Black Duck SCA vs CAST Highlight comparison

Black Duck and CAST are both solutions in the Software Composition Analysis (SCA) category. Black Duck is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.0, while CAST is ranked #15 with an average rating of 7.7. Black Duck holds a 13.5% mindshare in SCA, compared to CAST’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Black Duck users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of CAST users who would recommend it.

Black Duck SCA

Read 22 Black Duck SCA reviews

9,915 Views
8,229 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

CAST Highlight

Read 7 CAST Highlight reviews

1,432 Views
473 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Black Duck SCA

CAST Highlight

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 21, 2025

Black Duck SCA and CAST Highlight compete in software composition analysis. Black Duck SCA shows a stronger focus on security, attracting those who prioritize robust defenses, while CAST Highlight stands out for ease of integration and speed, appealing to those seeking efficiency.

Features: Black Duck SCA includes advanced vulnerability detection, comprehensive compliance management, and policy management. CAST Highlight is noted for automation, rapid code scanning, and its easy-to-use dashboard.

Room for Improvement: Black Duck SCA could enhance vulnerability identification and reduce false positives. Interface improvements could streamline the experience. documentation could be more detailed. CAST Highlight may benefit from expanding its security features, improving its scalability, and advancing its reporting capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Black Duck SCA requires a detailed setup process, supported by extensive customer service. CAST Highlight offers straightforward deployment with minimal configuration, suitable for quick integration into workflows.

Pricing and ROI: Black Duck SCA involves higher upfront costs, aligning with security-focused companies aiming for long-term ROI. CAST Highlight provides a cost-effective solution with lower initial investment, offering quick returns due to its efficiency and ease of use.

To learn more, read our detailed Black Duck SCA vs. CAST Highlight Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Black Duck SCA vs. CAST Highlight

December 2025

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Helped 879,259 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Black Duck SCA

Ranking in Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

2nd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

CAST Highlight

Ranking in Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

15th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Software Composition Analysis (SCA) category, the mindshare of Black Duck SCA is 13.5%, down from 20.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CAST Highlight is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Black Duck SCA	13.5%
CAST Highlight	1.1%
Other	85.4%

Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2587080

IP Head at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Delivers robust accuracy for identifying and mitigating risks but setup and security can improve

My deployment of Black Duck will take a few hours minimum. In the earlier on-premise scenario, which I've seen in other organizations, it takes a few days because you have to get the server installed, then actually keep installing various patch upgrades as it happens. The cloud version is a lot faster, probably taking only a few hours to complete. Regarding Black Duck leveraging AI to enhance security scanning of open-source components, I would not be able to address that because I have not yet explored that area significantly. Based on my experience, I would recommend Black Duck to other people if they can digest the higher cost. It helps in many aspects. I would rate this solution overall at 7 to 8. Disclaimer: The review is provided in personal capacity as an individual and not the opinion of the organization or corporate to which I belong to.

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Jayanti Rode

Technical Associate Manager at Accenture

Identifies migration blockers and boosters while facing challenges with platform-specific roadblocks

The solution provides agnostic blockers for platforms as well as for containerization. Within that containerization, it offers generic blockers. However, my project might require it to provide Windows-specific blockers or Linux-specific blockers, as I often work with only one platform at a time. If I received categorization in containerization blockers, it would save time. Understanding only the OS-specific blockers means I would avoid resolving irrelevant issues, thus saving time. Initially, I receive a response from support, however, if there is involvement from R&D or other teams, it may take longer than expected. The support team is challenging when sharing source code. As this is a static code analysis tool, it sometimes requires source code for R&D. However, CAST clients may be restricted from sharing due to business logic and nondisclosure agreements. This creates a challenge, and I may have to share pseudo code or seek client approval, risking escalation.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Black Duck is the composition analysis feature, which is effective for security risk management."

"The automated code scanning feature and Black Duck's integration with our development tools have enhanced our software compliance process and overall audit readiness."

"Policy management is a valuable feature."

"I like the fact that the product auto analyzes components."

"The solution is stable."

"The knowledge base and the management system are the most valuable features of Black Duck Hub. It has a very helpful management environment. They offer an editor where we can check the discovered license, which is retrieved from their knowledge base. They have a huge knowledge base build over the years. It gives you some possibilities, such as this license with possibility A could cause a vulnerability issue or a potential breach."

"The solution works well on Mac products."

"The most valuable feature of Black Duck is the seamless integration to scan our Docker binary files, it provides us all open vulnerabilities, and it ensures a reference point from where it finds the vulnerability is up to date. For example, if there is any new vulnerability found, they are immediately available in the Black Duck. There is no delay in finding the vulnerabilities, they are called out in our code immediately."

More Black Duck SCA pros

"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 solution provides agnostic blockers for platforms as well as for containerization."

"In cloud migration, I use CAST highlight to identify blockers, which are the negative road patterns, and also the boosters, which are positive code patterns."

"CAST Highlight provides a clear overview of the role portfolio and allows users to assess the overall quality of the environment. Users can see where improvements are needed and follow up on trends of the application."

"It offers good performance."

"CAST Highlight is easy to use and has a good dashboard."

"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."

Cons

"They are giving a lot of APIs and Python scripts for certain functionalities, but instead of using APIs and Python scripts, they should provide these functionalities through the UI. Users should be able to customize and add more fields through the UI. Users should be able to add more fields and generate reports. Currently, they are not giving flexibility in the UI. They're providing a script that simply generates an Excel file or CSV file. There is no flexibility."

"Due to the fact that, with our software developer life cycle, we don't need to scan our source code every day or every week. For that reason, we find the cost is too high. We might only actually use it five to ten times a year, which makes it expensive."

"The documentation is quite scattered."

"The initial setup could be simplified. It was somewhat complex."

"We have been having some issues with the latest releases where we are not able to scan our applications with the help of Black Duck."

"It can be cumbersome to use or invalidate open source software because there is a hold time to check requirements or common regulations to ensure compliance."

"The tool's documentation and support are areas of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution's pricing model and documentation areas of concern where improvement is needed."

More Black Duck SCA cons

"The ease of configuration and customization could be improved in CAST Highlight."

"CAST Highlight could improve to allow us to comment and do a deep analysis by ourselves."

"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 could be potential improvements or additional features added to CAST Highlight to make it better."

"If I received categorization in containerization blockers, it would save time."

"There's a bit of a learning curve at the outset."

"The reports that describe the issues of concern are rather abstract and the issues should be more clearly described to the user."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's price one on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."

"The price is low. It's not an expensive solution."

"Black Duck is more suitable if you require a lot of licensing compliance. For smaller organizations, WhiteSource is better because its pricing policies are not really suitable for huge organizations."

"The pricing is a little high."

"The price charged by Black Duck is exorbitant."

"The price is quite high because the behavior of the software during the scan is similar to competing products."

"Depending on the use case, the cost could range from $10,000 USD to $70,000 USD."

"It is expensive."

"Basic support is included with the standard licensing feed but it can be upgraded for an additional cost."

"It is a pretty costly tool. A lot of customers are resistant to using it."

"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."

"CAST Highlight is an expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

24%

Computer Software Company

11%

Insurance Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

How does WhiteSource compare with Black Duck?

We researched Black Duck but ultimately chose WhiteSource when looking for an application security tool. WhiteSource is a software solution that enables agile open source security and license compl...

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What do you like most about Black Duck?

The cloud option of the product is always available and a positive aspect of the solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Black Duck?

The price charged by Black Duck is exorbitant. For the features provided by the product, I would not want to pay a high price. There are many other products in the market that offer better features...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CAST Highlight?

The pricing of CAST Highlight was not considered expensive or cheap, and no specific comment was made about the setup cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with CAST Highlight?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for CAST Highlight?

For CAST, I use it in cloud migration roadmap and in open source safety issues. These are my two main use cases.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Black Duck SCA

December 2025

Download Black Duck SCA product report

Buyer's Guide

CAST Highlight

December 2025

Download CAST Highlight product report

Also Known As

Blackduck Hub, Black Duck Protex, Black Duck Security Checker

No data available

Overview

Black Duck is an essential tool for software composition analysis and license compliance. It identifies vulnerabilities effectively and supports security management in DevOps environments, offering integration, performance stability, and community support.

Organizations rely on Black Duck for seamless integration in CI/CD pipelines, thorough scanning of source and binary codes, and management of operational risks associated with open-source and commercial licenses. It plays a crucial role in security risk management and delivers a robust policy management framework. Users value its ease of use and reliable community support while benefiting from its comprehensive dependency visualization capabilities. Despite its strengths, there is room for enhancement in integration with other tools, UI friendliness, and reporting features.

What are Black Duck's key features?

Automated Component Analysis: Offers detailed insights into open-source components.
Vulnerability Scanning: Identifies and addresses potential security issues.
Knowledge Base: Extensive database for informed decision-making.
Policy Management: Comprehensive control over security policies.
Integration: Seamlessly fits into existing DevOps workflows.

What should users look for in ROI?

Security Assurance: Mitigates risks associated with open-source software.
Efficiency: Reduces time spent on manual auditing tasks.
License Compliance: Ensures compliance with open-source licenses.
Risk Management: Enhances operational risk management in software development.

Enterprise environments use Black Duck extensively for security, compliance, and risk management, ensuring software meets regulatory standards and mitigates vulnerabilities. Its implementation in specific industries aids in controlled and secure software development processes, underlining its role in maintaining rigorous security standards while delivering dependable performance.

Black Duck

CAST Highlight is a SaaS software intelligence product for performing rapid application portfolio analysis. It automatically analyzes source code of hundreds of applications in a week for Cloud Readiness, Software Composition Analysis (Open Source risks), Resiliency, and Technical Debt. Objective software insights from automated source code analysis combined with built-in qualitative surveys for business context enable more informed decision-making about application portfolios.

CAST is the software intelligence category leader. CAST technology can see inside custom applications with MRI-like precision, automatically generating intelligence about their inner workings - composition, architecture, transaction flows, cloud readiness, structural flaws, legal and security risks. It’s becoming essential for faster modernization for cloud, raising the speed and efficiency of Software Engineering, better open source risk control, and accurate technical due diligence. CAST operates globally with offices in North America, Europe, India, China. Visit www.castsoftware.com.

CAST

Sample Customers

Samsung, Siemens, ScienceLogic, BryterCX, Dynatrace

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

Buyer's Guide

Black Duck SCA vs. CAST Highlight

December 2025

Free Report: Black Duck SCA vs. CAST Highlight

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