Top 10 Snyk Alternatives and Competitors for 2024

Snyk has become a hugely popular platform for securing application code and dependencies. Its cloud-native architecture allows for easy integration into modern CI/CD pipelines to shift security left. Snyk's accurate identification of vulnerabilities and clear remediation guidance make it a favorite among developers.

However, Snyk is not the only option for application security testing. Organizations may seek alternatives due to pricing, support for additional languages, better accuracy, or to meet compliance mandates. When evaluating competitors to Snyk, key criteria include:

• Accuracy of vulnerability findings
• Integration with developer workflows
• Breadth of language and framework support
• Capabilities around open-source governance
• Pricing and scalability

This article provides an overview of 10 leading Snyk alternatives in 2024 based on market research and analyst reports:

1. Aikido Security

Aikido Security is an all-in-one platform that covers vulnerabilities, cloud security, Static Application Security Testing (SAST), SOC 2 & ISO compliance management, and more.

Aikido Security only alerts users for vulnerabilities that can actually reach their code, reducing false positives and duplicate issues. It also automates all technical vulnerability management controls, making SOC2 & ISO 27001 compliance easier.

Aikido Security is a more affordable alternative to Snyk, with licenses starting at $299/month, flat fee, with no hidden charges.

Compared to Snyk, Aikido takes a more holistic approach to application security assessment across multiple testing modalities. Its advanced auto-triage streamlines the number of meaningful findings for teams to focus on.

2. GitHub Advanced Security

GitHub Advanced Security offers a comprehensive set of code security tools, including dependency review, secret scanning, and security code scanning.

As a Snyk competitor, GitHub provides tight integration directly within the developer workflow. Code scanning identifies vulnerabilities early on, empowering teams to fix issues before they reach production. GitHub leverages CodeQL analysis for accurate vulnerability detection.

Overall, GitHub Advanced Security is a top choice for organizations using GitHub for repository management. It provides seamless developer experience and scales to support large development teams.

3. Checkmarx SAST

Checkmarx is an application security testing platform providing static (SAST), interactive (IAST), and software composition analysis (SCA). For SAST capabilities, Checkmarx is rated as more accurate than competitors, with minimal false positives.

It natively integrates with popular IDEs and CI/CD tools for streamlined scanning. Checkmarx builds comprehensive AppSec programs by combining multiple testing approaches for maximum coverage of risks.

Organizations looking for advanced, accurate SAST should consider Checkmarx over Snyk.

4. Veracode SCA

Veracode offers a full suite of application security testing technologies, including static analysis, dynamic analysis, software composition analysis, and manual penetration testing.

Its advanced SCA offering helps identify vulnerable open-source components with detailed remediation guidance. Veracode integrates with pipelines to find issues early on.

For customers looking for breadth across multiple AppSec testing disciplines, Veracode provides an integrated platform that exceeds Snyk's capabilities around open-source auditing.

5. Sonatype

Sonatype provides an intelligent platform for open-source governance and DevSecOps. The Nexus platform creates a centralized component catalog that allows teams to monitor open-source usage, enforce policies, and automatically remediate issues.

By giving deep insight into third-party open-source risks across the SDLC, Sonatype competes with Snyk as an alternative open-source security solution. It offers capabilities for creating policies and automatically enforcing them.

6. SonarSource

SonarSource is known for its code quality and security analysis tools SonarQube and SonarCloud. The platforms provide automated scanning to detect bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, and general areas for refactoring. Rules can be customized to enforce organizational coding standards.

As an alternative to Snyk, SonarSource specializes in empowering developer-led remediation of code quality and security issues. It offers seamless CI/CD integration to find problems early before release.

7. Black Duck by Synopsys

Black Duck discovers, inventories, and manages open-source components across application portfolios and infrastructure. It maps third-party libraries to known vulnerabilities using an extensive database.

For organizations using lots of open-source code, Black Duck gives visibility into associated security and license risks. As an alternative to Snyk, it offers capabilities tailored to open-source management versus general code security testing.

8. JFrog Xray

JFrog Xray allows teams to set security policies for artifact storage, distribution, and deployment processes. It scans binary artifacts like containers to detect and protect against vulnerable components.

As a scalable artifact analysis solution, JFrog provides capabilities that Snyk lacks, like custom controls and impact analysis reporting. JFrog also leverages binary scanning to identify issues that may be missed by Snyk's source code analysis.

9. GitLab SAST

Part of GitLab's integrated DevOps platform is its own static application security testing tool called GitLab SAST. It comes out of the box with support for over 25 programming languages and frameworks. Custom rules can also be added for specific policies.

Compared to Snyk, GitLab SAST is primarily suited for organizations standardized on GitLab for ALM. It provides tight CI/CD integration to find hotspots pre-release.

10. Mend.io (formerly WhiteSource)

Mend.io offers automated open-source security and license compliance management. It inventories libraries, maps to vulnerabilities/licenses, and guides remediation all within the native developer environment.

As a dedicated open-source management platform, Mend.io provides capabilities aligned with Snyk. The extensive CVE database combined with clear in-workflow findings and fixes differentiates Mend.io versus more generic code scanning tools.

Comparing Snyk Alternatives

When evaluating Snyk alternatives, several criteria should be considered as part of the decision process:

Accuracy of findings

The accuracy rate for correctly identifying true vulnerabilities is important. False positives waste the security team's time and cause alert fatigue. Mature platforms like Checkmarx, Veracode, and Aikido offer advanced analysis for reduced false positives.

Developer workflow integration

Embedding security analysis directly into native developer environments like IDEs and CI tools is essential for shifting security left. GitHub, SonarSource, Aikido, and Snyk itself excel at this integration.

Programming language support

Ensure any SAST tool correctly supports your organization's core languages and frameworks like Java, .NET, JavaScript, Python, and more.

Custom rule creation

The ability to define custom security policies and rules helps enforce organization-specific AppSec standards. Sonatype Nexus platform and Veracode both allow this flexibility.

Open-source capabilities

For teams leveraging lots of third-party open-source libraries, having robust SCA features helps manage associated risks. Sonatype, Black Duck, and Snyk itself are specialized in this area.

Pricing and scalability

Consider both short-term budgets and long-term projected growth. Serverless platforms like Snyk easily scale across large teams and codebases. Other options like WhiteSource offer flexible pricing models to align value.

Conclusion

Snyk deserves its popularity for seamless integration into CI/CD pipelines and accurate identification of security issues in open-source dependencies. However, organizations have several competitive alternatives to consider as well.

Leading options include Checkmarx and Veracode for advanced SAST capabilities, Sonatype for open-source governance, GitHub Advanced Security for native code analysis, and Aikido Security for streamlined vulnerability management across SAST, DAST, and cloud security posture.

There is no unilateral best SAST tool. Requirement criteria around accuracy, language support, custom rules, and scalability determine the ideal fit. Checkmarx is a top contender for accurate findings across modern coding languages. Veracode offers unmatched breadth across multiple testing modalities. Sonatype governs open-source at scale. Aikido consolidates multiple AppSec capabilities into one seamless platform.

Thanks to its focus on developer workflows, Snyk will meet many organizations' needs for embedding basic security into CI/CD pipelines. Layering on a different platform makes sense for additional rigor around capabilities like interactive analysis, license management, or cloud security.

Threat landscapes continue to evolve, so relying on multiple testing techniques from different vendors ensures optimal vulnerability coverage now and in the future.