Fortify Application Defender vs SonarQube comparison

OpenText and SonarSource Sàrl are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. OpenText is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.0, while SonarSource Sàrl is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. OpenText holds a 1.1% mindshare in AS, compared to SonarSource Sàrl’s 17.9% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of SonarSource Sàrl users who would recommend it.

Fortify Application Defender

Read 11 Fortify Application Defender reviews

1,378 Views
1,116 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

SonarQube

Read 134 SonarQube reviews

38,470 Views
26,929 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Fortify Application Defender

SonarQube

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2025

SonarQube and Fortify Application Defender compete in the code analysis and application security category. SonarQube seems to have the upper hand due to its broader programming language support, centralized management, and effective quality gates, while Fortify is notable for its real-time remediation and machine learning algorithms.

Features: SonarQube provides comprehensive code analysis capabilities, including vulnerability identification and CI/CD integration, and supports over 20 programming languages. It offers customizable quality gates and centralized management for detailed code quality visualization. Fortify Application Defender is recognized for its real-time remediation, automatic notifications, and machine learning algorithms. It excels in software composition analysis and integrates effectively with CI/CD pipelines.

Room for Improvement: SonarQube requires enhancements in dynamic code analysis, a more intuitive UI, and reduced false positives for better security integration. Reporting and support for emerging technologies like AI could also be improved. Fortify Application Defender could lower false positives, expand language support, and improve integration with industry-standard code review tools. Its cost and complex licensing are concerns for users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonarQube offers flexible deployment across multiple platforms, including on-premises and cloud environments. It benefits from strong community support, despite limited official tech support in the free versions. Fortify offers deployment options on public and on-premises platforms but lacks support for older development environments. Users consider its customer service adequate but costly.

Pricing and ROI: SonarQube provides a cost-effective open-source version for smaller companies, with paid editions offering advanced features, though enterprise pricing can be high. It delivers significant ROI through enhanced code quality and technical debt reduction. Fortify is viewed as expensive with complex licensing. It offers ROI through improved application security and real-time monitoring, though may not be practical for smaller organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,986 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

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonarQube

Ranking in Application Security Tools

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

134

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (1st), Software Development Analytics (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Fortify Application Defender is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube is 17.9%, down from 26.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SonarQube	17.9%
Fortify Application Defender	1.1%
Other	81.0%

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.

Read full review

KarthikHarpanhalli

Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical

Gains control over rule customization and achieves reliable vulnerability assessment

The deployment process took me about 2 or 3 hours to deploy SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube), although I do not remember exactly since it was done about 2 years back. Currently, about 10 of my developers are using SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) in my company. I do not have plans to increase the usage of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) in the future as there will not be any requirement to increase. I am a senior software engineer and supervisor at Mozark Medical. My corporate email address is karthik.k.a.r.t.h.i.k.h.a.r.p.a.n.h.a.l.l.i@mozarkmedical.com. Overall, I would rate SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) as a 9 out of 10.

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

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

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

"We are able to provide out 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 tool's most valuable feature is software composition analysis. This feature works well with my .NET applications, providing a better understanding of library vulnerabilities."

"The product saves us cost and time."

"The most valuable feature is that it analyzes data in real-time."

"The most valuable features of Fortify Application Defender are the code packages that are default."

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

More Fortify Application Defender pros

"Recently, they introduced support for mono reports and microservices, which is a noteworthy development as it provides a more detailed view of each service."

"The good thing with SonarQube is it covers a lot of issues, it's a very robust framework."

"The most valuable feature is the security hotspot feature that identifies where your code is prone to have security issues."

"Using SonarQube benefits us because we are able to avoid the inclusion of malware in our applications."

"The customizable dashboard and ability to include results and coverage from unit test and other static analysis code tools."

"I follow Quality Gate's graduation model within organization, and it is extremely helpful for me to benchmark products."

"The most valuable features are the wide array of languages, multiple languages per project, the breakdown of bugs, and the description of vulnerabilities and code smells (best practices)."

"It's enabled us to improve software quality and help us to disseminate best practices."

More SonarQube pros

Cons

"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."

"Support for older compilers/IDEs is lacking."

"The licensing can be a little complex."

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

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

"I encountered many false positives for Python applications."

"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."

"The false positive rate should be lower."

More Fortify Application Defender cons

"I don't believe you can have metrics of code quality based upon code analysis. I don't think it's possible for a computer to do it."

"SonarQube Cloud could improve its vulnerability detection compared to Veracode. Additionally, it has fewer capabilities, which prompted us to use Veracode."

"Dynamic scanning is missing and there are some issues with security scanning."

"This solution finds issues that are similar to what is found by Checkmarx, and it would be nice if the overlap could be eliminated."

"The security in SonarQube could be better."

"I would like to see SonarQube implement a good amount of improvements to the product's security features. Another aspect of SonarQube that could be improved is the search functionality."

"It would be helpful if notifications could go out to an extra person."

"The solution could improve by providing more advanced technologies."

More SonarQube cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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 price of this solution could be less expensive."

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

"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."

"Fortify Application Defender is very expensive."

"I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"The costs for this application, for the kind of job it does, are pretty decent."

"We are using the Developer Edition and the cost is based on the amount of code that is being processed."

"It is very expensive. Its price should be improved."

"Compared to similar solutions, SonarQube was more accessible to us and had more benefits, with regards to size of the code base and supported languages. Apart from the Enterprise licensing fee, there are no additional costs."

"People can try the free licenses and later can seek buying plugins/support, etc. once they started liking it."

"The free version of SonarQube does everything that we need it to."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable."

More SonarQube pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Security Tools solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

879,986 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

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	41
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	79

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

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Checkmarx One vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 15% of the time

Coverity Static vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 8% of the time

Klocwork vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 6% of the time

CAST Application Intelligence Platform vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 6% of the time

OpenText Core Application Security vs Fortify Application Defender

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortify Application Defender Competitors

Checkmarx One vs SonarQube

Compared 26% of the time

Snyk vs SonarQube

Compared 8% of the time

GitHub Advanced Security vs SonarQube

Compared 7% of the time

Coverity Static vs SonarQube

Compared 7% of the time

Semgrep vs SonarQube

Compared 4% of the time

More SonarQube Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Security Tools

January 2026

Download Fortify Application Defender product report

Buyer's Guide

SonarQube

December 2025

Download SonarQube product report

Also Known As

HPE Fortify Application Defender, Micro Focus Fortify Application Defender

Sonar, SonarQube Cloud

Overview

Micro Focus Security Fortify Application Defender is a runtime application self-protection (RASP) solution that helps you manage and mitigate risk from homegrown or third-party applications. It provides centralized visibility into application use and abuse while protecting from software vulnerability exploits and other violations in real time.

OpenText

SonarQube provides comprehensive support for multi-language development, custom coding rules, and quality gates, integrated seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines. It empowers teams with clear insights through intuitive dashboards, identifying vulnerabilities, code smells, and technical debt.

SonarQube is renowned for its extensive capabilities in static code analysis, making it an invaluable tool for maintaining code quality. By fully integrating into development processes, it allows organizations to manage vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with coding standards. Its extensive community and open-source roots contribute to its accessibility, while robust dashboards facilitate code quality monitoring. Despite its strengths, feedback suggests enhancing analysis speed, better integration with DevOps tools, and refining the user interface. Users also point to the need for handling false positives effectively and expanding on AI-based features for dynamic code analysis.

What are SonarQube's main features?

Multi-language Support: Broad compatibility with diverse programming languages
Custom Coding Rules: Flexible customization of coding standards
Quality Gates: Set thresholds for maintaining coding standards
Vulnerability Identification: Detects security and performance issues
Integration with CI/CD: Streamlines quality checks in development workflows
Open Source Access: Supported by an active developer community
Technical Debt Tracking: Identifies and manages coding inefficiencies

What benefits should users expect?

Enhanced Code Quality: Improve code reliability and maintainability
Security Assurance: Identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities
Reduced Technical Debt: Streamline the process of managing poor coding practices
Development Efficiency: Facilitates continuous integration and delivery processes
Community Support: Leverages an active network for continual improvements

In industries like finance and healthcare, SonarQube aids in obtaining regulatory compliance through rigorous code quality assessments. It is implemented to enhance cybersecurity by identifying potential vulnerabilities, while ensuring code meets the stringent standards demanded in these fields. As part of a broader development ecosystem, its integration in CI/CD pipelines ensures smooth and efficient software delivery, catering to phases from code inception to deployment, effectively supporting large-scale and critical software applications.

SonarSource Sàrl

Sample Customers

ServiceMaster, Saltworks, SAP

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube

December 2025

Free Report: Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

879,986 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Fortify Application Defender vs. SonarQube report.

See our list of best Application Security Tools vendors.

We monitor all Application Security Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.