Checkmarx One vs Contrast Security Protect comparison

Checkmarx and Contrast Security are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. Checkmarx is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Contrast Security is ranked #31. Checkmarx holds a 9.9% mindshare in AS, compared to Contrast Security’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Checkmarx users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Contrast Security users who would recommend it.

Checkmarx One

Read 81 Checkmarx One reviews

18,489 Views
13,497 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Contrast Security Protect

Read 3 Contrast Security Protect reviews

1,072 Views
1,029 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Checkmarx One

Contrast Security Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Checkmarx One and Contrast Security Protect compete in application security. Checkmarx One has an advantage in pricing and user support, whereas Contrast Security Protect stands out with strong features justifying its cost.

Features: Checkmarx One offers comprehensive vulnerability detection, multi-repository compatibility, and competitive pricing strategies. Contrast Security Protect provides real-time protection, continuous monitoring, and excellent integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Checkmarx One needs better performance speed, improved user training resources, and enhanced customer service. Contrast Security Protect requires more customization, scalability improvements, and a smoother deployment process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Checkmarx One is easy to deploy, yet users seek better customer support. Contrast Security Protect, despite a challenging deployment, offers superior customer service, balancing its shortcomings.

Pricing and ROI: Checkmarx One is cost-effective with satisfactory ROI. Contrast Security Protect has higher initial costs, justified by its extensive feature set and substantial long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

February 2026

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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

Checkmarx One

Ranking in Application Security Tools

2nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (3rd), Vulnerability Management (17th), Container Security (15th), Static Code Analysis (2nd), API Security (3rd), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (2nd), DevSecOps (2nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (7th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (3rd), AI Security (2nd)

Contrast Security Protect

Ranking in Application Security Tools

31st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Checkmarx One is 9.9%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Contrast Security Protect is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Checkmarx One	9.9%
Contrast Security Protect	0.9%
Other	89.2%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Shahzad Shahzad

Senior Solution Architect | L3+ Systems & Cloud Engineer | SRE Specialist at Canada Cloud Solution

Enable secure development workflows while identifying opportunities for faster scans and improved AI guidance

Checkmarx One is a very strong platform, but there are several areas where it can improve to support modern DevSecOps workflows even better. For example, better real-time developer guidance is needed. The IDE plugin should offer richer AI-powered auto-fixes similar to SNYK Code or GitHub Copilot Security, as current guidance is good but not deeply contextual for large-scale enterprise codebases. This matters because it reduces developer friction and accelerates shift-left adoption. More transparency control over the correlation engines is another need. The correlation engine is powerful but not fully transparent. Users want to understand why vulnerabilities were correlated or de-prioritized, which helps AppSec teams trust the prioritization logic. Faster SAST scan and more language coverage is needed since SAST scan can still be slow for very large mono-repos and there is limited deep support for new language frameworks like Rust and Go, along with advanced coverage for serverless-specific frameworks. This matters because large organizations want sub-minute scans in CI/CD as cloud-native ecosystems evolve fast. A strong API security module is another area for enhancement. API security scanning could be improved with active testing, API discovery, full Swagger, OpenAPI, drift detection, and schema-based fuzzing. This is important as API attacks are one of the biggest AppSec risks in 2025. Checkmarx One is strong, but I see a few areas for improvement including faster SAST scanning for large mono-repos, deeper language framework support, more transparent correlation logic, and stronger API security that includes discovery and runtime context. The IDE plugin could offer more AI-assisted fixes, and the SBOM lifecycle tracking can evolve further. Enhancing integration with SIEM and SOAR would also make enterprise adoption smoother, and these improvements would help developers and AppSec teams move faster with more accuracy.

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ToddMcAlister

Lead Application and Data Security Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees

It provides us with more in-depth visibility into ongoing attacks.

I rate Contrast Security Protect eight out of 10. Overall, it's a solid product, but I deduct a couple of points because of the interface and some shortcomings in the reporting. If you have a large enterprise where you're dealing with a lot of servers, then it makes sense not to use the internal MySQL database. You should use something like Oracle or Microsoft SQL, but if you don't have many transactions, the embedded MySQL database works great.

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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

"What I like best about Checkmarx is that it has fewer false positives than other products, giving you better results."

"Compared to the solutions we used previously, Checkmarx has reduced our workload by almost 75%."

"Checkmarx One has positively impacted the organization, and since replacing the previous tool, SAST and SCA scans are conducted in a couple of minutes instead of hours or days, saving time and increasing speed to market by reducing the timeline from three or four days to one day only."

"The setup is fairly easy. We didn't struggle with the process at all."

"Our static operation security has been able to identify more security issues since implementing this solution."

"The most valuable feature is the simple user interface."

"The most valuable features of Checkmarx are the automation and information that it provides in the reports."

"The solution communicates where to fix the issue for the purpose of less iterations."

More Checkmarx One pros

"Protect provides us with more in-depth visibility into ongoing attacks."

"The solution has excellent real-time capabilities."

"The product gives a few false positives. We get 99 percent true positives."

Cons

"The solution's user interface could be improved because it seems outdated."

"It takes around 30 to 40 minutes for checking a build. If you can make it within five minutes or 10 minutes, that would be great."

"If it is a very large code base then we have a problem where we cannot scan it."

"One area for improvement in Checkmarx is pricing, as it's more expensive than other products."

"Checkmarx One is strong, but I see a few areas for improvement including faster SAST scanning for large mono-repos, deeper language framework support, more transparent correlation logic, and stronger API security that includes discovery and runtime context."

"The resolutions should also be provided. For example, if the user faces any problem regarding an installation due to the internal security policies of their company, there should be a resolution offered."

"We would like to be able to run scans from our local system, rather than having to always connect to the product server, which is a longer process."

"Checkmarx being Windows only is a hindrance. Another problem is: why can't I choose PostgreSQL?"

More Checkmarx One cons

"Contrast Security Protect needs to improve integration."

"There's room for improvement in the initial setup."

"Protect's reporting GUI is very basic. To get all statuses from the APIs, we needed to write our own KPI dashboard to provide reports."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The interface used to create custom rules comes at an additional cost."

"The price of Checkmarx could be reduced to match their competitors, it is expensive."

"We got a special offer for a 30% reduction for three years, after our first year. I think for a real source-code scanning tool, you have to add a lot of money for Open Source Analysis, and AppSec Coach (160 Euro per user per year)."

"It is a good product but a little overpriced."

"Be cautious of the one-year subscription date. Once it expires, your price will go up."

"Its price is fair. It is in or around the right spot. Ultimately, if the price is wrong, customers won't commit, but they do tend to commit. It is neither too cheap nor too expensive."

"It is not expensive, but sometimes, their pricing model or licensing model is not very clear. There are similar variables, such as projects or developers, and sometimes, it is a little bit confusing."

"It is an expensive solution."

More Checkmarx One pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

25%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	46

No data available

Questions from the Community

What alternatives are there for Fortify WebInspect and Fortify SCA?

I would like to recommend Checkmarx. With Checkmarx, you are able to have an all in one solution for SAST and SCA as well. Veracode is only a cloud solution. Hope this helps.

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What do you like most about Checkmarx?

Compared to the solutions we used previously, Checkmarx has reduced our workload by almost 75%.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Checkmarx?

Checkmarx One is a premium solution, so budget accordingly. Make sure you understand how licensing scales with additional applications and users. I advise negotiating multi-year contracts or bundle...

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Comparisons

SonarQube vs Checkmarx One

Compared 47% of the time

Veracode vs Checkmarx One

Compared 4% of the time

Checkmarx SAST vs Checkmarx One

Compared 4% of the time

OpenText Core Application Security vs Checkmarx One

Compared 3% of the time

OWASP Zap vs Checkmarx One

Compared 2% of the time

More Checkmarx One Competitors

OpenText Core Application Security vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Veracode vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 9% of the time

SonarQube vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 7% of the time

Sqreen vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 6% of the time

Fortify Application Defender vs Contrast Security Protect

Compared 6% of the time

More Contrast Security Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One

January 2026

Download Checkmarx One product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Security Tools

January 2026

Download Contrast Security Protect product report

Also Known As

No data available

Contrast Protect

Overview

Checkmarx One is an enterprise cloud-native application security platform focused on providing cross-tool, correlated results to help AppSec and developer teams prioritize where to focus time and resources.

Checkmarx One offers comprehensive application scanning across the SDLC:

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
API security
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
Container security
IaC security
Correlation, prioritization, and risk management
Codebashing secure code training
AI security
Tech partnerships extending AppSec into runtime analysis
Developer tool integrations including: CI/CD tools, development frameworks, feedback tools, IDEs, programming languages and SCMs

Checkmarx One provides everything you need to secure application development from the first line of code through deployment and runtime in the cloud. With an ever-evolving set of AppSec engines, correlation and prioritization features, and AI capabilities, Checkmarx One helps consolidate expanding lists of AppSec tools and make better sense of results. Its capabilities are designed to provide an improved developer experience to build trust with development teams and ensure the success of your AppSec program investment.

Checkmarx

Contrast Security is the world’s leading provider of security technology that enables software applications to protect themselves against cyberattacks, heralding the new era of self-protecting software. Contrast's patented deep security instrumentation is the breakthrough technology that enables highly accurate assessment and always-on protection of an entire application portfolio, without disruptive scanning or expensive security experts. Only Contrast has sensors that work actively inside applications to uncover vulnerabilities, prevent data breaches, and secure the entire enterprise from development, to operations, to production.

Contrast Security

Sample Customers

YIT, Salesforce, Coca-Cola, SAP, U.S. Army, Liveperson, Playtech Case Study: Liveperson Implements Innovative Secure SDLC

Williams-Sonoma, Autodesk, HUAWEI, Chromeriver, RingCentral, Demandware.

Buyer's Guide

Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

February 2026

Free Report: Checkmarx One vs. Contrast Security Protect

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