HCL AppScan vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec comparison

Why PeerSpot?

HCLSoftware and Rapid7 are both solutions in the Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) category. HCLSoftware is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.0, while Rapid7 is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.7. HCLSoftware holds a 8.7% mindshare in DAST, compared to Rapid7’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Rapid7 users who would recommend it.

HCL AppScan

Read 44 HCL AppScan reviews

9,624 Views
2,598 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Read 21 Rapid7 InsightAppSec reviews

3,952 Views
1,936 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

HCL AppScan

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

HCL AppScan and Rapid7 InsightAppSec compete in the security solutions category. HCL AppScan has a slight advantage due to its comprehensive security setup and development process integration.

Features: HCL AppScan integrates security into the development process, providing effective vulnerability detection features like XSS and SQL injection detection, and offers extensive language support. Rapid7 InsightAppSec is noted for its ease of use, dynamic scanning capabilities, and flexibility in scan scheduling.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan users report issues with false positives, usability complexity, and integration challenges with other tools. Rapid7 InsightAppSec users express concerns about report complexity, false positives, limited integrations, and high pricing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan offers on-premises deployment, with mixed experiences in technical support, particularly after the IBM transition. Rapid7 InsightAppSec supports both Hybrid and Public Cloud deployments, with a satisfactory support experience needing better regional resources.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan is considered expensive but provides significant ROI by reducing vulnerabilities. Rapid7 InsightAppSec is cheaper, with flexible licensing. While Fair, customers see room for cost improvements.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec

September 2026

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Helped 921,338 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 Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

7th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (24th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (20th)

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Ranking in Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Observability (22nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 8.7%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightAppSec is 5.5%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Rapid7 InsightAppSec	5.5%
HCL AppScan	8.7%
Other	85.8%

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

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.

Read full review

Brandi Lea

Regional Information Security Analyst, Lead at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Rapid risk detection has transformed how I uncover hidden vulnerabilities in new applications

Rapid7 InsightAppSec offers excellent features including a cloud-based platform that allows for detailed breakdowns of information into more digestible bits. The platform is user-friendly with a broad range of tools, although it does require quite a bit of a learning curve. It allows me to aggregate data and put it into presentations to send to executives about the security status across the entire enterprise. My favorite aspect of the user-friendly interface of Rapid7 is the primary cloud-based dashboard, which I find most useful. I love that even inside a browser, the intuitive help options are available for figuring out what things are, whether it's hovering over a particular option for insights or using right-click features that offer tools and tips on managing the vulnerabilities when found. The interface is very clean, not overly convoluted or difficult to navigate, which I do enjoy. Rapid7 has positively impacted my organization by allowing me to discover vulnerabilities, both publicly known and zero-day, much faster and efficiently than I ever did in the past, ultimately saving the company a lot of money in compliance issues, fines, and possibly even lawsuits. The number of vulnerabilities I am discovering has improved by almost thirty seven percent in the last two years alone. Remediation especially has increased significantly because I am finding these vulnerabilities faster, and Rapid7 provides tips on how to remediate or harden against them, whether through hardening options or upgrading to better versions, which does save the company money.

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 security and the dashboard are the most valuable features."

"The solution is easy to install. I would rate the product's setup between six to seven out of ten. The deployment time depends on the applications that need to be scanned. We have a development and operations team to take care of the product's maintenance."

"The solution is easy to use."

"It's a good product; its automated crawler identifies all URLs and performs security tests, and it has very rich test cases which ensure pretty good coverage in terms of security testing while the UI is user friendly and intuitive."

"This solution saves us time due to the low number of false positives detected."

"I mainly use AppScan for vulnerability scanning and database bridging."

"The product has valuable features for static and dynamic testing."

"With AppScan, we are now deploying less defects to production."

More HCL AppScan pros

"It is very convenient to get reports from the tool, which offers high-level environmental statistics."

"It's very easy to use and user-friendly, and it does the job."

"In Rapid7 InsightAppSec, a distinctive feature is the provision of a CDM for integrating web servers and web applications. To establish the connection between these applications, you only need to paste the provided CDN into your metadata. Once connected, every piece of information, including vulnerabilities, can be accessed. It also offers demo sessions."

"Relatively speaking, InsightAppSec is good compared to Insight VM."

"Rapid7 InsightAppSec is a good product for dynamic application security testing, providing neat reports that include validation actions and helping to generate web application firewall rules for web applications."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the graphical interface."

"Rapid7 InsightAppSec helps us in both regulatory compliance and in strengthening our security posture."

"The product’s most valuable feature is UI. It is easy to manage and find vulnerabilities in the application."

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec pros

Cons

"The solution often has a high number of false positives. It's an aspect they really need to improve upon."

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

"A desktop version should be added."

"Many silly false positives are produced."

"I would love to see more containers. Many of the tools are great, they require an amount of configuration, setup and infrastructure. If most the applications were in a container, I think everything would be a little bit faster, because all our clients are now using containers."

"They should have a better UI for dashboards."

"Better detection of DOM-based XSS Better remediation guidance using code examples and contexts"

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."

More HCL AppScan cons

"The reporting is definitely an aspect of the solution that's in need of some work. We found that we'd try to use widgets, but often getting them to work for us wasn't very clear. They need to be more user friendly or offer better instructions."

"The interface should be a little bit easier to manage. Sometimes, the logic that they use is kind of strange. They need to work a little bit more on their interface to make it more understandable. The interface is the only problem. I'm using Rapid7, which is very intuitive. There are other applications available in the market with a better interface. They can include more techniques or options to test different types of security because the templates are limited. It would be great to see them follow the MITRE ATT&CK framework or what is there in tools like Veracode and Synopsys."

"The number of web applications we can scan is limited."

"There is room for improvement in the response time of customer service and support levels."

"The only concern I have with Rapid7 is that it does not provide enough information about vulnerabilities within AppSec."

"When you add new projects for the same product, it either duplicates or replaces the scan configuration. If I run a scan for the same product with a different scan configuration, it should keep the previous scan configuration and not replace it with the new scan configuration. It should just add the new scan configuration. That would be helpful. They do keep the results as it is, but the scan configuration keeps changing. For example, I have set a scan configuration to a full scan, and next week, I want to run a new scan for the same product with some changes or new functionalities. I want to run a partial scan. Currently, if I change the scan configuration to partial, it changes the old one also to partial. That should be improved."

"I would like more details of what the product can do."

"The interface should be a little bit easier to manage. Sometimes, the logic that they use is kind of strange."

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"HCL AppScan is expensive."

"The price is very expensive."

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

"The product is moderately priced, though it's an investment due to extensive code analysis needs."

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

"The price of HCL AppScan is okay, in my opinion. You just buy HCL AppScan and don't pay anything anymore, meaning it is just a one-time purchase."

"The solution is moderately priced."

"I would rate the product's pricing a nine out of ten. The product's pricing is expensive compared to the features that they offer."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

"They offer a good price, but I don't remember its cost. It is fair as compared to the competition. We have opted for project-based licensing, not user-based. We can add any number of users. That doesn't matter. It is worth the money."

"I'm not sure how much it costs exactly, but I know it's expensive."

"I rate Rapid7 InsightAppSec’s pricing an eight out of ten."

"Its price is competitive. It is not expensive."

"The price of this product is very cheap."

"Rapid7 InsightAppSec is cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

10%

Government

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	12
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL AppScan?

AppScan is considered more cost-effective than Veracode, although I have not updated the exact pricing details. Companies often choose based on budget constraints, with Veracode being on the higher...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

While Rapid7 InsightAppSec is getting better with each update or version, it needs to enhance its zero-day detection for anomalous things without relying on third-party solutions like Vericode. Hav...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

My main use case for Rapid7 is onboarding all new applications both built in house and third party acquired, where I run them through a sandbox environment and allow Rapid7 to conduct an initial sc...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

If you are looking for a solution that will help identify vulnerabilities and provide remediation tips for hardening your infrastructure, I think Rapid7 does an excellent job. While I do not know t...

See all answers

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Compared 13% of the time

Veracode vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 12% of the time

AppCheck vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 12% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Enterprise Edition vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 12% of the time

OWASP Zap vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 3% of the time

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan

October 2026

Download HCL AppScan product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

October 2026

Download Rapid7 InsightAppSec product report

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

InsightAppSec

Overview

HCL AppScan offers quick vulnerability detection with effective SDLC integration and is known for its user-friendly interface and seamless security integration.

HCL AppScan provides dynamic and static scanning to identify vulnerabilities like XSS and SQL injection. It integrates well into CI/CD pipelines, supports multiple languages, and offers web and dynamic scanning, helping businesses ensure security across development lifecycles. Users benefit from API coverage, Postman integration, and its ability to function in cloud and on-premise environments, facilitating a shift from DevOps to DevSecOps practices.

What features define HCL AppScan?

User-friendly interface: Simplifies navigation and usage.
Vulnerability detection: Quickly identifies issues like XSS and SQL injection.
Integration with SDLC: Seamlessly blends with development processes.
Dynamic scanning: Offers comprehensive security evaluations.
Multiple language support: Supports diverse programming environments.

What benefits should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts to growing needs and projects.
Low false-positive rates: Delivers accurate and reliable results.
Detailed reporting: Provides comprehensive vulnerability insights.
Effective integration: Enhances CI/CD pipeline security.

HCL AppScan is leveraged in sectors requiring rigorous security checks, such as finance and healthcare, where it conducts comprehensive scans and offers insights into potential vulnerabilities. Its robust scanning capabilities aid companies in maintaining compliance and security standards.

HCLSoftware

Rapid7 InsightAppSec is a cloud-based security tool offering robust web scanning capabilities with a user-friendly interface and seamless integration. It enhances dynamic application security testing through customizable modules, providing comprehensive reports and remediation guidance.

InsightAppSec delivers dynamic application security testing with features like Attack Replay and a centralized dashboard for vulnerability insights. It supports flexible deployment options and simplifies scheduling frequent scans. The tool's intuitive graphical interface and extensive scanning coverage make it valuable for identifying vulnerabilities in web applications, APIs, and e-commerce sites, ensuring compliance. However, improvements are needed in detection accuracy, reporting options, and integrations with external tools like WAF and ticketing systems. There is a need for better scan management, support for mobile applications, customized reporting options, pricing flexibility, improved support, and AI integration.

What are the key features of InsightAppSec?

Seamless Integration: Easily integrates within SDLC for automated scans.
User-Friendly Interface: Offers an intuitive graphical experience.
Robust Web Scanning: Provides extensive vulnerability scanning of web applications and APIs.
Customizable Attack Modules: Tailors testing to meet specific security needs.
Attack Replay: Facilitates re-testing of potential vulnerabilities for accuracy.
Centralized Dashboard: Offers comprehensive insights into vulnerabilities.

What benefits should users look for?

Comprehensive Reports: Delivers detailed insights into security vulnerabilities.
Remediation Guidance: Provides actionable advice to fix identified vulnerabilities.
Scalability: Supports growth by handling increased demands efficiently.
Extensive Coverage: Ensures thorough security testing across multiple platforms.
Flexible Deployment: Adapts to different operational environments.

Industries rely on InsightAppSec for vulnerability scanning to secure web applications, APIs, and e-commerce platforms. Its integration within the SDLC aids in automating scans during development. While limitations exist with certain tool integrations, its cloud-based engine and effective reporting make it essential for internal and external application security assurance.

Rapid7

Sample Customers

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

CenterPoint Energy, CPA Australia, Hypertherm, First American Financial Corporation, Rackspace

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec

September 2026

Free Report: HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec

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