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Cycode vs Qualys Web Application Scanning comparison

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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
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (16th), Software Supply Chain Security (10th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (11th)
Qualys Web Application Scan...
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of Cycode is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys Web Application Scanning2.0%
Cycode1.4%
Other96.6%
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.
AnkitSharma13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Web scanning needs improvement but offers good vulnerability detection
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does. If Qualys Web Application Scanning could improve its crawling capability, it would be more user-friendly. Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities, which isn't as beneficial from my point of view. The Vulnerability Management also relies heavily on version numbers and will flag vulnerabilities based on the component version, but it doesn't check if a real fix exists, leading to flags on components that actually have workarounds available.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"Cycode excels in secret scanning and is brilliant at finding and identifying secrets within code."
"In my experience as an integrator with Cycode, the biggest advantage is that it is platform agnostic and language agnostic."
"Qualys WAS' most valuable features are the navigation flow of the UI and the option for a different layer of security (identification and operation through email and mobile)."
"The features of Qualys Web Application Scanning are impressive as the scan is faster and gets completed quickly, the dashboards look great, the option for scheduled scans makes it fully automated, and customizable reports can be downloaded anytime in CSV, PDF, or whichever format required."
"You can integrate your Burp Suite results and create an integrated report. Also, the way it shows the results - threats and exploit details - makes remediation very easy."
"Qualys Web Application Scanning is very stable and reliable."
"The interface is user-friendly and easy to understand."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The advantage of Qualys Web Application Scanning lies in its user-friendly dashboard and appealing reports, which are useful for presentation to leadership."
"I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."
 

Cons

"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."
"While I appreciate the advantages of Cycode, one area for improvement is the machine learning aspect and how it can assist during AI operations."
"Regarding container scanning, Cycode can be improved as it does not have a CLI."
"Deployment can be complicated."
"The tool should have a live HTTP editor and more configuration options for some situations, such as handling applications that have URL rewriting enabled."
"We procured around 110 licenses for Web Application Scanning, but we have issues running concurrent scans. I don't currently have the option to trigger scans for all 100-plus websites. The default limit is around 10 conference scans. It's not very scalable, to be honest, because of the limitation that they put on concurrent scans."
"It's missing some zero-day patches."
"The GUI could be a little less complicated as it opens a lot of new windows for creating search lists, templates, reports, or for scanning purposes."
"The licensing and user permissions are a little wonky for a DevOps team to use, probably because it’s traditionally an InfoSec tool."
"They should try to include business logic vulnerabilities in the scanner testing."
"I have experience with adaptive scanning for single-page applications, which was not very effective."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I rate the software’s pricing a six out of ten."
"The product has a very good licensing model."
"Try the free trial of the product to understand the basic working mechanisms.​"
"Qualys has an IT-based licensing based on a yearly license, which is a good way of handling it. However, in some cases, when we do the PCI scanning, the host will not like the scanning and we lose the IT license. So, this could be improved."
"We normally purchase an annual license."
"Licensing was based on the number of assets that you want to scan on your network. You can also do licensing on subscription. On subscription, it is easier and more flexible. You tell Qualys that you want to move from the 1000 to 2000 band or the 3000 or 5000 band, then they will give you the quotation for it. Once you pay for it, applying the licensing is quite easy and effective."
"Qualys WAS' pricing is competitive."
"The cost is $30,000 USD for one year to cover WAS (Web Application Security) and the VM (Virtual Machine) security in a company with 200 employees."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
26%
Financial Services Firm
11%
University
6%
Construction Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cycode?
I find the pricing of Cycode to be reasonable for the work being done, although I haven't compared it with other tools to provide detailed feedback about its affordability.
What needs improvement with Cycode?
While I appreciate the advantages of Cycode, one area for improvement is the machine learning aspect and how it can assist during AI operations. This tool needs capabilities for monitoring cloud co...
What is your primary use case for Cycode?
Cycode is used for our software development, maintaining clean code quality, and managing secrets within our enterprise. We write secure code by adhering to secure coding principles, ensuring that ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.
What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
I use Qualys Web Application Scanning, and we are using Vulnerability Management. By Vulnerability Management, I mean not TotalCloud; they have some on-premises solutions also. Patch Management and...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Qualys WAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BskyB, Cartagena, ClearPoint Learning Systems, Connect Group, du, Fortrex Technologies, HBOR, HDI, Highlights for Children, The Lithuanian State Enterprise Centre of Registers, City of Miami Beach, Microsoft, MidlandHR, MSCI Inc., Northern Arizona University, Ofgem, Olympus Europa, PhoneFactor, RTL Nederland, ThousandEyes, VGZ Organisatie B.V.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cycode vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.