An In-Depth Look at Two Leading SaaS Security Products

Falcon Shield vs Obsidian Security

In today’s SaaS and AI-driven world, selecting the right security platform can be challenging. This comparison aims to provide a clear understanding of Falcon Shield and Obsidian, focusing on their strengths, weaknesses, and key differences in areas like identity protection, SaaS supply-chain risk management, and real-time AI threat prevention.

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Overview of Falcon Shield and Obsidian

Features of Falcon Shield

Falcon Shield (by CrowdStrike) focuses on SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) inside the Falcon ecosystem.

Features of Obsidian

Obsidian combines SaaS-native intelligence with real-time browser controls, giving CISOs a full-spectrum defense. Best suited for companies that need rapid deployment and deep protection against identity-driven and AI-era threats.

Price and Value Comparison

When it comes to pricing, Falcon Shield is typically licensed as part of the broader Falcon platform and may require additional modules to achieve comprehensive coverage, while Obsidian provides an all-in-one SaaS and browser-native security solution. This difference often makes Obsidian more cost-efficient by reducing the need for multiple add-on products and simplifying total cost of ownership.

Comparison of CrowdStrike Falcon Shield and Obsidian SaaS security platforms

Obsidian vs Falcon Shield

Least privilege icon
Least privilege
Data exposure verification icon
Data exposure verification
SaaS supply chain risk management icon
SaaS supply chain risk management
Token misuse & compromise icon
Token misuse & compromise
Insider risk detection icon
Insider risk detection
Supply chain & OAuth threat detection and incident response icon
Supply chain & OAuth threat detection and incident response
MFA bypass detection icon
MFA bypass detection
AI prompt security icon
AI prompt security
Advanced AI-powered phishing icon
Advanced AI-powered phishing
Falcon Shield
Permissions & posture inventory + remediation
Misconfig & exposure posture checks
Connected-app inventory & checks
Indirect in SSPM
Posture-focused
Visibility into apps
Config drift & posture
Not a Shield-native function
Not a Shield-native function
Obsidian Logo
Least privilege
Data exposure verification
SaaS supply chain risk management
Token misuse & compromise
Insider risk detection
Supply chain & OAuth threat detection and incident response
MFA bypass detection
AI prompt security
Advanced AI-powered phishing
Based on G2 Summer 2025

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Why Obsidian is better?

Falcon Shield

Product summary icon

Product Summary

The platform extends robust endpoint security to the SaaS and cloud identity layer, delivering AI-driven detection and streamlined incident response to help organizations maintain operational continuity and meet regulatory requirements.

Use Cases icon

Use Cases

  • SaaS Configuration & Compliance:
    Continuously monitor SaaS settings to meet compliance requirements like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
  • Identity & Permission Inventory:
    Discover users, groups, and permissions across connected SaaS applications for governance and auditing.
  • Connected-App Visibility:
    Detect and catalog third-party app integrations to assess configuration risk.
  • Remediation Workflow Management:
    Integrate with ITSM tools to assign and track SaaS configuration fixes for IT and security teams.
Shortcomings icon

Shortcomings

  • Limited Real-Time Threat Prevention:
    No native browser-layer detection for adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) phishing, token replay, or AI prompt exfiltration.
  • Dependence on Other Falcon Modules:
    Requires Falcon Identity, Next-Gen SIEM, or marketplace partners for advanced identity analytics and OAuth threat detection.
  • Manual Incident Response:
    Token and session compromise typically demand tenant-by-tenant revocation and SIEM correlation.
  • Operational Overhead:
    Coordinating multiple modules and integrations increases deployment complexity and time-to-value.

Why your peers choose Obsidian over Falcon Shield

Ultimately, the choice between Falcon Shield and Obsidian depends on each organization’s security priorities and budget. Both platforms bring strong SaaS protection, but many security leaders select Obsidian for its built-in SaaS intelligence, real-time browser defenses, and rapid deployment that reduce operational complexity and total cost of ownership.

We’ve saved an absolute ton of people hours through automation and data pulled from Obsidian”
Obsidian’s been able to scale with us wherever we’ve needed it to go”
You’ve revolutionized our incident response”
With Obsidian, we had all the integrations in place, ready to go, and a big catalog of threat detections out-of-the-box”
Headshot of Mario Duarte from Snowflake

Snowflake has hundreds of SaaS applications — to gain visibility into those SaaS applications could take months. With Obsidian we were able to do that in days, if not hours.

Mario Duarte, Vice President of Security, Snowflake

Headshot of Heather Akuiyibo from Databricks

Our partnership with Obsidian as a Built on Databricks Partner underscores a joint commitment to offer our customers a secure and unified platform for data, analytics and AI, that empowers fast and powerful insights.

Heather Akuiyibo, VP Go-To-Market, Databricks

Headshot of Øyvind Berget from Norma Cyber

Seeing threats across SaaS solutions in a single pane of view is critical to us. Obsidian promises always-on monitoring and protection, and meets the compliance standards that our members need to operate seamlessly.

Øyvind Berget, Chief Technical Officer, Norma Cyber

Obsidian vs Falcon Shield FAQs

What are the key differences between Obsidian and CrowdStrike Falcon Shield for SaaS security?

Obsidian unifies SaaS-native intelligence and browser controls to block token hijacking, consent phishing, and AI prompt exfiltration. Falcon Shield centers on posture and compliance and usually requires extra Falcon modules or partner tools for equivalent coverage.

How does Obsidian’s SaaS Intelligence Graph improve identity and access management compared to Falcon Shield?

The SaaS Intelligence Graph models users, service accounts, AI agents, tokens, and app-to-app connections in one view, allowing continuous least-privilege enforcement and fast remediation that Falcon Shield cannot match without additional identity analytics.

Does Falcon Shield provide native browser-based protection against phishing and token hijacking like Obsidian?

Falcon Shield does not have built-in browser-based phishing or token hijack prevention. It relies on SIEM or Falcon Identity for after-the-fact alerts, while Obsidian natively blocks adversary-in-the-middle phishing and token misuse in real time.

Which platform offers faster deployment and time-to-value, Obsidian or CrowdStrike Falcon Shield?

Obsidian deploys in days using SaaS APIs and a lightweight browser extension, enabling immediate detections and guided remediation. Falcon Shield often requires more configuration and integration with other Falcon modules, which lengthens time-to-value.

How do Obsidian and Falcon Shield handle OAuth and third-party integration risks differently?

Obsidian continuously discovers and risk-scores OAuth/API integrations and AI add-ons, detecting consent phishing and device-code abuse with automated token revocation. Falcon Shield inventories connected apps but relies on Falcon Identity or marketplace integrations for advanced OAuth threat detection.

What additional modules or tools are required for Falcon Shield to match Obsidian’s built-in capabilities?

Matching Obsidian’s built-in capabilities typically means adding Falcon Identity, Next-Gen SIEM, and marketplace security tools to Falcon Shield to achieve real-time phishing defense, insider-risk analytics, and comprehensive OAuth detection.

Can Obsidian replace a SIEM or identity provider when securing SaaS applications?

Obsidian complements SIEMs and identity providers rather than replacing them. It delivers identity-centric SaaS threat detection, automated remediation, and deep context for investigations, reducing alert fatigue and improving response speed.

Which solution is better for organizations using AI tools and needing real-time AI prompt security: Obsidian or Falcon Shield?

Obsidian is built for AI prompt security, with native prompt inspection, redaction, and approved-tool routing. Falcon Shield lacks these controls and usually relies on partner or marketplace solutions for AI prompt governance.

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