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HCL AppScan vs StackHawk comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
44
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (23rd), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (19th)
StackHawk
Ranking in Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 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 StackHawk is 1.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL AppScan8.7%
StackHawk1.9%
Other89.4%
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
 

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ney Roman - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at Deuna
Vulnerability visibility has improved across microservices but integration still needs refinement
StackHawk can be improved in the way that it is integrated, as at the very beginning, the idea was to, within the pipeline, mount the different resources that our microservices needed to start to run. For example, if we have a service that needed Redis, maybe Kafka, or a database to initialize, we did need to have a Docker Compose file, get up those services, and after that, do the analysis. It didn't have that; it wasn't reachable at the very beginning and it wasn't that good as we expected. But at some point, we decided to mount it as an agent in the Docker file, and it was waiting for new jobs. It was even better, and when we figured out how to integrate it within our EKS cluster, suddenly we started reaching to the services, knowing what was going on, and everything related to security. As long as we have a P2T to our QA site or cluster, we do not have garbage in our databases, but StackHawk does put a little information, a garbage information, doing their job. That's the main area I'm focusing on right now regarding needed improvements.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...The initial setup or installation of HCL AppScan is easy."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is scanning QR codes."
"It's generally a very user-friendly tool. Anyone can easily learn how to scan"
"The security and the dashboard are the most valuable features."
"We catch them, we fix them, and we can offer a higher quality product to our clients."
"The platform has valuable security features, helping us identify sensitive code issues and the possibility of internal applications' exposure to external threats."
"IBM Applications Security has contributed to the maturity of our AppSec risk management program."
"StackHawk has positively impacted my organization by giving us a new vision of how vulnerabilities were seen, as we now have more visibility in that matter."
"StackHawk has positively impacted my organization by introducing an automated process that did not exist previously, and it helped the company achieve PCI certification."
 

Cons

"The depth was low, but the part that the user could miss was also diagnosed."
"A desktop version should be added."
"I would like to see the roadmap for this product. We are still waiting to see it as we have only so many resources."
"Better detection of DOM-based XSS Better remediation guidance using code examples and contexts"
"The solution could improve by having a mobile version."
"The solution's scalability can be a matter of concern because one license runs on one machine only."
"Scans become slow on large websites."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"StackHawk can be improved in the way that it is integrated, as at the very beginning, the idea was to, within the pipeline, mount the different resources that our microservices needed to start to run."
"On a scale of one to ten, I would rate StackHawk an eight, only because I wish the product was a little less expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."
"The solution is cheap."
"HCL AppScan is expensive."
"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."
"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."
"The price is very expensive."
"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."
"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."
Information not available
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915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?
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 interf...
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...
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...
What needs improvement with StackHawk?
StackHawk can be improved in the way that it is integrated, as at the very beginning, the idea was to, within the pipeline, mount the different resources that our microservices needed to start to r...
What is your primary use case for StackHawk?
My main use case for StackHawk is to analyze our application live in our EKS cluster. A specific example of how we use StackHawk in our EKS cluster is that we deployed an agent authenticated to the...
What advice do you have for others considering StackHawk?
I don't actually have a clear perspective on StackHawk's AI capabilities regarding its governance and security. My advice to others looking into using StackHawk is to stay prepared. Document how yo...
 

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. StackHawk and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.