Cloudsmith: Secure alternative to AWS CodeArtifact
Cloudsmith: Secure alternative to AWS CodeArtifact for modern software supply chains
AWS CodeArtifact stores packages. It doesn't secure them. Here's why teams are switching.
Four reasons engineering teams switch from AWS CodeArtifact to Cloudsmith
AWS CodeArtifact is a capable package management tool for teams already deep in the AWS ecosystem, but it has no built-in supply chain security layer, limited format support, and no path to multi-cloud governance. Cloudsmith gives you a private registry with pre-ingestion security blocking and policy enforcement across your entire supply chain – without any infrastructure to manage.
Comprehensive supply chain security, built in from day one
Cloudsmith goes beyond storing and distributing packages; it actively secures your software supply chain at the point of ingestion, before a package ever reaches your developers. Built-in vulnerability monitoring, malware detection, license compliance, SBOM generation, and automated policy enforcement give your team a control layer without additional tooling.
30+ package formats, unified under one platform
As engineering stacks grow, so do format requirements. Teams evaluating AWS CodeArtifact quickly discover its limits with only 8 supported formats. Cloudsmith supports 30+ formats natively, including npm, PyPI, Maven, NuGet, Docker, Debian, Helm, Alpine, Cargo, RubyGems, and more; all managed from a single platform with a unified access model. No separate registries, no workarounds.
Cloud-agnostic architecture, built for multi-cloud and hybrid teams
Cloudsmith is designed as a cloud-agnostic artifact repository for multi-cloud environments, integrating natively with every major CI/CD platform regardless of which cloud providers you’re invested in. Whether your pipelines live in AWS, GCP, Azure, or a hybrid combination, Cloudsmith travels with them. One registry and one policy model.
Built for the AI development era
AI coding tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot are changing how developers write and ship software and introduce new artifact management risk. LLM-assisted code generation can pull in unreviewed, unscanned packages without a developer noticing. Cloudsmith gives security and platform teams a single enforcement point across every dependency, whether it came from a human or an AI tool. We’re built for how engineering teams are working today.
Feature Comparison
Cloudsmith vs AWS CodeArtifact
| Feature | Cloudsmith | AWS CodeArtifact |
|---|---|---|
| Package format support | Yes, 30+ formats including Docker, Debian, Helm, and Alpine, all managed from a single platform. | Limited to only 8 formats, container storage requires ECR. |
| Security & compliance | Yes, vulnerability scanning, malware detection, SBOM, signing, policy enforcement, and dependency confusion protection are all built in. | No built-in vulnerability scanning, no malware detection, no native SBOM, no policy enforcement. Requires additional tooling for comprehensive supply chain security. |
| CI/CD integrations | Yes, native integrations with all major platforms, cloud-agnostic by design. | AWS-native integration, complex for non-AWS pipelines. |
| Multi-cloud support | Yes | AWS lock-in only |
| Global distribution | Global edge caching and CDN-native for fast, reliable package delivery worldwide. | Single-region by default, cross-region delivery incurs an additional cost. |
| Policy enforcement | Policy management via policy-as-code, rules defined as code, applied automatically. | None |
| Migration support | Dedicated onboarding and expert migration support are included with every Enterprise plan. | AWS Support tiers only, no artifact-specific migration assistance. |
| Pricing competitiveness | Competitive for full-featured deployments. | Cheapest at low volumes. |
What customers say after switching
If you're looking for someone who's not just a vendor but a long-term partner, invested in you and you in them, then that's my highest recommendation for why you should go with Cloudsmith.
Dave Bresci
Senior Manager of Site Reliability Engineering
Before
PagerDuty's engineering teams were dealing with recurring downtime on their artifact management tool, disrupting CI/CD pipelines, causing build failures, and making it difficult to ship product releases reliably. Slow and cumbersome vendor support made things worse, and with FedRAMP certification on the horizon, their existing setup no longer met the security and compliance controls they needed.
With Cloudsmith
After evaluating seven solutions and selecting Cloudsmith, PagerDuty migrated to a fully managed, cloud-native artifact management platform that matched the way they architect and operate their own product, with the stability, security controls, and partner-level support their engineering teams needed to move at pace.
Results
- Zero platform-impacting pipeline downtime since migration
- FedRAMP certification requirements confidently met
- Engineering teams fully self-sufficient with responsive support
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudsmith a good alternative to AWS CodeArtifact?
Yes. Cloudsmith gives you everything CodeArtifact offers, plus supply chain security, 30+ package formats, enterprise identity management, and cloud-agnostic architecture. It's purpose-built for teams that have outgrown a basic package store.How long does a migration from AWS CodeArtifact take?
Most migrations for small-to-medium setups can be completed in hours to a few days. Larger enterprise migrations with complex access policies and many repositories may take longer. Enterprise customers receive a dedicated migration engineer to scope and manage the full process.Does Cloudsmith support all the formats I currently use in CodeArtifact?
Yes. Cloudsmith supports all eight formats available in CodeArtifact (npm, PyPI, Maven, NuGet, Swift, RubyGems, Cargo, and generic packages) plus 20+ additional formats including Docker, Debian, Helm, Alpine, and more.Does AWS CodeArtifact have vulnerability scanning?
No, CodeArtifact has no built-in security scanning of any kind. Cloudsmith includes vulnerability scanning, malware detection, licence compliance, and SBOM generation out of the box.Will Cloudsmith work with my existing AWS pipelines?
Yes. Cloudsmith integrates natively with AWS CodeBuild, CodePipeline, and IAM via OIDC, and works just as well outside AWS. It's cloud-agnostic by design.Is Cloudsmith more expensive than AWS CodeArtifact?
CodeArtifact is cheaper at low volumes. Cloudsmith is priced for teams that need security, governance, and multi-format support, capabilities that would otherwise require separate tooling on top of CodeArtifact.