OWASP Zap vs Semgrep comparison

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OWASP Zap

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between OWASP Zap and Semgrep based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Static Application Security Testing (SAST) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed OWASP Zap vs. Semgrep Report (Updated: November 2026).

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OWASP Zap vs. Semgrep

November 2026

Helped 920,929 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

OWASP Zap

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

12th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Semgrep

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Supply Chain Management Software (4th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Static Code Analysis (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of OWASP Zap is 2.5%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Semgrep is 2.3%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Semgrep	2.3%
OWASP Zap	2.5%
Other	95.2%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

Amit Beniwal

Project Manager at Al Hassan LLC

Simplifies vulnerability discovery and has high quality support

There are areas for improvement with OWASP Zap, particularly in the alignment of vulnerabilities concerning CVSS scores. Sometimes, a vulnerability initially categorized as high severity may be reduced to medium or low over time after security patches are applied. This alignment with the present severity score and CVSS score could be improved.

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Manjunath Maneppagol

Cloud & Application Security at Sixt SE

Context-aware code analysis has reduced noise and now improves developer experience with actionable security findings

I have consistently observed that their scan time is an issue for mono repos. Sometimes with their AI-based scanning, when you triage that scan, the scan never completes or finishes(, which makes it difficult. Another consistent issue is that whenever you have a new repo to onboard to the platform, the tool ideally should detect the master branch by default. However, sometimes the tool fails to identify it and will never scan it unless manually somebody looks into it and fixes the issue. Although their support team is really good, this issue was present six or eight months ago during the POC and is still present now. If it is affecting multiple customers, it should be prioritized and fixed. I would say that their integration aspects could have been improved. I see a lot of different security solutions that provide flexibility to the security teams based on Jira project, team divisions, Slack, and all those can be very much easily customized. Semgrep needs to work on the enhancement of their notification capabilities. Currently, they are working on identifying business logic vulnerabilities or privilege escalation vulnerabilities by looking at the code, and they should continue to focus on and improve this effort. Regarding stability, whenever you have a mono-repo which is a very large repository, the scan never finishes or the scan never kicks in. At that time, you have to reach out to the support team and ask them to expand the resources in the back end to fix it. This is an issue I keep seeing often on that platform.

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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

"It has improved my organization with faster security tests."

"The pull request analysis is also very good."

"The automatic scanning is a valuable feature and very easy, and the major advantage to this solution is the privacy it offers."

"They offer free access to some other tools."

"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 API is exceptional."

"The product discovers more vulnerabilities compared to other tools."

"It updates repositories and libraries quickly."

More OWASP Zap pros

"The most valuable feature is the ability to write our custom rules."

"Since implementing Semgrep, I have noticed significant outcomes, for example, I can resolve vulnerabilities that previously took four days in under a day, saving both time and money, thus enhancing our return on investment."

"Semgrep has positively impacted my organization by significantly reducing our security blind spots by catching critical vulnerabilities early in the development life cycle before they reach production."

"Semgrep has positively impacted my organization by significantly reducing the number of vulnerabilities we encounter during development."

"Compared to other competitors in the market, the AI-backed capability is the biggest strength of Semgrep."

"Semgrep has positively impacted our organization by improving code quality and helping us eliminate vulnerabilities in our code."

"In my team, we use Semgrep, which is more efficient for coding purposes, time-saving, and quickly detects issues, and I can say that weekly I save about six to seven hours because of this, making it very time-saving and fostering faster development for my team's products and environment."

"The best part of Semgrep is its ease of integration with CI/CD pipelines and how it is a developer-friendly tool."

More Semgrep pros

Cons

"It needs more robust reporting tools that can be in an editable form."

"It would be beneficial to enhance the algorithm to provide better summaries of automatic scanning results."

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

"I'd also like to see an improvement in test reports because we get too many false positives."

"It would be a great improvement if they could include a marketplace to add extra features to the tool."

"OWASP Zap could benefit from a noise cancellation feature like that of Burp Suite Professional, where AI helps reduce certain non-critical findings."

"The product reporting could be improved."

"As security evolves, we would like DevOps built into it. As of now, Zap does not provide this."

More OWASP Zap cons

"I give Semgrep a six out of 10 simply because there are other tools that are better than this out there."

"I have consistently observed that their scan time is an issue; sometimes with their AI-based scanning, when you triage that scan, the scan never completes or finishes, which makes it difficult."

"However, as a tool it is really complex to maintain and to use, and it has a huge price tag."

"Semgrep can be improved by making it more user-friendly."

"Semgrep could be improved by offering more granular configuration options for custom rule tuning and reducing memory overhead during large scale repository scans."

"The features could be enhanced with better documentation and more user-friendly interfaces for beginners."

"There should be more information on how to acquire the system, catering to beginners in application security, to make it more user-friendly."

"Regarding improvements for Semgrep, I have noticed that it occasionally provides false positive results, although it does not happen consistently."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is open-source."

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

"OWASP ZAP is a free tool provided by OWASP’s engineers and experts. There is an option to donate."

"This is an open-source solution and can be used free of charge."

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

"The tool is open source."

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

More OWASP Zap pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	22

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

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 ...

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 needs improvement with OWASP Zap?

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 Postm...

What needs improvement with Semgrep?

The features could be enhanced with better documentation and more user-friendly interfaces for beginners.Semgrep can be improved by further enhancing its reporting features to provide more detailed...

What is your primary use case for Semgrep?

A quick specific example of how I use Semgrep in my pipelines is a recent scenario where it helped me catch a critical vulnerability before it went into production, significantly improving our proc...

What advice do you have for others considering Semgrep?

I would rate Semgrep an eight out of ten overall. I chose a six or seven out of ten when considering specific aspects because while Semgrep is powerful, there are still areas that need improvement,...

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs OWASP Zap

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Product Reports

Download OWASP Zap product report

OWASP Zap

October 2026

Download Semgrep product report

October 2026

Also Known As

No data available

Semgrep Code, Semgrep Supply Chain, Semgrep AppSec Platform

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

Semgrep is an advanced static analysis tool designed to identify vulnerabilities and enforce coding standards, catering primarily to professionals with a focus on enhancing code security and quality.

Engineered for software development environments, Semgrep delivers efficient security feedback with minimal setup. By offering a rich collection of rule sets, it allows customization and integration into CI/CD pipelines, supporting continuous code examination. Semgrep not only uncovers hidden flaws but also enforces best practices, making it a valuable asset for development teams seeking to build secure and reliable software.

What are the most important features of Semgrep?

Customizable Rules: Allows users to define specific rules to match unique coding requirements.
Open Rule Repository: Provides access to a vast array of pre-defined rules covering common security issues.
CI/CD Integration: Seamlessly integrates into development workflows, providing immediate feedback.
Multi-language Support: Detects issues across different programming languages, enhancing its usability.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Enhanced Security Posture: Elevates the security standards of codebases.
Time Efficiency: Reduces time spent on manual code reviews.
Adaptability: Easily adapts to evolving coding standards and practices.
Cost-effectiveness: Minimizes the need for external security audits.

In industry applications, Semgrep is a popular choice for sectors such as finance and healthcare, where code integrity and security are paramount. Its integration capabilities allow for effective oversight of compliance and secure coding standards without disrupting existing workflows. This adaptability ensures it meets sector-specific requirements, making it a trusted tool in fields where data privacy and protection are critical.

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

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