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GitHub Code Scanning vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) comparison

GitHub and Sonar are both solutions in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category. GitHub is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.6, while Sonar is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. GitHub holds a 1.2% mindshare in SAST, compared to Sonar’s 23.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of GitHub users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Sonar users who would recommend it.
GitHub Code Scanning
Read 5 GitHub Code Scanning reviews
  • 815 Views
  • 408 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
SonarQube Server (formerly ...
Read 116 SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) reviews
  • 35,651 Views
  • 11,770 Comparison Views
81% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

SonarQube Server and GitHub Code Scanning compete in the code analysis market. GitHub Code Scanning has an edge due to its GitHub integration, making it a convenient choice for developers, while SonarQube Server is favored for its comprehensive analysis capabilities.

Features: SonarQube Server provides extensive code quality metrics, custom rule creation, and support for over 20 programming languages, making it suitable for diverse projects. GitHub Code Scanning integrates seamlessly with GitHub, providing security vulnerability alerts within the development workflow. It also offers automated code review and code quality tracking directly linked to GitHub Actions.

Room for Improvement: SonarQube Server could improve its setup process to make it simpler and eliminate the need for on-premise configuration. More agile integration with cloud environments could enhance its usability. Licensing terms could be more flexible in dynamic CI/CD environments. GitHub Code Scanning could broaden its support for various development environments outside GitHub. Enhancing security vulnerability analysis to rival specialized tools could improve its offering. Providing advanced customization options for code quality rules can cater to teams with specific needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonarQube Server requires an on-premise setup and offers customizable support catering to enterprise needs. GitHub Code Scanning's cloud-based model minimizes deployment efforts and integrates smoothly with GitHub, making it ideal for teams already using GitHub. GitHub's support caters well to GitHub-centric environments, whereas SonarQube offers personalized support options.

Pricing and ROI: SonarQube Server involves initial setup costs with flexible pricing, offering scalable ROI as projects grow. GitHub Code Scanning, with its subscription model linked to GitHub plans, provides a lower entry barrier. While SonarQube may have higher upfront costs, its ROI reflects in comprehensive code analysis. GitHub Code Scanning offers integration value and potentially lower initial costs for GitHub users.

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To learn more, read our detailed GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
June 2025
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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

GitHub Code Scanning
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonarQube Server (formerly ...
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
116
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (1st), Software Development Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of GitHub Code Scanning is 1.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is 23.9%, down from 27.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
 

Featured Reviews

VishalSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Traverses the entire network, scanning every system to determine which ports are open
You can use the tool locally on your system or in the cloud. I rate it a nine out of ten. It's a very good tool for people who want to start using GitHubCode Scanning, especially for software development or team collaboration. GitHubCode Scanning allows teams to collaborate by uploading files to repositories. For example, if someone is developing an application, they can host the code on GitHub Code Scanning. Other developers can then download the code for testing purposes. If bugs are found, fixes can be applied using the GitHub Code Scanningrepository, and everyone on the team can see the changes. Software developers often use GitHub Code Scanning for version control, and it's essential for CI/CD pipelines to work.
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Sthembiso Zondi - PeerSpot reviewer
Consistent improvements in code quality and security with effective integration and reliable technical support
The features of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) that I find most useful are the suggestions received from reviewing the code. When they review the code, they provide suggestions on how to fix it, and we find those very useful from a development perspective. We use SonarQube Server's (formerly SonarQube) centralized management and visualization of code quality metrics on the dashboard because that's the executive dashboard that we send to the executives to show where we are in terms of quality, security, and where the company can improve. We use that for organizational improvement purposes. The ability to tailor metrics tracking in SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) has been beneficial to my team. There are team-specific dashboards which are related to specific repositories they utilize, and we have that aggregative dashboard that shows the whole organization's performance. We can drill down per specific repository, which makes it easier for the team to improve specific things.
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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

"The static code analysis capability in GitHub Code Scanning is a very powerful feature, providing the ability to identify vulnerabilities and ensure code quality."
"It's very scalable, very easy to handle, and very intuitive."
"We use GitHub Code Scanning mostly for source code management."
"The solution helps identify vulnerabilities by understanding how ports communicate with applications running on a system. Ports are like house numbers; to visit someone's house, you must know their number. Similarly, ports are used to communicate with applications. For example, if you want to use an HTTP web server, you must use port 80. It is the port on which the web application or your server listens for incoming requests."
"GitHub Code Spaces brings significant value with its simplicity and ease of use."
"The depth features I have found most valuable. You receive a quick comprehensive comparison overview regarding the current release and the last release and what type of depths dependency or duplication should be used. This is going to help you to make a more readable code and have more flexibility for the engineers to understand how things should work when they do not know."
"The good thing with SonarQube is it covers a lot of issues, it's a very robust framework."
"It is a very good tool for analysis despite its limitations."
"The most valuable features are the analysis and detection of issues within the application code."
"The most valuable function is its usability."
"The integrations SonarQube provides with our software delivery pipeline are very seamless."
"Code Convention: Using the tool to implement some sort of coding convention is really useful and ensures that the code is consistent no matter how many contributors."
"SonarQube is designed well making it easy to use, simple to identify issues and find solutions to problems."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) pros
 

Cons

"GitHub Code Scanning should add more templates."
"At times it becomes very annoying as it highlights certain things which are intuitive. They require code coverage for those aspects as an extra overhead."
"One area for improvement could be the ability to have an AI system digest the reports generated from code scanning and provide a summary. Currently, the reports can be extensive, and users may overlook details, such as outdated libraries, which could be highlighted for attention."
"When running code scans, GitHub Code Scanning provides recommendations for probable fixes. However, integrating a feature where developers receive real-time highlights of vulnerabilities when checking in or merging a PR would be beneficial."
"Depending on the tool's configuration, sometimes you get false alarms that are unimportant to you."
"If there was an official Docker image of SonarQube that could easily integrate into the pipeline would help the user to plug in and plug out and use it directly without any custom configuration. I am not sure if this is being offered already in an update but it would be very helpful."
"Lacks sufficient visibility and documentation."
"The product's user documentation can be vastly improved."
"The time it took for me to do the whole process was approximately two hours because I had to download, read the documentation, and do the configurations."
"If you don't have any experience with the configuration or how to configure the files, it can be complicated."
"A robust credential scanner would be a huge bonus as it would remove the need for yet another niche product."
"There are times that we have the database crash. However, this might be an issue with how we have configured it and not a software issue. Apart from this, I do not see any issues with the solution."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"GitHub Code Scanning is a moderately priced solution."
"The minimum pricing for the tool is five dollars a month."
"The licence is standard open source licensing"
"We are using the Developer Edition and the cost is based on the amount of code that is being processed."
"SonarQube is a fairly affordable solution for a larger scale if you have a specific role or specific department for secure code."
"I do not know about the pricing as I am using the community edition, which is free. But I compared the pricing with Sigma, and it is higher than SonarQube."
"There are many different packages with different pricing options available. We are able to try what we have and if we need extra features we can upgrade the license."
"We use the free version; there are no hidden costs or licensing required."
"It is very expensive. Its price should be improved."
"The free version of SonarQube does everything that we need it to."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GitHub Code Scanning?
We use GitHub Code Scanning mostly for source code management.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitHub Code Scanning?
The organization pays for the license of GitHub Code Scanning, but specific price details are unknown.
See all answers
What needs improvement with GitHub Code Scanning?
When running code scans, GitHub Code Scanning provides recommendations for probable fixes. However, integrating a feature where developers receive real-time highlights of vulnerabilities when check...
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

Coverity vs GitHub Code Scanning Logo
Coverity vs GitHub Code Scanning
Compared 28% of the time
SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs GitHub Code Scanning Logo
SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs GitHub Code Scanning
Compared 13% of the time
Aikido Security vs GitHub Code Scanning Logo
Aikido Security vs GitHub Code Scanning
Compared 10% of the time
Polaris Software Integrity Platform vs GitHub Code Scanning Logo
Polaris Software Integrity Platform vs GitHub Code Scanning
Compared 5% of the time
OWASP Zap vs GitHub Code Scanning Logo
OWASP Zap vs GitHub Code Scanning
Compared 4% of the time
More GitHub Code Scanning Competitors
Checkmarx One vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Logo
Checkmarx One vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Compared 13% of the time
Coverity vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Logo
Coverity vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Compared 13% of the time
GitHub Advanced Security vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Logo
GitHub Advanced Security vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Compared 11% of the time
SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Logo
SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Compared 7% of the time
Veracode vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Logo
Veracode vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Compared 7% of the time
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
June 2025
GitHub Code Scanning reportDownload GitHub Code Scanning product report
Buyer's Guide
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
June 2025
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) reportDownload SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sonar
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
GitHub
Sonar
 

Overview

Code scanning is a feature that you use to analyze the code in a GitHub repository to find security vulnerabilities and coding errors. Any problems identified by the analysis are shown in GitHub.

GitHub

SonarQube Server enhances code quality and security via static code analysis. It detects vulnerabilities, improves standards, and reduces technical debt, integrating into CI/CD pipelines.

SonarQube Server is a comprehensive tool for enhancing code quality and security. It offers static code analysis to identify vulnerabilities, improve coding standards, and reduce technical debt. By integrating into CI/CD pipelines, it provides automated checks for adherence to best practices. Organizations use it for code inspection, security testing, and compliance, ensuring development environments with better maintainability and fewer issues.

What are the key features of SonarQube Server?
  • Support for 20+ languages: Extensive programming language support suitable for diverse coding environments.
  • Custom coding rules: Allows for tailored rule sets to match specific coding standards.
  • Flexible quality gates: Define criteria for code acceptance at various intervals.
  • CI/CD integration: Seamless integration with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment tools.
  • Rich interface: User-friendly dashboard with detailed visual insights.
What benefits should users expect from SonarQube Server?
  • Improved code quality: Enhanced analysis contributes to fewer bugs and improved coding practices.
  • Security enhancements: Identifies and mitigates security vulnerabilities pre-emptively.
  • Maintainability: Reduces technical debt, yielding long-term development efficiency.
  • Customizable: Flexibility in configuration aligns with specific project needs.

Many industries implement SonarQube Server to uphold coding standards, maintain security protocols, and streamline their software development lifecycle. In sectors like finance and healthcare, adhering to regulations and ensuring reliable software is critical, making SonarQube Server invaluable. It is often integrated into CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that code changes meet set standards before deployment. This approach enhances productivity and maintains compliance with industry-specific requirements.

Sonar
Buyer's Guide
GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
June 2025
Free Report: GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Find out what your peers are saying about GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
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