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Google Container Security

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Pricing from
$15,000 per year
Free Trial
Free version
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User industry
  1. Information technology and software
  2. Transportation and logistics
  3. Energy and utilities

What is Google Container Security

Google Container Security is a set of Google Cloud capabilities for securing containerized workloads, primarily on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and related Google Cloud services. It supports use cases such as vulnerability scanning for container images, policy enforcement for Kubernetes deployments, and runtime threat detection and investigation. It is typically used by platform, security, and DevOps teams operating containers in Google Cloud and integrates with Google Cloud’s security and logging services.

pros

Deep GKE and GCP integration

The product integrates tightly with Google Kubernetes Engine, Google Cloud IAM, and Google Cloud logging and monitoring services. This reduces the amount of custom integration work needed to connect cluster telemetry, identity, and audit data. For organizations standardizing on Google Cloud, it can simplify operational workflows compared with assembling multiple third-party tools.

Image scanning and metadata

It supports container image vulnerability scanning and surfacing of findings in Google Cloud security consoles and APIs. This helps teams identify known CVEs in images stored and deployed from Google-managed registries. Findings can be used to drive remediation workflows and gate deployments when combined with policy controls.

Policy and posture controls

Google Cloud provides policy mechanisms that can be applied to Kubernetes and container workflows (for example, admission controls and configuration guardrails). These controls help enforce baseline requirements such as allowed images, required security settings, and cluster configuration standards. Centralized policy management supports consistent enforcement across projects and environments within Google Cloud.

cons

Google Cloud-centric scope

Capabilities are primarily designed for workloads running on Google Cloud services such as GKE and Google-managed registries. Multi-cloud and on-prem Kubernetes environments may require additional tooling or separate operational processes. Organizations seeking a single pane of glass across heterogeneous environments may find coverage uneven outside Google Cloud.

Feature set spans multiple services

“Container Security” is not always a single standalone product; functionality is distributed across multiple Google Cloud services and consoles. This can increase evaluation complexity and make licensing/enablement less straightforward than a single-purpose tool. Teams may need to assemble and configure several components to achieve end-to-end container security workflows.

Advanced use requires tuning

Runtime detection and policy enforcement can require careful configuration to reduce noise and avoid disrupting deployments. Effective use often depends on mature Kubernetes operational practices, such as standardized image pipelines and consistent labeling/identity patterns. Smaller teams may need time to operationalize alerts, exceptions, and remediation processes.

Plan & Pricing

Security Command Center (tiered subscription) – (from official Google Cloud docs)

Plan Price Key features & notes
Standard Free of charge Basic security posture management for Google Cloud; self-service activation.
Premium Subscription: fixed-price subscription based on project/org Google Cloud spend (commonly 5% of projected annualized Google Cloud spend for organizations with < $15M annual spend); minimum annual subscription fee $15,000. Pay-as-you-go: per-service consumption rates (see notes). Includes posture management, threat detection, AI protection, virtual red teaming, compliance management. Available as subscription (org-level) or pay-as-you-go (project- or org-level). Artifact Registry/Artifact Analysis scanning is billed at $0.20 per count under SCC pay-as-you-go.
Enterprise Subscription-based pricing. Price component for Google Cloud environments calculated as 5% of projected annualized run rate (or tied to spend commitment) for orgs with < $15M spend; minimum annual subscription fee $15,000. Additional percentage fees apply for monitoring other clouds (small/medium/large/extra-large/custom). Complete multi-cloud CNAPP, automated case management and remediation playbooks. Contact sales for purchase and custom quotes.

Artifact Analysis / Container vulnerability scanning (usage-based) – (from official Google Cloud docs)

Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go Automatic scanning: $0.26 per scanned container image (initial scan charged when image first pushed). On-Demand Scanning API: $0.26 per scanned container image. Security Command Center customers: Artifact Registry/Artifact Analysis scanning is billed at $0.20 per count under Security Command Center Premium pay-as-you-go pricing (organization- or project-level rates differ). Advanced vulnerability insights (GKE security posture dashboard): $0.04 per cluster hour (deprecated; scheduled for shutdown June 16, 2026). Free tier/trial: No permanently free tier for Artifact Analysis scanning itself; scanning billing begins when Container Scanning API is enabled. Contact sales for custom quotes or to purchase SCC subscriptions that may include scanning as part of the subscription.

Notes: All pricing shown is USD and based on official Google Cloud pricing pages. Pay-as-you-go rates for Security Command Center Premium differ by activation level (project vs organization) and by service (Compute, GKE, Cloud SQL, Artifact Analysis, etc.). For subscription purchases or custom quotes, contact Google Cloud sales.

Seller details

Google LLC
Mountain View, CA, USA
1998
Subsidiary
https://cloud.google.com/deep-learning-vm
https://x.com/googlecloud
https://www.linkedin.com/company/google/

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