A lighter, self-hosted Skybox Security alternative.
Skybox Security combines firewall policy management with attack-surface and vulnerability modeling. People looking for a Skybox alternative often need a smaller slice of it: the firewall and network configuration across vendors, what it actually allows, and a record of every change. That slice is what SAMURAI does, for Palo Alto, FortiGate, Cisco FMC and Juniper SRX and the network around them.
Updated June 2026
The part of the job SAMURAI covers
Firewall rules, all vendors
Search Palo Alto, FortiGate and FMC rules by zone, address, port or action in one query, with objects expanded to real addresses and ports.
What the rules allow
Effective access with objects and NAT resolved, plus shadowed, redundant and overly broad rules and a risk score for each rule.
Who changed what
Policy changes diffed from device state and attributed to the admin who made them, in one timeline across vendors.
The network, not only the firewalls
Routers, switches, Cisco ACI fabrics, ISE TrustSec and vCenter in the same inventory, and path traces that cross all of them.
Nothing leaves your network
One Docker container on your own VM. No SaaS dependency, no cloud model, no telemetry.
Running the same day
docker run with a free test license, and most installs show data in about five minutes. No services project.
How it compares to Skybox
Skybox covers more ground: attack-surface modeling, vulnerability prioritization and policy management together. SAMURAI deliberately covers less. It sticks to configuration across vendors, what that configuration allows, and who changed it.
Focus
SAMURAI
Configuration across vendors, effective access and change history
Skybox Security
Attack surface, vulnerabilities and policy management in one suite
Scope
SAMURAI
Firewalls plus routers, switches, ACI fabrics, ISE and vCenter in one inventory
Skybox Security
A network model built around firewalls and vulnerabilities
Deployment
SAMURAI
One self-hosted Docker container; runs air-gapped; data in about five minutes
Skybox Security
Enterprise platform deployment
Vulnerability modeling
SAMURAI
None. SAMURAI doesn’t score vulnerabilities or model attack paths
Skybox Security
Their core strength
Keep Skybox if attack-surface and vulnerability modeling is the reason you bought it. If you mostly used it to read firewall configuration and track changes, SAMURAI does that part with far less to run.
Frequently asked questions
Is SAMURAI a direct Skybox Security replacement?
For configuration visibility across vendors, effective access, rule hygiene, change history and audit trails, yes. For attack-surface modeling and vulnerability prioritization, no: that’s Skybox territory.
What are the main Skybox Security competitors?
On policy management it overlaps with Tufin, AlgoSec and FireMon; on attack surface, with exposure-management tools. SAMURAI competes on the configuration side: search, analysis and change history across vendors, self-hosted.
Skybox vs Tufin: where does SAMURAI fit?
Skybox and Tufin both do policy management, and Skybox adds attack-surface modeling. SAMURAI is the lighter, self-hosted pick when you want effective access and rule hygiene plus the routers, switches, ACI, ISE and vCenter around the firewalls, and don’t need rule-lifecycle workflows.
Does SAMURAI run in air-gapped environments?
Yes. It’s a self-contained Docker image with an offline IEEE OUI database and no telemetry, so it never needs the internet.
Can I evaluate it without a sales process?
Yes. The Docker image includes a free test license, no email required, so you can point it at your own devices before you talk to anyone.