Fortify Application Defender vs Klocwork comparison

OpenText and Perforce are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. OpenText is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.0, while Perforce is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.2. OpenText holds a 1.3% mindshare in AS, compared to Perforce’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Perforce users who would recommend it.

Fortify Application Defender

Read 11 Fortify Application Defender reviews

1,927 Views
1,599 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Klocwork

Read 25 Klocwork reviews

4,101 Views
2,256 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Fortify Application Defender

Klocwork

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Klocwork and Fortify Application Defender are both prominent choices in the software security analysis domain. Klocwork is favored in terms of deployment and customer service, whereas Fortify Application Defender offers superior features and functionality, despite its higher cost.

Features: Klocwork offers advanced code analysis, integrates seamlessly with developer workflows, and supports incremental analysis, making it developer-friendly. Fortify Application Defender provides dynamic application security and a broader range of vulnerability coverage and is favored for its comprehensive threat detection capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Klocwork requires enhancements in reporting capabilities, interface responsiveness, and support for a wider range of languages. Fortify Application Defender could benefit from improved documentation, simplified setup processes, and a more intuitive user interface to assist newcomers.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Klocwork is known for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service, ensuring a smooth user experience. Fortify Application Defender presents a steeper deployment learning curve, but once users overcome this, they experience reliable performance; its customer support, though adequate, is not as accessible as Klocwork's.

Pricing and ROI: Klocwork offers more accessible pricing with quicker return on investment, attracting budget-conscious buyers. Fortify Application Defender's higher cost is offset by extensive features, which many users find justify the expense over time, delivering long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortify Application Defender vs. Klocwork Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortify Application Defender vs. Klocwork

April 2026

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Helped 890,088 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

Fortify Application Defender

Ranking in Application Security Tools

25th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Klocwork

Ranking in Application Security Tools

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (14th), Static Code Analysis (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Fortify Application Defender is 1.3%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Klocwork is 1.3%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Klocwork	1.3%
Fortify Application Defender	1.3%
Other	97.4%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

VinothSivam

CTO at Abcl

Useful for fast code review in devOps pipelines

I rate the tool's scalability a seven out of ten. However, I'm concerned about how it handles an increasing number of lines of code. As the complexity grows, so does the time it takes for the tool to review everything. I want more clarity on how Fortify Application Defender handles multiple threats. We have numerous endpoints, but the tool runs in our pipeline, meaning it operates in the cloud. All our code is configured there, and the tool runs integration testing, unit testing, user testing, and final production code tests. It's a day-to-day experience. It's utilized almost every day as part of our pipeline runs. Each team responsible for integration testing, human testing, user access testing, and preproduction testing runs it whenever they take a build.

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Krishna M Gopalakrishnan

Manager, Quality, Functional Safety, Cybersecurity Embedded Processing at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Experience with compliance improvements and efficiency boosts but static analysis engine shows a need for enhancement

One area for improvement is that when customers use different static analysis tools, they report more issues compared to Klocwork. The static analysis engine of Klocwork has areas that need improvement. Customers using different static analysis tools report more issues than with Klocwork, indicating that Klocwork's engine is not as superior. Klocwork should be able to analyze large codebases efficiently, supporting a desktop version for periodic small delta changes before pushing to the server.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The information from Fortify Application Defender on how to fix and solve issues is very good compared to other solutions."

"Its ability to find security defects is valuable."

"It is one of those things that once you see it in action, it is pretty impressive."

"Fortify Application Defender's most valuable features are machine learning algorithms, real-time remediation, and automatic vulnerability notifications."

"We are able to provide our customers with a secure application after development; they are no longer left wondering if they are vulnerable to different threats within the market following deployment."

"The solution helped us to improve the code quality of our organization."

"Its ability to find security defects is valuable."

"The information from Fortify Application Defender on how to fix and solve issues is very good compared to other solutions."

More Fortify Application Defender pros

"The customer support team is very responsive, proactive, and engages in conversations to ensure our needs are met."

"The most valuable feature of Klocwork is its reduced setup time."

"The ability to create custom checkers is a plus."

"On-the-fly analysis and incremental analysis are the best parts of Klocwork. Currently, we are using both of these features very effectively."

"Klocwork's most valuable feature is the static code analysis feature, as it detects potential problems earlier to allow the developer to receive feedback quickly and then address issues before they become a problem."

"We consider it a stable product."

"I like not having to dig through false positives. Chasing down a false positive can take anywhere from five minutes for a small easy one, then something that is complicated and goes through a whole bunch of different class cases, and it can take up to 45 minutes to an hour to find out if it is a false positive or not."

"We like using the static analysis and code refactoring, which are very valuable because of our requirements to meet safety critical levels and reliability."

More Klocwork pros

Cons

"Fortify Application Defender could improve by supporting more code languages, such as GRAAS and Groovy."

"The product should integrate industry-standard code review tools internally with its system. This would streamline the coding process, as developers wouldn't need multiple tools for code review and security checks. Many independent and open-source tools are available, from Apache to various libraries. Using multiple DevOps pipeline tools can slow the turnaround time."

"Fortify Application Defender could improve by supporting more code languages, such as GRAAS and Groovy."

"The biggest complaint that I have heard concerns additional platform support because right now, it only supports applications that are written in .NET and Java."

"The workbench is a little bit complex when you first start using it."

"The solution could improve the time it takes to scan. When comparing it to SonarQube it does it in minutes while in Fortify Application Defender it can take hours."

"Fortify Application Defender gives a lot of false positives."

"The solution is quite expensive."

More Fortify Application Defender cons

"Klocwork has to improve its features to stay ahead of other free solutions."

"What needs improvement in Klocwork, compared to other products in the market, is the dashboard or reporting mechanisms that need to be a bit more flexible."

"This solution could be improved if they offered support of more languages including Ada and Golang. They currently only support seven languages."

"Klocwork does have a problem with true positives. It only found 30% of true positives in the Juliet test case."

"Every update that we receive requires of us a lengthy and involved process."

"There are some false warnings found which eventually are not considered for a fix after the team reviewed the source code."

"There are other solutions on the market such as Microsoft Visual Studio. They have been adding more static code analysis features that come for free."

"Klocwork sometimes provides too many additional warnings which require expertise to manage."

More Klocwork cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s price is much higher than other tools."

"The base licensing costs for the SaaS platform is about $900 USD per application, per year."

"Fortify Application Defender is very expensive."

"The licensing is very complex, it's project based and can range from $10,000 to $200,000+ depending on the project type and size."

"The price of this solution could be less expensive."

"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten. It comes as an annual cloud subscription. The tool's pricing is around 50 lakhs."

"The limitation that we have is that Klocwork is licensed to certain programs, and if you want to license them to other programs, you have to pay more money."

"This solution offers competitive pricing."

"There are other solutions on the market such as Microsoft Visual Studio. They have been adding more static code analysis features that come for free. It is getting better all the time. That is one of the possibilities is that we've been considering that we may stop using the Klocwork because it doesn't give us any added value."

"When it comes to licensing, the solution has two packages, one for a fixed and the other for a floating server, with the former being more cost effective than the latter."

"Klocwork should not to be quite so heavy handed on the licensing for very specific programs."

"The pricing for Klocwork is very competitive if you compare it from apple to apple. It has competitive pricing regarding the licensing model and the per-license cost. Klocwork isn't a high-end investment for anyone deploying it; even SMBs can afford it. The Klocwork cost per user would depend on the license type, so I'm unable to mention a ballpark figure because it would depend on the type of installation and how the deployment will be, and the nodes to give an accurate calculation or figure. The total price depends on the package, so my company could never publish pricing for Klocwork on the website. My team first collects information from potential clients on the deployment scenario, project environment, etc., before suggesting a package for Klocwork. My rating for Klocwork in terms of pricing is a five because of its flexible license models. There's a license model for every type of organization, whether small, midsize, or enterprise, so it's a five out of five for me."

"Klocwork is still tight on their licensing. If Klocwork would loosen up on the licensing, and where the license could be used, and how many different programs could be run on it, then we have several development programs that I would love to be able to use it for going forward."

"Licensing fees are paid annually, but they also have a perpetual license."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

22%

Computer Software Company

Transportation Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortify Application Defender?

I find the configuration of rules in Fortify Application Defender useful. Its integration is also easy.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortify Application Defender?

The product should integrate industry-standard code review tools internally with its system. This would streamline the coding process, as developers wouldn't need multiple tools for code review and...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Fortify Application Defender?

We use the solution for fast code review. It is integrated into our DevOps pipeline.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Klocwork?

Klocwork's pricing seems attractive, as it uses a per-user license model that does not have a lot of overhead.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Klocwork?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Klocwork?

I work on tools such as Klocwork, LDRA, as well as Jira and Confluence, focusing more on the software quality assurance aspect. We use Klocwork for coding and aggregate checks. We use it for static...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

Checkmarx One vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 10% of the time

Veracode vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 7% of the time

GitGuardian Platform vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 4% of the time

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 4% of the time

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SonarQube vs Klocwork

Compared 14% of the time

Coverity Static vs Klocwork

Compared 12% of the time

Polyspace Code Prover vs Klocwork

Compared 7% of the time

Helix QAC vs Klocwork

Compared 6% of the time

PVS‑Studio vs Klocwork

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Security Tools

April 2026

Download Fortify Application Defender product report

Buyer's Guide

Klocwork

April 2026

Download Klocwork product report

Also Known As

HPE Fortify Application Defender, Micro Focus Fortify Application Defender

No data available

Overview

Fortify Application Defender offers strong protection by identifying and resolving security defects using machine learning and real-time remediation. Its user-friendly interface simplifies integration in CI/CD workflows and supports security scanning across operating systems and compilers.

Fortify Application Defender is a comprehensive tool for static code analysis and security scanning. It integrates machine learning algorithms to identify vulnerabilities quickly and offers real-time remediation solutions. Its seamless integration with WebInspect allows for tailored rule sets that significantly improve defense against application-specific threats. The tool's efficiency in static and software composition analysis provides actionable repair insights. As part of a DevOps pipeline, it aids in maintaining code quality, helping organizations protect sensitive information within their applications. Additionally, it supports multiple operating systems and environments, allowing users to scan for vulnerabilities in both code and libraries effectively.

What are the key features of Fortify Application Defender?

Security Defect Identification: Uses advanced algorithms to detect security flaws.
Real-time Remediation: Provides immediate solutions for vulnerabilities.
WebInspect Integration: Customizable rule sets enhance protection.
Actionable Insights: Delivers clear repair strategies.
User-friendly Configuration: Easy set-up in CI/CD pipelines.

What benefits should users consider when evaluating Fortify Application Defender?

Scalable Integration: Works with multiple operating systems and compilers.
Improved Code Quality: Prevents exposure of sensitive data.
Efficient Scanning: Reduces time to identify threats.
Customizable Rules: Enhances security measures specific to applications.

Fortify Application Defender is commonly used in industries like banking and finance to secure applications by inspecting source code for vulnerabilities. Companies can integrate it seamlessly into their DevOps pipelines, ensuring that their applications are protected against cyberattacks while maintaining high code quality. They can thereby avoid common risks such as IP and password exposure by leveraging static code analysis and other integrated technologies available within this tool.

OpenText

Klocwork offers advanced static code analysis with integration capabilities for enhanced development efficiency, supporting various development environments and providing clear defect reports. It streamlines software development by reducing defects and improving code quality.

Klocwork integrates seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines, providing real-time and incremental analysis to identify and rectify code defects quickly. It supports multiple integrated development environments (IDEs) and minimizes false positives in its analysis. While primarily supporting C/C++, Java, and C#, there is a need to expand language support and enhance its static analysis engine. The tool assists in adhering to industry standards with features like automated code parsing and MISRA compliance checks. Ease of setup and collaboration capabilities further promotes efficiency, although the dashboard could benefit from user-friendly updates and better integration with Agile tools.

What are the primary features of Klocwork?

Static Code Analysis: Identifies vulnerabilities and defects in code with reduced false positives.
CI/CD Integration: Seamlessly embeds into continuous integration and delivery pipelines for efficient testing.
Customizable Checkers: Allows users to tailor checkers according to specific project needs.
On-the-fly Analysis: Provides incremental analysis to detect issues during coding, reducing development time.
IDE Support: Functions across multiple IDEs, enhancing developer workflow and productivity.

What benefits should users expect from Klocwork?

Reduced Development Time: By detecting issues early, faster development cycles are achieved.
Improved Code Quality: Helps in maintaining high code standards and adherence to compliance checks.
Efficient Collaboration: Streamlines team collaboration with easy integration and analysis reports.
Enhanced Maintainability: Through automation and efficient detection of memory-related and security issues.

Klocwork is extensively implemented in industries that prioritize software quality and security standards, particularly in environments focused on C/C++ development on Linux systems. Its capabilities in automated code parsing, traffic analysis, and support for DevOps integration make it invaluable for industries requiring strict MISRA compliance and internal standards adherence. By aiding refactoring and detecting memory-related vulnerabilities, Klocwork contributes to the maintainability and security standards in these sectors.

Perforce

Sample Customers

ServiceMaster, Saltworks, SAP

ACCESS Co Ltd, Risk-AI, Winbond Electronics, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, University of Southern California, Alebra Technologies, SIMULIA, Risk Management Solutions, Brigham Young University, SRD, HRL

Buyer's Guide

Fortify Application Defender vs. Klocwork

April 2026

Free Report: Fortify Application Defender vs. Klocwork

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortify Application Defender vs. Klocwork and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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