HCL AppScan vs Kiuwan comparison

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HCL AppScan

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

HCL AppScan and Kiuwan compete in the application security category. Users indicate Kiuwan may have the upper hand due to its advanced features despite higher pricing.

Features: HCL AppScan offers extensive security testing capabilities, competitive pricing, and comprehensive support. Kiuwan provides advanced analysis features across coding languages, easy integration with workflows, and a robust feature set.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan could improve its integration options, loading speeds, and customization capabilities. Kiuwan needs better customization, enhanced reporting functionalities, and broader integration options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan is noted for straightforward deployment, valuable support during setup, and reliable customer service. Kiuwan presents a more complex deployment but offers responsive service and thorough technical guidance.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan is praised for cost-effectiveness and strong ROI, balancing cost with functional depth. Kiuwan, despite being more costly, provides strong ROI with its advanced features and long-term value satisfaction.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan Report (Updated: February 2026).

HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan

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Helped 882,637 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

HCL AppScan

Ranking in Application Security Tools

20th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

17th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (6th)

Kiuwan

Ranking in Application Security Tools

29th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

26th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kiuwan is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL AppScan	2.2%
Kiuwan	1.2%
Other	96.6%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani

Founder Director at Techsa Services

Has improved identification of encryption and authentication issues across cloud and on-prem applications

During the learning curve of onboarding HCL AppScan, we learned that HCL has altered the portfolio and now offers HCL AppScan 360, which has a much better look and feel with an improved user interface. However, there is one feature called SCA, which stands for Software Composition Analysis, that could be improved. When I'm doing an application scan, HCL AppScan has the ability to generate information about what components are in use. For example, if I'm scanning a web application, it shows me the various components being used. It tells me whether I have Java libraries, .NET frameworks, or other log management libraries such as Log4j, and what versions of those specific components are present. I would like to see more detailed reports from the tool. Currently, you can find out the components belonging to a specific software, but if detailed reporting became available, you would be in a better position to identify vulnerabilities. For instance, I could identify that I had the Log4j vulnerability and know that I need to fix my application accordingly. If they add the features I'm describing, I would consider giving them a higher rating. However, I've only been experienced with the product for three months.

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Mustufa Bhavnagarwala

CyberRisk Solution Advisor at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Though a stable tool, the UI needs improvement

Kiuwan can improve its UI a little more. The user experience can be made better. Kiuwan offers a user interface that is similar to the one offered by Windows 7 or Windows 98, which I saw when I ran the tool and tried to scan the repository to find the security issues. The product's UI has certain shortcomings, where improvements are required.

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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 most valuable feature of the solution is the scanning or security part."

"Technical support is helpful."

"Usually when we deploy the application, there is a process for ethical hacking. The main benefit is that, the ethical hacking is almost clean, every time. So it's less cost, less effort, less time to production."

"It was easy to set up."

"AppScan's most valuable features include its ability to identify vulnerabilities accurately, provide detailed remediation steps, and the newly introduced AI-powered features that enhance its functionality further."

"The HCL AppScan turnaround time for Burp Suite or any new feature request is pretty good, and that is why we are sticking with the HCL."

"It highlights, with several grades of severity, the types of vulnerabilities, so we can focus on the most severe security vulnerabilities in the code."

"It has certainly helped us find vulnerabilities in our software, so this is priceless in the end."

More HCL AppScan pros

"Software analytics for a lot of different languages including ABAP."

"I find it immensely helpful because it's not just about generating code; it's about ensuring efficiency in the execution."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is quick when processing and giving an output or generating a report."

"I like that I can scan the code without sending it to the Kiuwan cloud. I can do it locally on my device. When the local analyzer finishes, the results display on the dashboard in the cloud. It's essential for security purposes to be able to scan my code locally."

"I personally like the way it breaks down security vulnerabilities with LoC at first glance."

"The most valuable feature is the time to resolution, where it tells you how long it is going to take to get to a zero-base or a five-star security rating."

"I've tried many open source applications and the remediation or correction actions that were provided by Kiuwan were very good in comparison."

"The solution has a continuous integration process."

More Kiuwan pros

Cons

"They could incorporate AI to enhance vulnerability detection and improve the product's reporting capabilities."

"If HCL AppScan is able to alert the clients over email once the scan is complete, it would be great. Right now, HCL AppScan doesn't let me know if the scanning part is finished or not, because of which I have to come back and check mostly."

"AppScan is too complicated and should be made more user-friendly."

"The pricing has room for improvement."

"The dashboard, for AppScan or the Fortified fast tool, which we use needs to be improved."

"HCL AppScan needs to improve security."

"We have experienced challenges when trying to integrate this solution with other products. When you compare it with the other SecOps products, the quality of the output is too low. It is not a new-age product. It is very outdated."

"The penetration testing feature should be included."

More HCL AppScan cons

"The next release should include more flexibility in the reporting."

"The QA developer and security could be improved."

"Integration of the programming tools could be improved."

"It could improve its scalability abilities."

"Kiuwan's support has room for improvement. You can only open a ticket is through email, and the support team is outside of our country. They should have a support number or chat."

"I would like to see additional languages supported."

"The solution seems to give us a lot of false positives. This could be improved quite a bit."

"The integration process could be improved. It'll also help if it could generate reports automatically. But I'm not sure about the effectiveness of the reports. This is because, in our last project, we still found some key issues that weren't captured by the Kiuwan report."

More Kiuwan cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."

"With the features, that they offer, and the support, they offer, AppScan pricing is on a higher level."

"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."

"I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high. HCL AppScan is an expensive tool."

"The product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."

"HCL AppScan is expensive."

"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."

"The tool was expensive."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

"I recommend contacting a sales person who will create the best plan payment plan for you, as we did."

"Check with your account manager."

"This solution is cheaper than other tools."

"The price of Kiuwan is lower than that of other tools on the market."

"Kiuwan is an open-source solution and free to use."

"It follows a subscription model. I think the price is somewhere in the middle."

"Nothing special. It's a very fair model."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

University

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	31

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL AppScan?

The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is its integration with the SDLC, particularly during the coding phase.

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What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?

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What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?

I'm currently working with BigFix and HCL AppScan. At least three people in my company are using HCL AppScan. Since we are a reseller, we run it in both lab environments and live production applica...

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Compared 32% of the time

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Veracode vs Kiuwan

Compared 8% of the time

Snyk vs Kiuwan

Compared 6% of the time

GitHub vs Kiuwan

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

HCL AppScan

Download HCL AppScan product report

Download Kiuwan product report

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

No data available

Overview

IBM Security AppScan enhances web application security and mobile application security, improves application security program management and strengthens regulatory compliance. By scanning your web and mobile applications prior to deployment, AppScan enables you to identify security vulnerabilities and generate reports and fix recommendations.

HCLSoftware

Software analytics technology with a breadth of third party integrations that takes into account the wealth of applications your teams are currently using.

We facilitate and encourage work between unlocalized teams. We understand the complexity of working on multi technology environments, constantly striving to increase the number of programming languages and technologies we support.

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT

DHL, BNP Paribas, Zurich, AXA, Ernst & Young, KFC, Santander, Latam, Ferrovial

HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan