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Cycode vs HCL AppScan 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cycode
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (17th), Software Supply Chain Security (10th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (9th)
HCL AppScan
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (21st), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of Cycode is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.7%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL AppScan2.7%
Cycode1.1%
Other96.2%
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2014131 - PeerSpot reviewer
DevSecOps Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Secret scanning has strengthened our code security and now needs better container integration
Regarding container scanning, Cycode can be improved as it does not have a CLI. As a DevSecOps professional, having a CLI is a must-have for any tool to integrate it into systems. Although Cycode does have a CLI, specifically for the container scanning module, a CLI does not exist. This is why all the modules that Cycode offers cannot be fully leveraged. A CLI for the container scanning module is believed to be on Cycode's roadmap, but it is not available today. As a big enterprise dealing with many assets, Cycode being faster would be beneficial. With many assets on-boarded on Cycode, the tool sometimes becomes slow. Making Cycode faster would definitely help. Other than that, things are good.
Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder Director at Techsa Services
Has improved identification of encryption and authentication issues across cloud and on-prem applications
During the learning curve of onboarding HCL AppScan, we learned that HCL has altered the portfolio and now offers HCL AppScan 360, which has a much better look and feel with an improved user interface. However, there is one feature called SCA, which stands for Software Composition Analysis, that could be improved. When I'm doing an application scan, HCL AppScan has the ability to generate information about what components are in use. For example, if I'm scanning a web application, it shows me the various components being used. It tells me whether I have Java libraries, .NET frameworks, or other log management libraries such as Log4j, and what versions of those specific components are present. I would like to see more detailed reports from the tool. Currently, you can find out the components belonging to a specific software, but if detailed reporting became available, you would be in a better position to identify vulnerabilities. For instance, I could identify that I had the Log4j vulnerability and know that I need to fix my application accordingly. If they add the features I'm describing, I would consider giving them a higher rating. However, I've only been experienced with the product for three months.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cycode excels in secret scanning and is brilliant at finding and identifying secrets within code."
"Cycode has positively impacted the organization by saving time in the pipeline and providing one platform for secret scanning, SAST, and Infrastructure as Code facilities."
"The static scans are good, and the SaaS as well."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is Postman."
"I prefer Appscan, as it much more user friendly, and it detects cross-site scripting and SQL injection issues much better than other tools in the market."
"AppScan is within the top three or four static analyzers."
"HCL AppScan has helped us improve our security posture, as we've been able to identify quite a few issues."
"I like the recording feature."
"It's generally a very user-friendly tool. Anyone can easily learn how to scan"
 

Cons

"Regarding container scanning, Cycode can be improved as it does not have a CLI."
"Currently, Cycode does not have good container security, and while it is a full solution, companies desiring a single platform must seek additional tools to scan container images."
"There is one feature called SCA, which stands for Software Composition Analysis, that could be improved."
"The solution needs to improve in some areas. The tool needs to add more languages. It also needs to improve its speed."
"The product has some technical limitations."
"HCL AppScan needs to improve security."
"This product lacks in many areas, and so we are looking at other options."
"They could add a software component analysis tool."
"IBM Security AppScan needs to add performance optimization for quickly scanning the target web applications."
"The tool should improve its output. Scanning is not a challenge anymore since there are many such tools available in the market. The product needs to focus on how its output is being used by end users. It should be also more user-friendly. One of the major challenges is in the tool's integration with applications that need to be scanned. Sometimes, the scanning is not proper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."
"The price of HCL AppScan is okay, in my opinion. You just buy HCL AppScan and don't pay anything anymore, meaning it is just a one-time purchase."
"The price is very expensive."
"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."
"The solution is cheap."
"The product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."
"With the features, that they offer, and the support, they offer, AppScan pricing is on a higher level."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
14%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cycode?
Cycode is aggressively priced across the board with respect to other tools when it comes to pricing, setup cost, and licensing.
What needs improvement with Cycode?
Regarding container scanning, Cycode can be improved as it does not have a CLI. As a DevSecOps professional, having a CLI is a must-have for any tool to integrate it into systems. Although Cycode d...
What is your primary use case for Cycode?
Cycode is used for multiple types of scanning including secrets, SAST scanning, and IAC misconfiguration scanning. Secret scanning was one of the first services launched using Cycode and is integra...
What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?
During the learning curve of onboarding HCL AppScan, we learned that HCL has altered the portfolio and now offers HCL AppScan 360, which has a much better look and feel with an improved user interf...
What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?
I'm currently working with BigFix and HCL AppScan. At least three people in my company are using HCL AppScan. Since we are a reseller, we run it in both lab environments and live production applica...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL AppScan?
AppScan is considered more cost-effective than Veracode, although I have not updated the exact pricing details. Companies often choose based on budget constraints, with Veracode being on the higher...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Find out what your peers are saying about SonarSource Sàrl, Checkmarx, Veracode and others in Static Application Security Testing (SAST). Updated: June 2026.
902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.