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SaaS security posture management · October 2026 Edition

CrowdStrike Falcon Shield vs Obsidian Security

Zero of fourteen models named CrowdStrike Falcon Shield first on the direct prompt; zero named Obsidian Security. CrowdStrike Falcon Shield was named by ten of the fourteen models and Obsidian Security by thirteen and CrowdStrike Falcon Shield carries 22 labels and Obsidian Security 32, so the shares are not directly comparable.

CrowdStrike Falcon Shield

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

Obsidian Security

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share6%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate23%9%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#5A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels2232A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, CrowdStrike Falcon Shield reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Wing Security was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Wing Security vs CrowdStrike Falcon Shield · Wing Security vs Obsidian Security · Nudge Security vs CrowdStrike Falcon Shield

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the saas security posture management page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
CrowdStrike Falcon ShieldFirst choices, of fourteen modelsObsidian Security
Direct001 against Obsidian Security
Paraphrase201 against CrowdStrike Falcon Shield
Comparative121 against CrowdStrike Falcon Shield
Budget-constrained021 against CrowdStrike Falcon Shield · 1 against Obsidian Security
Scale-constrained10
Negative002 against CrowdStrike Falcon Shield · 1 against Obsidian Security
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, CrowdStrike Falcon Shield and Obsidian Security were named in the same answer twenty-seven times, of the 61 answers naming CrowdStrike Falcon Shield and the 97 naming Obsidian Security. In those answers Obsidian Security took the first choice two times and CrowdStrike Falcon Shield seven.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where CrowdStrike Falcon Shield and Obsidian Security stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield Obsidian Security first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, CrowdStrike Falcon Shield on the left and Obsidian Security on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where CrowdStrike Falcon Shield and Obsidian Security stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Wing Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Shield, Obsidian Security, Spin.AI
Gemini 3.5 FlashWing Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield, Nudge Security, Obsidian Security
Perplexity SonarWing Security alternatives: Obsidian Security, Reco, Spin.AI
Grok 4.1 FastWing Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield, Spin.AI
Kimi K2Wing Security alternatives: Obsidian Security, Valence Security
GLM 4.7 FlashXWing Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield
MiniMax M2.5Wing Security alternatives: AppOmni, BetterCloud, CrowdStrike, Obsidian Security, SpinOne
GPT-6 LunaValence Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield
Muse Glimmer 30BWing Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield, Spin.AI / SpinOne

Neither was named

5 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
GPT-5.4 miniAppOmni
Mistral SmallGrip Security, Wing alternatives: Nudge Security
DeepSeek V4 FlashAdaptive Shield alternatives: AppOmni, Nudge Security, Wing Security
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashWing Security alternatives: Adaptive Shield, Grip Security

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield leads by five points.
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield5%#6 of 14
Obsidian Security0%#12 of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield leads by two points.
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield6%#4 of 11
Obsidian Security4%#5 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield leads by two points.
CrowdStrike Falcon Shield8%#2 of 14
Obsidian Security6%#3 of 14
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about CrowdStrike Falcon Shield

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“What to Avoid ... require enterprise sales quotes and typically have high annual minimums” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · hard negative
“More automated and cost-effective than CrowdStrike Falcon Shield (better for larger firms integrating with EDR, pricier at scale).” Grok 4.1 Fast · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“often bundled with broader security suites, but a specialist SSPM license is recommended for full functionality” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · soft negative
“I'd generally recommend CrowdStrike Falcon Shield as the strongest default choice for SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend shortlisting 2–3 vendors (e.g., CrowdStrike Falcon Shield, AppOmni, and Grip)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Top Recommendation: CrowdStrike Falcon Shield (formerly Adaptive Shield)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice

What the models said about Obsidian Security

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“Avoid: Enterprise-focused platforms like ... Obsidian Security” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“No built-in remediation or enforcement — identifies threats but doesn't automate response” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Stronger for enterprise budgets; adds UEBA/behavioral analytics” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“Obsidian Security is the strongest budget-friendly starting point because it advertises a $0/month free tier for up to 1,000 users” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · first choice
“Obsidian is currently the standout SaaS vendor for small teams due to its genuinely useful free tier.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“Choose AppOmni or Obsidian if you want deep, enterprise-grade SSPM across many SaaS applications.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared
Wing Security vs CrowdStrike Falcon ShieldWing Security vs Obsidian SecurityNudge Security vs CrowdStrike Falcon ShieldNudge Security vs Obsidian SecurityGrip Security vs CrowdStrike Falcon ShieldGrip Security vs Obsidian SecurityCrowdStrike Falcon Shield vs AppOmniCrowdStrike Falcon Shield vs Adaptive ShieldCrowdStrike Falcon Shield vs Spin.AIObsidian Security vs AppOmniObsidian Security vs Adaptive ShieldObsidian Security vs Spin.AIAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full SSPM standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.