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Head-to-head · Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools

Open Policy Agent vs Checkov

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 6 checks side by side
Higher score Open Policy Agent #3 in Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools 9.1/10 Open source ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit site
Checkov #5 in Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 5 features Visit Checkov

Open Policy Agent leads on 0 checks, Checkov on 0, and 6 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 6 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreOpen Policy Agent · 9.1/10
  • Free planonly Checkov
  • Most featuresOpen Policy Agent · 5 of 5

Open Policy Agent scores higher on our rubric for infrastructure policy as code tools: 9.1 against 8.9 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #5.

Open Policy Agent is the better fit for teams building policy platforms. Checkov is the better fit for open-source IaC scanning teams.

  • Open Policy Agent fits best

    Teams building policy platforms

  • Checkov fits best

    Open-source IaC scanning teams

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Side by side

Feature Open Policy Agent 9.1/10 Visit ↗ Checkov 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 8.9
Ranking #3 in Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools #5 in Infrastructure Policy as Code Tools
Best for Teams building policy platforms Open-source IaC scanning teams
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Open source Free plan
Free plan Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted Self-hosted
Support Community, Docs Community, Docs
Integrations 5 integrations 9 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Open Policy Agent 5/5 · Checkov 0/5
Policy testing ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Admission control ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Runtime enforcement ✓ (best) Not checked yet
CI/CD integration ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Policy reporting ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Policy language Rego Not checked yet
IaC formats Terraform plan JSON, JSON, YAML Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Rego supports declarative policy authoring and reusable rules
  • Covers Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, APIs, and Go integrations
  • Includes testing, decision logging, and policy/data bundle loading
  • Scans Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, secrets and other configurations
  • Supports custom Python and YAML policies with graph-based analysis
  • Fits CI/CD, pull-request, pre-commit and IDE workflows
Cons
  • Requires teams to author policies in the Rego language
  • The supplied platform coverage is primarily API-based
  • Open-source delivery does not include paid hosted plans
  • Focuses on configuration scanning rather than runtime enforcement
  • Runs on Linux and macOS
  • IDE extensions come through third-party marketplaces
Our verdict

Open Policy Agent (OPA) is an open-source, general-purpose policy engine that separates policy decisions from application logic. It is designed for teams building policy platforms across microservices, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, API…

Read the review →

Checkov is an open-source static analysis tool for infrastructure as code, designed for teams that need preventive security and compliance checks before deployment. It scans Terraform and Terraform plans, CloudFormation and AWS SAM,…

Read the review →
  1. Open Policy AgentInfrastructure Policy as Code Tools 9.1Open source
  2. CheckovInfrastructure Policy as Code Tools 8.9Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Open Policy Agent — where it wins

    • Rego supports declarative policy authoring and reusable rules
    • Covers Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, APIs, and Go integrations
    • Includes testing, decision logging, and policy/data bundle loading

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires teams to author policies in the Rego language
    • The supplied platform coverage is primarily API-based
    • Open-source delivery does not include paid hosted plans

  • Checkov — where it wins

    • Scans Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, secrets and other configurations
    • Supports custom Python and YAML policies with graph-based analysis
    • Fits CI/CD, pull-request, pre-commit and IDE workflows

    Where it doesn't

    • Focuses on configuration scanning rather than runtime enforcement
    • Runs on Linux and macOS
    • IDE extensions come through third-party marketplaces

More comparisons

All infrastructure policy as code tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update