CAST Highlight vs HCL AppScan comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

CAST Highlight
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (13th)
HCL AppScan
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (14th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (11th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Software Composition Analysis (SCA) category, the mindshare of CAST Highlight is 0.5%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL AppScan is 1.4%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
Application Security Tools
3.1%
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
2.6%
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Oct 20, 2022
Easy to set up with optimized and automated insights
We get some code insights from CAST. We get insights as to if this or that function has way too many comments or things like that. We would like to backtrace, and understand how dependent that is as per the application. For example, when you are writing code in C Sharp versus writing code in C++, obviously, C++ has more complexities within that. What CAST does is CAST aggregates for different languages, and if they could provide us inputs for each of these languages separately, then that'd be great. When they classify code between their own code and third-party code, they classify it based on the number of files, and not really the number of lines. I'm not sure how extensive of a change this is on their end; however, it would be nice if they could tell us the number of lines of code that are not theirs. There's a bit of a learning curve at the outset. We have come across bugs occasionally. Technical support could be better.
AnanyaRoy - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2023
A stable and scalable product useful for application security scanning
I use HCL AppScan in my company for application security scanning The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is good to run the scan faster. You can basically run the scan and take a break at work since the tool will compute the results, which makes the product quite…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It offers good performance."
"The most valuable features of CAST Highlight are automation and speed."
"The most valuable features of the CAST Highlight are the interface and there are three notations that are very simple to understand and communicate with."
"The way it tells you which codebase is more ready for the cloud and which codebase is less ready is very valuable. It works seamlessly with most languages."
"CAST Highlight is easy to use and has a good dashboard."
"The reporting part is the most valuable feature."
"The security and the dashboard are the most valuable features."
"The static scans are good, and the SaaS as well."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...The initial setup or installation of HCL AppScan is easy."
"Technical support is helpful."
"We use it as a security testing application."
"The solution is easy to install. I would rate the product's setup between six to seven out of ten. The deployment time depends on the applications that need to be scanned. We have a development and operations team to take care of the product's maintenance."
"It comes with all of the templates that we need. For example, we are a company that is regulated by PCI. In order to be PCI compliant, we have a lot of checks and procedures to which we have to comply."
 

Cons

"CAST Highlight could improve to allow us to comment and do a deep analysis by ourselves."
"The reports that describe the issues of concern are rather abstract and the issues should be more clearly described to the user."
"There's a bit of a learning curve at the outset."
"The ease of configuration and customization could be improved in CAST Highlight."
"Its price should be better. It is a pretty costly tool. They have two products: CAST Highlight and CAST AIP. I would expect CAST Highlight to have the Help dashboard and the Engineering dashboard. These dashboards are currently a part of CAST AIP, and if these are made available in CAST Highlight, customers won't have to use two different products all the time."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"In future releases, I would like to see more aggressive reports. I would also like to see less false positives."
"I would love to see more containers. Many of the tools are great, they require an amount of configuration, setup and infrastructure. If most the applications were in a container, I think everything would be a little bit faster, because all our clients are now using containers."
"HCL AppScan needs to improve security."
"The databases for HCL are small and have room for improvement."
"It has crashed at times."
"There are so many lines of code with so many different categories that I am likely to get lost. ​"
"If HCL AppScan is able to alert the clients over email once the scan is complete, it would be great. Right now, HCL AppScan doesn't let me know if the scanning part is finished or not, because of which I have to come back and check mostly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Basic support is included with the standard licensing feed but it can be upgraded for an additional cost."
"CAST Highlight is an expensive solution."
"CAST Highlight is an expensive solution. However, CAST Highlight is less expensive than the CAST AIP, but it remains too expensive and the professional services from CAST are also too expensive. The high price is part of the problem with the CAST solutions."
"It is a pretty costly tool. A lot of customers are resistant to using it."
"The solution is cheap."
"The price is very expensive."
"I would rate the product's pricing a nine out of ten. The product's pricing is expensive compared to the features that they offer."
"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."
"The tool was expensive."
"With the features, that they offer, and the support, they offer, AppScan pricing is on a higher level."
"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."
"I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high. HCL AppScan is an expensive tool."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
16%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CAST Highlight?
The most valuable features of CAST Highlight are automation and speed.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CAST Highlight?
CAST Highlight is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight or nine out of ten.
What needs improvement with CAST Highlight?
The ease of configuration and customization could be improved in CAST Highlight.
What do you like most about HCL AppScan?
The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is its integration with the SDLC, particularly during the coding phase.
What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?
Improving usability could enhance the overall experience with AppScan. It would be beneficial to make the solution more user-friendly, ensuring that everyone can easily navigate and utilize its fea...
What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?
I mainly use AppScan to secure various types of applications. I use its DAFDAT solution for black box scanning, as well as SaaS and source code validation. AppScan helps in scanning code for vulner...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Wells Fargo, Bank of NY Mellon, Northern Trust, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, BMW, AT&T, US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, John Hancock, Marsh & McLennan, Ernst & Young, PwC, Volkswagen, Boston Consulting Group, London Stock Exchange, Telefonica, Saur France, Total Energies France, SNCF
Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Find out what your peers are saying about CAST Highlight vs. HCL AppScan and other solutions. Updated: September 2022.
787,817 professionals have used our research since 2012.