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 #16 with an average rating of 8.5, while Sonar is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. GitHub holds a 1.5% mindshare in SAST, compared to Sonar’s 20.3% 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 6 GitHub Code Scanning reviews

1,145 Views
1,088 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SonarQube Server (formerly ...

Read 117 SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) reviews

40,838 Views
30,220 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

GitHub Code Scanning

SonarQube Server (formerly ...

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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.

To learn more, read our detailed GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

September 2025

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Helped 867,370 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

GitHub Code Scanning

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

16th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

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

117

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (1st), Software Development Analytics (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of GitHub Code Scanning is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is 20.3%, down from 27.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)	20.3%
GitHub Code Scanning	1.5%
Other	78.2%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

VishalSingh

Consulting & Solutions, BA/BD in Enterprise IT on Open Source, Red Hat & EDB at KEEN AND ABLE COMPUTERS PVT LTD

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.

Read full review

Sthembiso Zondi

Head of Software Engineering at ronaldmariah@gmail.com

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."

"GitHub Code Spaces brings significant value with its simplicity and ease of use."

"We use GitHub Code Scanning mostly for source code management."

"GitHub Code Scanning has positively impacted my organization as it helps us recognize errors and avoid many later issues which may arise."

"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."

"SonarQube is useful for controlling all of our Azure task tracking and scanning."

"SonarQube has a lot of value, it reviews the basic coding standards and security vulnerabilities of code that help to reduce issues."

"The solution can verify vulnerabilities, code smells, and hotspots. It makes the software more secure and it helps make a junior or novice developer sharper."

"The most valuable function is its usability."

"It provides you with many features, as it does with the premium model, but there are still extra features that can be purchased if needed."

"There is a free version."

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

"The most valuable feature of SonarQube I have found to be the configuration that has allowed us to can make adjusts to the demands of the code review. It gives a specified classification regarding the skill, prioritization, and it is easy for me to review and make my code."

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."

"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."

"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."

"SonarQube could be improved by implementing inter-procedural code analysis capabilities, allowing for a more comprehensive detection of defects and vulnerabilities across the entire codebase."

"It should be user-friendly."

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

"Having performance regression would be a helpful add on or ability to be able to do during the scan."

"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."

"An improvement is with false positives. Sometimes the tool can say there is an issue in your code but, really, you have to do things in a certain way due to external dependencies, and I think it's very hard to indicate this is the case."

"In terms of analysis and findings, other tools provide more in-depth insights and detailed steps to mitigate or handle issues."

"We've been using the Community Edition, which means that we get to use it at our leisure, and they're kind enough to literally give it to us. However, it takes a fair amount of effort to figure out how to get everything up and running. Since we didn't go with the professional paid version, we're not entitled to support. Of course that could be self-correcting if we were to make the step to buy into this and really use it. Then their technical support would be available to us to make strides for using it better."

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."

"I think comparing the product to competitors it should be less expensive."

"SonarQube is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

"A low cost long-term solution for non-critical situations."

"I was using the Community Edition, which is available free of charge."

"We pay €10 per month for this solution, which is good. It provides a good value for money."

"I requested this license for one million lines of code and they accepted this."

"SonarQube is a fairly affordable solution for a larger scale if you have a specific role or specific department for secure code."

"My guess is that we have a yearly subscription. We use it quite extensively, so a monthly license wouldn't make sense. Yearly subscriptions are usually cheaper. In addition to the standard licensing fee, there is just the cost of running the hardware where it is hosted."

More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	75

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?

In my opinion, areas of GitHub Code Scanning that could be improved include that a few things are not visible to us, such as where it stores data and which path. There is a separate team for that w...

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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 Static vs GitHub Code Scanning

Compared 25% of the time

SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs GitHub Code Scanning

Compared 11% of the time

Aikido Security vs GitHub Code Scanning

Compared 10% of the time

HCL AppScan vs GitHub Code Scanning

Compared 8% of the time

OWASP Zap vs GitHub Code Scanning

Compared 6% of the time

More GitHub Code Scanning Competitors

Checkmarx One vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

Compared 18% of the time

Coverity Static vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

Compared 10% of the time

GitHub Advanced Security vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

Compared 10% of the time

Veracode vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

Compared 6% of the time

SonarQube Cloud (formerly SonarCloud) vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

Compared 6% of the time

More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GitHub Code Scanning

September 2025

Download GitHub Code Scanning product report

Buyer's Guide

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

August 2025

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) report

Download SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) product report

Also Known As

No data available

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)

September 2025

Free Report: GitHub Code Scanning vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)

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