) and want, on top of posture:
Posture reduces the surface. Runtime movement governance watches what happens on the surface that remains. Together they answer both halves of the cloud data question.
Book a demo with Hilt to see runtime data movement, resolved to a real identity, alongside your posture tooling. One-command deployment, first events in seconds.
Is Hilt a Wiz replacement? No. Wiz is a CSPM and answers the posture question: what is misconfigured, exposed, or vulnerable, and who could reach it. Hilt answers the runtime question: is a specific move abnormal for the identity behind it right now. The two cover different layers and run together. Hilt does not scan configuration or replace CSPM.
How is Hilt different from Wiz? Wiz scans cloud configuration, IAM, and images at rest and at build time, agentless, and prioritizes what to fix. Hilt watches data movement at runtime, metadata only by default, off the path, and surfaces when the pattern is abnormal for that identity. Wiz reduces exposure before anything happens; Hilt catches the anomalous move as it forms and can isolate the host at the network.
Do I still need a CSPM if I run Hilt? Yes. Hilt does not scan posture, so it will not tell you that a bucket is public or a role is over-permissive. Keep Wiz or your CSPM for that. Hilt adds the runtime movement layer that posture tooling is not built to occupy.
Does Hilt catch what posture tooling misses? It catches a specific thing posture is not designed to see: a permitted identity, on correctly configured access, moving data in a pattern that does not fit. Nothing is misconfigured, so there is no posture finding, but the behavior is abnormal. Hilt surfaces that at runtime and, where you choose to act, isolates the host at the network (quarantine), never inline.
Does Hilt work with my existing cloud security stack? Yes. Hilt is additive and runs alongside Wiz, your CSPM, and your SIEM. It adds the runtime movement and containment layer, single-tenant in your own cloud, where your events never leave your account. See our FAQ for integration details.
FAQ
No. Wiz is a CSPM and answers the posture question: what is misconfigured, exposed, or vulnerable, and who could reach it. Hilt answers the runtime question: is a specific move abnormal for the identity behind it right now. The two cover different layers and run together. Hilt does not scan configuration or replace CSPM.
Wiz scans cloud configuration, IAM, and images at rest and at build time, agentless, and prioritizes what to fix. Hilt watches data movement at runtime, metadata only by default, off the path, and surfaces when the pattern is abnormal for that identity. Wiz reduces exposure before anything happens; Hilt catches the anomalous move as it forms and can isolate the host at the network.
Yes. Hilt does not scan posture, so it will not tell you that a bucket is public or a role is over-permissive. Keep Wiz or your CSPM for that. Hilt adds the runtime movement layer that posture tooling is not built to occupy.
It catches a specific thing posture is not designed to see: a permitted identity, on correctly configured access, moving data in a pattern that does not fit. Nothing is misconfigured, so there is no posture finding, but the behavior is abnormal. Hilt surfaces that at runtime and, where you choose to act, isolates the host at the network (quarantine), never inline.
Yes. Hilt is additive and runs alongside Wiz, your CSPM, and your SIEM. It adds the runtime movement and containment layer, single-tenant in your own cloud, where your events never leave your account. See our [FAQ](/faq) for integration details.