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CAST Highlight vs SonarQube comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
9.4
Users see profitable returns and time efficiency from CAST Highlight, with some still evaluating its impact over time.
Sentiment score
6.7
SonarQube improves code quality and security in CI/CD, enhancing efficiency and compliance, but exact ROI is hard to quantify.
In terms of time saved, it went from approximately 3.5 hours per insight report to around 40 minutes, which is 80% faster.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
It is easily integrable with the CI/CD pipeline and supports multiple projects with its extensive plugin options.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
I have seen a return on the investment from SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) because the value it adds relates to static code analysis and vulnerability assessments needed for our FDA approval process.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
We see productivity increasing based on the fact that the code review is mostly automated, allowing the developer to fix the code themselves before assigning it to someone else to review, thus receiving that ROI.
Head of Software Engineering at ronaldmariah@gmail.com
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
CAST Highlight's technical service is helpful, but some users note communication issues and a focus on ticket closure.
Sentiment score
6.2
SonarQube's community and documentation aid self-support, but direct support varies; Enterprise Edition offers satisfactory assistance.
Some support team members are helpful, and others lack in-depth knowledge of the tool, which might cause challenges.
Technical Associate Manager at Accenture
I interacted with customer support regarding one of my project results related to vulnerabilities and license risks, and they explained everything clearly, leaving me very satisfied.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
The community support is quite effective.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
The customer service and support for SonarQube Cloud are responsive and helpful.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
Integrating it into different solutions is straightforward.
Architect at sigpsc inc
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
CAST Highlight offers excellent scalability for large codebases, handling enterprise needs effectively without any reported issues.
Sentiment score
6.9
SonarQube is generally scalable and integrates well, but specific configurations and larger workloads may require careful management.
The processing time per new report stays consistent, experiencing no slowdowns even when we had over 200 new reports dropped in a week.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
There are limitations, and it seems to have fewer capabilities than Veracode.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It has been used in multiple projects and performs well.
consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate the scalability of SonarQube Server as a 10 because we can configure the server to scan multiple projects based on the number of lines.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
CAST Highlight is highly stable, compatible across languages, with occasional minor bugs but no significant performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
SonarQube is generally stable and reliable, with occasional issues related to plugins, configurations, or heavy deployments.
CAST Highlight proves reliable in nature.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
I think SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is stable, and we did not face any problems unless there was a power outage or if the LAN cable was plugged out.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
From my team's feedback, it is almost an eight out of ten.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It is a quite stable solution.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
 

Room For Improvement

CAST Highlight needs detailed reports, improved dashboards, customization, better support, and OS-specific blockers amid high costs and sharing issues.
SonarQube needs improvements in integration, vulnerability detection, language support, UI, documentation, security scanning, automation, and pricing.
Understanding only the OS-specific blockers means I would avoid resolving irrelevant issues, thus saving time.
Technical Associate Manager at Accenture
CAST Highlight's deduplication is great for avoiding spam, but sometimes we want two similar quotes if they are from very different company sizes, such as SMB versus enterprise perspectives on pricing.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
There is another website called Code Warrior that really takes you through the entire journey, so you can truly understand what the issue is along with some actual coding examples.
Independent Professional at Studio Dott. Ing. Angelo Quaglia
I would like to see SonarQube Cloud provide more detailed solutions for fixing code issues, especially solutions related to CVEs.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
I need a solution that can bring together three key areas: vulnerabilities, static scanning, and misarchitecture.
Architect at sigpsc inc
 

Setup Cost

CAST Highlight is seen as costly due to per-scan fees, despite being cheaper than CAST AIP.
SonarQube provides a cost-effective solution with varying licensing, though commercial plugins and support can increase costs.
I would rate the pricing for SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) as an 8, where 1 is very cheap and 10 is very expensive, because Coverity is very expensive, and while SonarQube is not cheap, it is still less expensive than Coverity.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
They always offer around a two-year contract, but we always take a one-year contract because it's expensive.
Head of Software Engineering at ronaldmariah@gmail.com
The freemium version of SonarQube Server offers excellent value, especially compared to the high costs of Snyk.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
 

Valuable Features

CAST Highlight simplifies code analysis with Azure DevOps integration, offering fast, automated cloud readiness insights and effective communication tools.
SonarQube enhances code quality and security with multi-language support, CI/CD integration, code analysis, quality gates, and user-friendly features.
Smart deduplication groups similar quotes and picks the strongest and most significant one. It stops insights from showing eight variations of great UI, giving diverse voices instead of repetition.
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
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.
Technical Associate Manager at Accenture
Some of the static code analysis capabilities are the most beneficial.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
I find SonarQube Cloud very easy to use and simple to integrate initially.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It gives precise reports compared to Coverity and has a slightly lower number of false positives.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
 

Categories and Ranking

CAST Highlight
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (19th)
SonarQube
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
135
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (1st), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (1st), Software Development Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

CAST Highlight and SonarQube aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. CAST Highlight is designed for Software Composition Analysis (SCA) and holds a mindshare of 1.2%, up 0.9% compared to last year.
SonarQube, on the other hand, focuses on Application Security Tools, holds 12.7% mindshare, down 24.3% since last year.
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CAST Highlight1.2%
Snyk11.1%
Black Duck SCA9.2%
Other78.5%
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonarQube12.7%
Checkmarx One8.3%
Snyk5.0%
Other74.0%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Nishant Chauhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Engineer at LTM
Automated code insights have improved security checks and made review workflows more consistent
If I talk about improvements for CAST Highlight, I would suggest three things. The first is better understanding or niche understanding. Right now, the intent matching is strong for general topics such as ease of use, but for niche B2B terms such as HIPAA compliance or multi-tenant architecture, it sometimes misses context. Improving the domain-specific models would make highlights more accurate for these verticals. The second improvement is more control over the deduplication logic. CAST Highlight's deduplication is great for avoiding spam, but sometimes we want two similar quotes if they are from very different company sizes, such as SMB versus enterprise perspectives on pricing. A slider to adjust deduplication strictness would help. The third suggestion I would like to give is deeper sentiment and outcome tagging. While it has core sentiment capabilities, it does not tag outcomes automatically. For instance, if a quote mentions saved $50,000 per year, tagging that as cost savings $50,000 would let us build ROI charts instantly instead of reading each quote manually. Regarding user experience, integrations, and reporting, I think there is room to enhance those aspects. Regarding user experience, I would suggest improving user actions in terms of bulk actions and keyboard shortcuts. Day-to-day analysts review 50-plus suggested quotes, and currently it is mostly clicking to approve one by one. Adding bulk approve or reject options and keyboard shortcuts would significantly reduce the time taken. A small UX change can lead to a big speed boost. The second point is integrations when pushing to the CMS and Slack alerts. Right now, we export approved highlights manually from CAST Highlight. If CAST Highlight could push directly to our CMS or send Slack alerts for high-strength quotes that hit trending topics, it would close the loop faster, reducing copy-pasting. The third improvement relates to reporting, specifically custom insight dashboards. The tool displays which topics have the most highlights, but we cannot build custom dashboards yet. For example, showing all security quotes from healthcare companies with more than 1,000 employees over the last 90 days would enable better filtering, and exportable dashboards would streamline quarterly reviews.
Sathyamurthi Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Officer (Solution Architect) at World Bank
We maintain high code standards with effective static code analysis and integration
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) could be improved on the reporting front. Instead of grouping, I would prefer to scan the code as part of development and then generate a report on a daily basis among different units or projects, which is currently complicated. We need to change it to more of a portfolio report, where configuring or setting up things on the portfolio requires tagging at the ADO level.
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise79
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with CAST Highlight?
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 Wind...
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.
Is SonarQube the best tool for static analysis?
I am not very familiar with SonarQube and their solutions, so I can not answer. But if you are asking me about which tools that are the best for for Static Code Analysis, I suggest you have a look...
Which gives you more for your money - SonarQube or Veracode?
SonarQube is easy to deploy and configure, and also integrates well with other tools to do quality code analysis. SonarQube has a great community edition, which is open-source and free. Easy to use...
How would you decide between Coverity and Sonarqube?
We researched Coverity, but in the end, we chose SonarQube. SonarQube is a tool for reviewing code quality and security. It helps to guide our development teams during code reviews by providing rem...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sonar, SonarQube Cloud
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

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
Snowflake, Booking.com, Deutsche Bank, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company.
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