OWASP Zap vs PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional comparison

OWASP Zap vs. PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional

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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

OWASP Zap

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

11th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

PortSwigger Burp Suite Prof...

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (6th), Fuzz Testing Tools (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of OWASP Zap is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is 2.5%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional	2.5%
OWASP Zap	3.2%
Other	94.3%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

Nithin-K

Technical Analyst at Hexaware Technologies Limited

Open source testing tool empowers manual activities and has room to improve integration and reporting features

The improvement that has to be done for APIs focuses on manual activities where the feature exists, but it is not at the same level as what Burp Suite does with intercepting and tools such as Postman, so it needs improvement. There are limitations with authentication levels, particularly with form-based and cookie-based authentication. However, overall, we are satisfied with OWASP Zap as there are no major issues, and improving the scan engine could be beneficial. When comparing OWASP Zap and Burp Suite, the main difference besides pricing is that OWASP Zap has limitations with reporting levels and UI, which affects its reporting capabilities, whereas Burp Suite is already advancing with new AI features and scanning capabilities that OWASP Zap seems to be lacking.

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Moti Huberman

Penetration Tester & Information Security Expert at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees

Dedicated browser and repeater have improved my proxy testing and manual vulnerability checks

I'm hoping perhaps for something to make it easier, such as to define things where if a message or a response is such and such, automatically make a request that is such and such. Perhaps something like this because otherwise, nowadays we have to do it manually. Perhaps they can automate it a bit more. Perhaps they could add some automation to things, to see what we do manually, which it has the tools to do manually, and perhaps enable with a click of a button to do things automatically. I'm not too sure which, but I'm sure they can from a product management point of view, do things that we need to do two, three, or four steps manually regarding specific testing. For instance, we want to check something specific if it's this or if it's that. Perhaps to define it once and have it more automatic, perhaps.

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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 scalability of this product is very good."

"The valuable features are that it's very simple to use and the user interface is very good, particularly for beginners so they can start the application easily."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. I think it's stable enough. I don't see any crashes within the application, so its stability is high."

"The API is exceptional."

"The stability of the solution is very good."

"The solution has tightened our security and that of our clients who depend on it."

"As Zap is free and open-source, with tons of features similar to those of commercial solutions, I would definitely recommend trying it out."

"The solution is good at reporting the vulnerabilities of the application."

More OWASP Zap pros

"The most valuable feature is the application security."

"The active scanner, which does an automated search of any web vulnerabilities."

"You can scan any number of applications and it updates its database."

"The most valuable features are Burp Intruder and Burp Scanner."

"This tool is more accurate than the other solutions that we use, and reports fewer false positives."

"This is a very nice tool and anybody can use it, from beginner to expert level."

"This is one of the best tools that I'm using; I found this one much better."

"The extension that it provides with the community version for the skills mapping is excellent."

More PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional pros

Cons

"Sometimes, we get some false positives."

"The forced browse has been incorporated into the program and it is resource-intensive."

"It would be ideal if I could try some pre-built deployment scenarios so that I don't have to worry about whether the configuration sector team is doing it right or wrong. That would be very helpful."

"Deployment is somewhat complicated."

"If there was an easier to understand exactly what has been checked and what has not been checked, it would make this solution better. We have to trust that it has checked all known vulnerabilities but it's a bit hard to see after the scanning."

"For scalability, I would rate OWASP Zap between four to five out of ten."

"While the solution can scale to a certain extent, it cannot scale a lot."

"I prefer Burp Suite to SWASP Zap because of the extensive coverage it offers."

More OWASP Zap cons

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"There is a lot to this product, and it would be good if when you purchase the tool, they can provide us with a more extensive user manual."

"The price could be better. The rest is fine."

"Spidering large websites can use a lot of memory and might result in a crash on systems with lower RAM."

"I need the solution to be more user-friendly. The solution needs to be user-friendly."

"As with most automated security tools, too many false positives."

"There needs to be better documentation provided. Currently, we need to buy books, or we need to review online some use cases from other professionals who have been using the solution to find out their experience. It is not easy to find out how to properly do a security assessment."

"The interface for the automatic scan can be improved because it is easy for technical users, but the business users have trouble with it."

More PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing is high."

"It's free. It's good for us because we don't know what the extent of our use will be yet. It's good to start with something free and easy to use."

"It's free and open, currently under the Apache 2 license. If ZAP does what you need it to do, selling a free solution is a very easy."

"OWASP Zap is free to use."

"We have used the freeware version. I believe Zap only has freeware."

"It is open source, and we can scan freely."

"It is highly recommended as it is an open source tool."

"As Zap is free and open-source, with tons of features similar to those of commercial solutions, I would definitely recommend trying it out."

More OWASP Zap pricing and cost advice

"Burp Suite is affordable."

"PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is expensive compared to other tools."

"The yearly cost is about $300."

"At $400 or $500 per license paid annually, it is a very cheap tool."

"Pricing is not very high. It was around $200."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is neither cheap nor expensive."

"It is expensive for us in Brazil because the currency exchange rate from a dollar to a Brazilian Real is quite steep."

"We have one license. The price is very nominal."

More PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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

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Answers from the Community

reviewer1487928

Subdirector de Seguridad Informática e Infraestructura at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees

Nov 17, 2021

Is OWASP Zap better than PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro?

OWASP Zap and PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro have many similar features. OWASP Zap has web application scanning available with basic security vulnerabilities while Burp Suite Pro has it available with quality security vulnerabilities. Both are very comparable in terms of intercepting features, fuzzing capabilities, and encoder and decoders. Both OWASP Zap and PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro have a spide...

2 out of 3 answers

Avinash-Kumar

MCE at CGI

Mar 15, 2021

First things first both are having their own merits, however in my personal experience ZAP can replace your burpsuite for sure considering the License. Also as the latest ZAP versions are covering more advanced techniques and spidering patterns with lots of options in it, it is worth considering ZAP. However remember that burpsuite from latest versions with inbuilt chromium and it's emerging plugin support (Installable jars) you can use burp to the fullest and you can keep it as a swiss knife for your web and app pentesting. Couple of extensions in burp pro are interesting especially the race condition one. I always prefer using Burp and at instances I go with ZAP.

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reviewer1526550

Lead Security Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Mar 17, 2021

Yes OWASP ZAP is a good option as it's an open source so always preferred but Burp Suite Pro will give you more options, its one of the best tool to have for pentesters so defo worth it.

Read full answer

See all 3 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

University

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	35

Questions from the Community

Is OWASP Zap better than PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro?

What do you like most about OWASP Zap?

The best feature is the Zap HUD (Heads Up Display) because the customers can use the website normally. If we scan websites with automatic scanning, and the website has a web application firewall, i...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OWASP Zap?

OWASP might be cost-effective, however, people prefer to use the free edition available as open source.

What do you like most about PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?

The solution helped us discover vulnerabilities in our applications.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?

The cost of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is reasonable at approximately $500 per year per user.

What needs improvement with PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?

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Product Reports

OWASP Zap

Download OWASP Zap product report

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional

Download PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional product report

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional report

Also Known As

No data available

Burp

Overview

OWASP Zap is a free and open-source web application security scanner.

The solution helps developers identify vulnerabilities in their web applications by actively scanning for common security issues.

With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Zap is a popular choice among developers for ensuring the security of their web applications.

OWASP

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is a vital tool for cybersecurity experts, valued for features like Intruder and Repeater, and offering strong automation for effective vulnerability detection and web security.

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional aids organizations in conducting comprehensive application security testing. With functions like scanning, proxy setup, and numerous plugins, it provides essential support for vulnerability assessments and penetration testing. Despite needing improvements in reporting, false positive reduction, and scanning speed, it remains adaptable for different security operations through its automation, extensive community support, and regular updates. Licensing and pricing flexibility are considerations, alongside API security enhancements and documentation improvements. Widely used for intercepting and scanning web applications pre-launch, it supports compliance testing while offering tools for request replaying, traffic manipulation, and brute forcing.

What are the key features of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?

Intruder: Automates attacks to test web application vulnerabilities.
Repeater: Lets users send modified requests to observe responses.
Extender: Supports additional functionalities through plugins.
API Support: Offers capabilities for automated workflows and integrations.
Vulnerability Scanner: Efficiently detects application security flaws.

What benefits should users consider?

Affordable Pricing: Offers value through cost-effective plans.
Community Support: Access a robust network for troubleshooting and advice.
Automation Capabilities: Streamlines security testing processes.
Regular Updates: Continuous improvements and feature developments.

In industries like finance and healthcare, PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is implemented to enhance application security frameworks. It provides critical insights for regulatory compliance and risk management. The tool's adaptability supports organizations in routinely identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, ensuring robust protection against potential threats and facilitating secure application launches.

PortSwigger

Sample Customers

1. Google 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Amazon 5. Facebook 6. Twitter 7. LinkedIn 8. Netflix 9. Adobe 10. PayPal 11. Salesforce 12. Cisco 13. Oracle 14. Intel 15. HP 16. Dell 17. VMware 18. Symantec 19. McAfee 20. Citrix 21. Red Hat 22. Juniper Networks 23. SAP 24. Accenture 25. Deloitte 26. Ernst & Young 27. PwC 28. KPMG 29. Capgemini 30. Infosys 31. Wipro 32. TCS

Google, Amazon, NASA, FedEx, P&G, Salesforce

OWASP Zap vs. PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional