If you need another multi-engine platform for a large, mixed estate and a formal compliance programme, the closest match is Imperva Data Security Fabric (part of Thales since December 2023). If you want audit, a blocking database firewall and dynamic masking in one product you deploy yourself, with metered billing on AWS Marketplace, look at DataSunrise. Oracle-centred organisations should compare Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall (self-managed appliance) and Oracle Data Safe (managed OCI service). LevelBlue DbProtect is strongest on vulnerability and user-rights assessment. On cloud databases, AWS Database Activity Streams and Microsoft Defender for SQL cover part of the job natively, but neither is a full audit and reporting platform on its own.
IBM Guardium Data Protection monitors and records access to databases and file servers, applies security and audit policies and produces compliance reports for regimes such as SOX and PCI DSS. IBM documents an architecture of collector and aggregator appliances, a central manager, S-TAP agents on database servers, and universal connector plug-ins that read native audit logs from cloud and managed databases where agents cannot be installed. Release 12.2.1 is current, and IBM also sells it as a module of the Guardium Data Security Center suite. See the Guardium Data Protection profile.
Organisations that look elsewhere usually give one of these reasons. The first three are based on IBM's published pages as summarised in our profile; the last two are our editorial reading, not survey data.
- No published pricing. IBM publishes no list prices or licence metric on the pages checked, so budgeting needs an enterprise sales process.
- An appliance and agent estate to run. Collectors, aggregators, a central manager and S-TAP agents need sizing, patching and specialist skills.
- Packaging. Capabilities are spread across Guardium Data Protection, Vulnerability Assessment, DDR and Cryptography Manager, so it can be hard to tell which module covers what.
- A narrower estate. Teams with mostly Oracle, or mostly Azure SQL, may get what auditors need from the database vendor's own tools (editorial).
- Masking and blocking in the same product. Smaller teams sometimes want audit, firewall and masking from one install rather than a suite (editorial).
For head-to-head pages, see IBM Guardium vs Imperva, DataSunrise vs Oracle Audit Vault and Oracle Data Safe vs Microsoft Defender for SQL.
Quick picks
Agent-based and agentless monitoring, discovery and analytics across databases, mainframe and files.
Self-hosted proxy, sniffer, log-reader or agent modes, with metered billing on AWS Marketplace.
Central audit repository plus a network SQL firewall, with plug-ins for Oracle, SQL Server, Db2, Sybase and MySQL.
Assessment, auditing, discovery, masking and SQL Firewall management from OCI.
An encrypted near real-time stream from Aurora and RDS for Oracle and SQL Server, for your own tooling or a SIEM.
How we chose
We considered Imperva Data Security Fabric, DataSunrise, Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall, Oracle Data Safe, LevelBlue DbProtect, AWS Database Activity Streams, Microsoft Defender for SQL and IDERA SQL Secure. To be included, a product had to monitor, audit or assess activity on production databases, be sold or supported in November 2026, and document its supported engines and deployment on an official page.
IDERA SQL Secure is not listed because it only reviews SQL Server permissions and configuration, with no activity monitoring. Encryption and tokenization products such as Thales CipherTrust and Protegrity solve a different problem and are not Guardium replacements. Several products here have changed owner (Imperva to Thales in 2023, Trustwave to LevelBlue in 2025) but are still sold under their own names with current releases or documentation; the entries say so.
We did not write a separate DataSunrise alternatives page: its shortlist would repeat most of this one, so DataSunrise is an entry here and the closing section covers who might move away from it. The order is not a ranking: entries start with multi-engine platforms, then Oracle tools, then assessment-focused software, then native cloud services.
At a glance
| Product | Deployment | Engines (documented) | Blocks queries | Pricing | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperva Data Security Fabric | On premises, hybrid, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud | Relational, NoSQL, warehouses, Db2 and IMS on z/OS, files | Not covered here; confirm with vendor | Term subscription per database server, by quote | Packaging shifting since the Thales deal |
| DataSunrise | Self-hosted on Windows, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes; cloud marketplaces | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Db2, SAP HANA, MongoDB, Snowflake, BigQuery and more | Yes, in proxy mode | 1.40 USD per instance-hour on AWS Marketplace; otherwise quote | Firewall and masking need proxy mode |
| Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall | Self-managed appliance; OCI image | Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase ASE, Db2 LUW, MySQL; MongoDB via Quick JSON | Yes (monitoring-and-blocking mode) | Oracle licence; price not verified | Appliance to run; narrower non-Oracle coverage |
| Oracle Data Safe | Managed OCI service | Oracle Database only | Manages Oracle SQL Firewall (26ai) | Included with Oracle cloud databases; per target and audit overage otherwise | Oracle only; 12 months online audit retention |
| LevelBlue DbProtect | Self-hosted software or managed service | Oracle, SQL Server, Db2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and others | Can end sessions or disable accounts | By quote | Few public releases since November 2024 |
| AWS Database Activity Streams | Feature of Aurora and RDS | Aurora PostgreSQL and MySQL; RDS for Oracle 19c and SQL Server 2016 to 2019 | No | Feature free; Kinesis and KMS charges | Raw stream only; you need an analysis layer |
| Microsoft Defender for SQL | Azure; Azure Arc for other locations | Azure SQL, SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server 2012 to 2022 | No (alerts only) | Defender for Cloud consumption meters | Microsoft SQL only; not an audit log |
Imperva Data Security Fabric
Imperva Data Security Fabric is the platform Imperva built around its long-running database activity monitoring products and Sonar. Its product page lists activity monitoring, discovery and classification, risk analytics, retention and archive, playbooks, static masking, and encryption and tokenization through Thales, with agent-based and agentless collection across on-premises, hybrid and multicloud estates, including Db2 and IMS on IBM z/OS.
Imperva's licence definitions (April 2025) describe a term subscription with plans such as Data 360 and Data Secure, mostly counted by the peak number of database server hosts monitored on any day in a month, with large hosts counted separately and masking licensed per terabyte. Thales completed its acquisition of Imperva on 4 December 2023 and the product keeps the Imperva name. AWS names Imperva, like Guardium, as a consumer of Aurora PostgreSQL activity streams. See IBM Guardium vs Imperva.
- No public prices; plan names and inclusions need confirming with sales.
- Packaging has shifted since the Thales acquisition, with Imperva and Thales pages and documentation mixed.
- Monitored high-availability nodes count toward licensed database servers.
Read our Imperva Data Security Fabric review · Official site
DataSunrise
DataSunrise Database and Data Security covers activity monitoring and audit, a database firewall, dynamic and static masking, sensitive data discovery, vulnerability assessment and compliance reporting, across relational engines, warehouses such as Snowflake, BigQuery and Redshift, NoSQL stores and Amazon S3. It documents four deployment modes: proxy (all features, including blocking and masking), sniffer (passive audit of mirrored traffic), trailing native audit logs, and an agent that also sees local connections.
Its AWS Marketplace hourly listing charges 1.40 USD per protected database instance per hour plus the EC2 it runs on, which makes it one of the few products here with a published price. In our view it suits teams that find a Guardium-style appliance estate more than they need. See DataSunrise vs Oracle Audit Vault.
- Firewall blocking and dynamic masking need proxy mode, which adds a network layer and cannot see local connections.
- Sniffer mode cannot analyse SSL-encrypted traffic.
- Pricing outside AWS Marketplace is by quote.
Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall
Oracle AVDF has an Audit Vault Server that collects and stores audit data, Audit Vault Agents that read database audit tables and operating system audit files, and a Database Firewall that inspects SQL on the network in monitoring-only or monitoring-and-blocking mode. Built-in plug-ins cover Oracle Database, SQL Server, Sybase ASE, Db2 for LUW and MySQL, with MongoDB audit collection through the Quick JSON target type and custom sources through an SDK.
Release 20.19, referencing the October 2026 Critical Patch Update, is current. A limited agentless mode collects up to 20 trails in total from Oracle tables and SQL Server audit files. The administrator's guide covers high availability, Oracle RAC, OCI and hybrid deployment and SIEM integration.
- An appliance to install, size, patch and back up yourself.
- Narrower non-Oracle coverage than multi-engine DAM vendors, and no masking.
- Price and licence metric are on oracle.com price lists that could not be read automatically for this review.
Read our Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall review · Official site
Oracle Data Safe
Oracle Data Safe is a regional OCI service offering security assessment (against STIG, CIS benchmarks and Oracle practice), user assessment, activity auditing with central audit policies, sensitive data discovery, masking for non-production copies, and management of SQL Firewall, which is built into Oracle AI Database 26ai. Targets include Autonomous AI Database, OCI DB systems and Exadata, Cloud@Customer, on-premises Oracle databases, Oracle on compute instances and Amazon RDS for Oracle.
It is included at no additional cost with Oracle cloud databases, and every target gets 1 million audit records a month free. Oracle is waiving per-target charges for on-premises and compute-instance databases and RDS for Oracle from 12 June 2026 to 28 February 2027, though audit overage still applies. See Oracle Data Safe vs Microsoft Defender for SQL.
- Oracle Database only; no SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL targets.
- Online audit retention is capped at 12 months, with archive for up to seven years in total.
- If paid usage is switched off, audit collection stops once the free monthly limit is reached.
LevelBlue DbProtect
DbProtect, sold for years by Trustwave and now by LevelBlue after its August 2025 acquisition of Trustwave, discovers databases, users and security settings and runs vulnerability, configuration and user-rights assessments against frameworks such as CIS and DISA STIG, with checks updated monthly by the SpiderLabs team. On top of assessment it offers activity monitoring with anomaly detection and responses such as ending a session or disabling an account.
It is software only, with no proprietary appliances, and LevelBlue's product brief says licensing does not grow as the database environment grows. It fits teams whose audit findings are mostly about configuration and privilege rather than full query capture (editorial).
- The newest public release notice found is 6.6.13 from November 2024.
- No public pricing or licence metric.
- Branding is mid-transition, with Trustwave names still on support pages.
AWS Database Activity Streams
Database Activity Streams pushes an encrypted, near real-time record of database activity from Aurora PostgreSQL, Aurora MySQL, RDS for Oracle 19c and RDS for SQL Server 2016 to 2019 into an Amazon Kinesis data stream, protected with your KMS key. AWS positions it against insider threats: DBAs cannot access or alter the collection, and on RDS they cannot change the audit policies while the stream runs.
It is a source, not a monitoring product: AWS names Guardium and Imperva as consumers. Teams that only need to land activity in a SIEM can consume the stream with Firehose or Lambda instead of buying a DAM platform for those databases (editorial).
- Not available on RDS for MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or Db2, or on Aurora Serverless.
- Delivers raw encrypted records; you build or buy the analysis, alerting and reporting.
- Asynchronous mode can lose records during errors, and Aurora PostgreSQL streams must be stopped before a major version upgrade.
Read our AWS Database Activity Streams review · Official site
Microsoft Defender for SQL
Defender for SQL is the SQL part of the Defender for Databases plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud. It protects Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, Synapse dedicated SQL pools, SQL Server on Azure VMs and SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, combining vulnerability assessment with Advanced Threat Protection alerts for potential SQL injection, anomalous access, brute-force attempts and suspicious activity, with links to Microsoft Sentinel.
Once enabled it covers every supported resource in a subscription, including new ones. For a Microsoft-only estate it can replace part of what Guardium does (threat detection and assessment), while SQL Server Audit or Azure SQL auditing provides the audit trail (editorial).
- Microsoft SQL only within these plans; other engines need separate Defender plans.
- Alerts do not block queries and do not replace audit logging.
- Billing is moving to Defender Workload Units (preview), so cost models may shift.
When to stay with Guardium, and who should look beyond DataSunrise
Stay with Guardium if auditors already rely on its reports, your estate spans many engines including mainframe or managed cloud databases that its S-TAP agents and universal connectors cover, and you have staff who run it well. Replacing a DAM platform means re-creating policies, report evidence and retention, which is a project in its own right. If cost or complexity is the issue, check whether the Guardium Data Security Center packaging changes what you pay for.
DataSunrise users who look elsewhere usually do so because proxy mode adds a network hop, sniffer mode cannot read SSL traffic, or they want a vendor-run service (editorial). For Oracle estates, Oracle Data Safe is managed; on AWS and Azure, Database Activity Streams and Defender for SQL are native; for very large mixed estates, Imperva and Guardium are the broader platforms. For masking of test copies, see Delphix alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main alternative to IBM Guardium?
For large, mixed estates, Imperva Data Security Fabric is the closest like-for-like platform. DataSunrise is a smaller, self-hosted option that combines audit, firewall and masking. See IBM Guardium vs Imperva.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Guardium for Oracle?
Oracle Data Safe is included with Oracle cloud databases and gives each target 1 million audit records a month free, and Oracle is waiving per-target charges for on-premises databases until 28 February 2027. Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall is the self-managed option, but its price could not be verified.
Can AWS Database Activity Streams replace a DAM tool?
Only partly. It produces a protected activity feed from Aurora and RDS for Oracle and SQL Server, but it does no analysis, alerting or reporting. You still need a SIEM, your own consumers or a DAM product such as Guardium or Imperva, which AWS names as consumers.
Does Microsoft Defender for SQL audit queries?
No. It runs vulnerability assessments and raises threat alerts. The audit trail comes from SQL Server Audit or Azure SQL auditing.
Why is there no separate DataSunrise alternatives page?
Its realistic alternatives (Imperva, Guardium, Oracle AVDF, Oracle Data Safe and the native AWS and Azure services) are the same products listed here, so one page covers both.
Sources
- IBM Guardium Data Protection product page
- IBM Guardium Data Security Center
- Guardium Data Protection 12.2.1 release notes
- Imperva Data Security Fabric product page
- Imperva License Definitions and Rules
- Thales: completion of the Imperva acquisition
- DataSunrise deployment modes
- AWS Marketplace: DataSunrise with hourly billing
- Oracle AVDF Administrator's Guide: introduction
- Oracle AVDF 20 release notes
- Oracle Data Safe overview
- Oracle Data Safe promotion for on-premises databases
- LevelBlue DbProtect product page
- LevelBlue completes acquisition of Trustwave
- Amazon Aurora User Guide: Database Activity Streams
- Amazon RDS User Guide: Database Activity Streams
- Microsoft Learn: Defender for Azure SQL Databases overview
Checked November 2026.
How we research these guides: our editorial method.