HCL AppScan vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec comparison

HCLSoftware and Rapid7 are both solutions in the Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) category. HCLSoftware is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3, while Rapid7 is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.8. HCLSoftware holds a 14.0% mindshare in DAST, compared to Rapid7’s 9.6% 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 43 HCL AppScan reviews

4,377 Views
700 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Read 19 Rapid7 InsightAppSec reviews

1,519 Views
425 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

HCL AppScan

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2024

HCL AppScan and Rapid7 InsightAppSec are two leading cybersecurity solutions. Rapid7 InsightAppSec seems to have the upper hand due to its superior features despite higher costs.

Features: HCL AppScan: Comprehensive scanning capabilities, integration options, and cost-effectiveness. Rapid7 InsightAppSec: Intuitive reporting features, ease of use, user-friendly interface.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan: Better reporting, more frequent updates, improved deployment process. Rapid7 InsightAppSec: Better API, improved technical support responsiveness, less areas for enhancement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan: Complicated deployment process, mixed customer service reviews. Rapid7 InsightAppSec: Smoother deployment, superior customer service.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan: Cost-effective, good ROI. Rapid7 InsightAppSec: Higher upfront costs justified by richer feature set, higher perceived value.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,706 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)

1st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (15th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (14th)

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Ranking in Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 14.0%, down from 22.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightAppSec is 9.6%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL AppScan	14.0%
Rapid7 InsightAppSec	9.6%
Other	76.4%

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

Featured Reviews

Gladwin Christian

QA manager at SmartStream Technologies ltd.

A useful tool to scan applications that can be easily installed

Given that we have been using HCL AppScan for many years, I think the setup process is not difficult at all. Sometimes, some issues stop or prevent my company from moving forward with the product's setup phase. We have to call HCL's support team and engage in long discussions to smoothly carry out the setup phase. In general, the product's setup phase is not difficult in our company. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. The licenses for the solution are available only on cloud deployments nowadays. The solution is already installed in our environment. Every time a new release or software comes out from HCL, our company does a scan, which takes maybe a day or two.

Read full review

Shritam Bhowmick

Vulnerability Management Lead at garrett

Provides reliable applications security but needs better integration options

There are areas for improvements regarding false positives. Integration capabilities are lacking, as options for integrations with other tools such as SNOW, Jira, or other integration tools are not sufficient in Rapid7 InsightAppSec. The user interface sometimes has glitches, which may prevent appropriate results during navigation, and even when we get appropriate results, it can be impossible to export them to CSV records or download files. Regarding scalability, Rapid7 InsightAppSec is not a scalable solution for our industry due to limited integration capabilities. Rapid7 relies on another tool called InsightConnect, which requires additional investment, detracting from scalability. Another area that needs improvement is the integration of AI capabilities into the platform. Both Rapid7 InsightAppSec and InsightVM need to advance in that area. In terms of behavioral and pattern recognition, identifying complex attacks such as SQL, blind SQL, JSON, and LDAP injections often results in 94% false positives. This necessitates improvement in their behavioral-based analytics feature.

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

"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 solution offers services in a few specific development languages."

"It comes with all of the templates that we need. For example, we are a company that is regulated by PCI. In order to be PCI compliant, we have a lot of checks and procedures to which we have to comply."

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

"The product is useful, particularly in its sensitivity and scanning capabilities."

"This is a stable solution."

More HCL AppScan pros

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

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

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

"Dynamic application security scanning provides predefined templates and supports customization. The ability to scan external and internal applications, including on-premises ones, is precious. Additionally, it is a cloud platform, so we don't need to deploy servers or resources. This makes it time-efficient and cost-effective."

"I rate stability ten out of ten."

"We have seen measurable decrease in the mean time to respond to threats by 20 percent."

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

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec pros

Cons

"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."

"It has crashed at times."

"I think being able to search across more containers, especially some of the docker elements. We need a little tighter integration there. That's the only thing I can see at this point."

"Visibility is an issue for us. Our partners do not know we have integrations with some of IBM products."

"There are so many lines of code with so many different categories that I am likely to get lost. "

"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."

"The product has some technical limitations."

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

More HCL AppScan cons

"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 dynamic scanning feature has simplified and improved the security testing process. I suggest adding a SaaS feature to the solution to support scanning SaaS applications, making it more comprehensive. It would be beneficial if the solution could also scan mobile applications. It only scans web applications and should also cover mobile applications, including firmware recommendations."

"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."

"Rapid7 InsightAppSec needs improvement in detecting phishing pages."

"Currently, InsightAppSec lacks similar functionality. Customers must wait for remediation during the developers' preparation of a new version."

"The reporting feature of Rapid7 InsightAppSec needs improvement as it currently provides basic reports."

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

"The reporting feature of Rapid7 InsightAppSec needs improvement as it currently provides basic reports."

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is moderately priced."

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

"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."

"HCL AppScan is expensive."

"The price is very expensive."

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

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

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

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

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

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

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

"The price of this product is very cheap."

"Rapid7 InsightAppSec is cheap."

"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."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	31

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?

AppScan needs to improve its handling of false positives. It also requires enhancements in customer support, similar to what Veracode provides. Regularly scheduling calls with clients to discuss fe...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?

The primary use case for AppScan is for security purposes. I compare AppScan with other tools such as Veracode. We use AppScan for vulnerability detection and auto-remediation of vulnerabilities wi...

See all answers

What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

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 p...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rapid7 InsightAppSec?

Our main use case for Rapid7 InsightAppSec is to perform internal assessment of applications and external facing applications. We have a cloud engine plus on-premises engine, and we have been lever...

See all answers

Comparisons

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs HCL AppScan

Compared 12% of the time

Acunetix vs HCL AppScan

Compared 11% of the time

Veracode vs HCL AppScan

Compared 11% of the time

OWASP Zap vs HCL AppScan

Compared 8% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs HCL AppScan

Compared 7% of the time

More HCL AppScan Competitors

Rapid7 AppSpider vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 28% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 14% of the time

OWASP Zap vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 12% of the time

Invicti vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Compared 10% of the time

More Rapid7 InsightAppSec Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan

September 2025

Download HCL AppScan product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

September 2025

Download Rapid7 InsightAppSec product report

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

InsightAppSec

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

Your web applications may be complex, but your application security testing tool doesn’t need to be. InsightAppSec brings Rapid7’s proven Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) technology to the Insight platform, combining powerful application crawling and attack capabilities, flexibility in scan scope and scheduling, and accuracy in results with a modern UI, intuitive workflows, and sensible data organization. This enables you to identify XSS, SQL injection, CSRF, and other vulnerabilities with unparalleled ease. The best part? All of these capabilities are delivered via the cloud so that you’re up and running in minutes to identify the critical security risks that exist in your applications.

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 2025

Free Report: HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec report.

See our list of best Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) vendors.

We monitor all Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) 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.