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PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs Qualys Web Application Scanning vs SonarQube comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers significant ROI, enhancing client engagement and securing contracts for application security testing globally.
Sentiment score
2.5
Qualys Web Application Scanning delivers positive ROI, competitive licensing, scalability, and reduces failure rates with 70% time-saving automation.
Sentiment score
6.7
SonarQube improves code quality and security in CI/CD, enhancing efficiency and compliance, but exact ROI is hard to quantify.
It is easily integrable with the CI/CD pipeline and supports multiple projects with its extensive plugin options.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
I have seen a return on the investment from SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) because the value it adds relates to static code analysis and vulnerability assessments needed for our FDA approval process.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
We see productivity increasing based on the fact that the code review is mostly automated, allowing the developer to fix the code themselves before assigning it to someone else to review, thus receiving that ROI.
Head of Software Engineering at ronaldmariah@gmail.com
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
3.7
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers praised customer service, responsive technical support, and comprehensive resources for user assistance.
Sentiment score
3.8
Customer service is generally positive but inconsistent, with some noting efficiency while others suggest improvements in speed and engagement.
Sentiment score
6.2
SonarQube's community and documentation aid self-support, but direct support varies; Enterprise Edition offers satisfactory assistance.
The technical support from PortSwigger is excellent.
Cyber security manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The technical support for PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is pretty good, and I would give it a nine.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
They have various options in the vulnerability management process, and when we initially bought our license, we didn't realize we needed PCI for better results, which isn't included in the default configurations.
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Once we purchase the license, we have access to top-notch support.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
I have dealt with Qualys's technical support, and any enhancements are challenging.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
The community support is quite effective.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
The customer service and support for SonarQube Cloud are responsive and helpful.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
Integrating it into different solutions is straightforward.
Architect at sigpsc inc
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.4
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is scalable but faces licensing challenges, with some preferring the Enterprise version for extensive use.
Sentiment score
7.2
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers scalable cloud integration but faces challenges with concurrent scan limits and report limitations.
Sentiment score
6.9
SonarQube is generally scalable and integrates well, but specific configurations and larger workloads may require careful management.
My concern remains the lack of deep dive analysis and that it produces similar vulnerability results as other tools such as Nessus based on version checks instead of real impact checks.
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is licensed for assets, so we just contact the team for additional licenses if needed.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
At one point, there was a limitation on reporting for 100,000 assets at a time.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
There are limitations, and it seems to have fewer capabilities than Veracode.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It has been used in multiple projects and performs well.
consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate the scalability of SonarQube Server as a 10 because we can configure the server to scan multiple projects based on the number of lines.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is stable and reliable, with minor memory and update issues, rated highly for stability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Users praise Qualys Web Application Scanning for its stability, reliability, minimal bugs, and consistently high-performance ratings.
Sentiment score
7.6
SonarQube is generally stable and reliable, with occasional issues related to plugins, configurations, or heavy deployments.
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is very stable.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is a very stable tool, and I would rate its stability as eight out of ten.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
I think SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is stable, and we did not face any problems unless there was a power outage or if the LAN cable was plugged out.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
From my team's feedback, it is almost an eight out of ten.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It is a quite stable solution.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
 

Room For Improvement

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional could improve interface, integration, and usability, while reducing false positives and enhancing reporting.
Qualys Web Application Scanning needs improvements in detection, usability, integration, performance, pricing, and feature set to compete effectively.
SonarQube needs improvements in integration, vulnerability detection, language support, UI, documentation, security scanning, automation, and pricing.
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.
Penetration Tester & Information Security Expert at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Some AI features might be added.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
The dashboard of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional could be made more user-friendly.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
With the growing reliance on AI, Qualys Web Application Scanning should be updated to handle AI-based applications and LLM-based attacks.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities.
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I would like it to be cheaper because it is a bit expensive compared to competitors like Tenable Nessus.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
There is another website called Code Warrior that really takes you through the entire journey, so you can truly understand what the issue is along with some actual coding examples.
Independent Professional at Studio Dott. Ing. Angelo Quaglia
I would like to see SonarQube Cloud provide more detailed solutions for fixing code issues, especially solutions related to CVEs.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
I need a solution that can bring together three key areas: vulnerabilities, static scanning, and misarchitecture.
Architect at sigpsc inc
 

Setup Cost

Burp Suite Professional is a budget-friendly, comprehensive web security tool with flexible licensing options suitable for various business sizes.
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers flexible, negotiable pricing, deemed cost-effective but pricey, with discounts for bulk orders.
SonarQube provides a cost-effective solution with varying licensing, though commercial plugins and support can increase costs.
The pricing for PortSwigger is very cheap, and there are benefits in terms of time and cost savings.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
I find the price of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional to be very cost-efficient.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
They offer discounts on bulk licenses, making it cheaper compared to competitors like Veracode DAST.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
I find it a bit expensive compared to other competitors.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the pricing for SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) as an 8, where 1 is very cheap and 10 is very expensive, because Coverity is very expensive, and while SonarQube is not cheap, it is still less expensive than Coverity.
Sr Software Engineering Supervisor at Mozarc Medical
They always offer around a two-year contract, but we always take a one-year contract because it's expensive.
Head of Software Engineering at ronaldmariah@gmail.com
The freemium version of SonarQube Server offers excellent value, especially compared to the high costs of Snyk.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
 

Valuable Features

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers customizable testing tools, community plugins, a user-friendly interface, and efficient automation for affordable security assessment.
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers efficient vulnerability management with Selenium IDE integration, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security features.
SonarQube enhances code quality and security with multi-language support, CI/CD integration, code analysis, quality gates, and user-friendly features.
The most valuable feature of Burp Suite Professional is its ability to schedule tasks for scanning websites.
Cyber security manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I especially value the features for penetration testing.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
The most valuable features of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional are its ease of use and its cost efficiency.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
It effectively detects vulnerabilities like the OWASP Top 10 without any issues in reporting.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
Credential scanning is very effective because it goes in-depth into the system, crawling the pages, and reporting on vulnerabilities.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
Qualys Web Application Scanning is accurate and provides minimal false positives.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
Some of the static code analysis capabilities are the most beneficial.
Distinguish Engineer at Gtmhub
I find SonarQube Cloud very easy to use and simple to integrate initially.
CEO at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
It gives precise reports compared to Coverity and has a slightly lower number of false positives.
Security Analyst at Dover Corporation
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is 3.4%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube is 12.7%, down from 24.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonarQube12.7%
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional3.4%
Qualys Web Application Scanning1.7%
Other82.2%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

MH
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.
AnkitSharma13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Web scanning needs improvement but offers good vulnerability detection
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does. If Qualys Web Application Scanning could improve its crawling capability, it would be more user-friendly. Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities, which isn't as beneficial from my point of view. The Vulnerability Management also relies heavily on version numbers and will flag vulnerabilities based on the component version, but it doesn't check if a real fix exists, leading to flags on components that actually have workarounds available.
Sathyamurthi Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Officer (Solution Architect) at World Bank
We maintain high code standards with effective static code analysis and integration
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) could be improved on the reporting front. Instead of grouping, I would prefer to scan the code as part of development and then generate a report on a daily basis among different units or projects, which is currently complicated. We need to change it to more of a portfolio report, where configuring or setting up things on the portfolio requires tagging at the ADO level.
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise79
 

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...
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?
I'm hoping perhaps for something to make it easier, such as to define things where if a message or a response is such...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as ...
What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
I use Qualys Web Application Scanning, and we are using Vulnerability Management. By Vulnerability Management, I mean...
Is SonarQube the best tool for static analysis?
I am not very familiar with SonarQube and their solutions, so I can not answer. But if you are asking me about which ...
Which gives you more for your money - SonarQube or Veracode?
SonarQube is easy to deploy and configure, and also integrates well with other tools to do quality code analysis. Son...
How would you decide between Coverity and Sonarqube?
We researched Coverity, but in the end, we chose SonarQube. SonarQube is a tool for reviewing code quality and securi...
 

Also Known As

Burp
Qualys WAS
Sonar, SonarQube Cloud
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Amazon, NASA, FedEx, P&G, Salesforce
BskyB, Cartagena, ClearPoint Learning Systems, Connect Group, du, Fortrex Technologies, HBOR, HDI, Highlights for Children, The Lithuanian State Enterprise Centre of Registers, City of Miami Beach, Microsoft, MidlandHR, MSCI Inc., Northern Arizona University, Ofgem, Olympus Europa, PhoneFactor, RTL Nederland, ThousandEyes, VGZ Organisatie B.V.
Snowflake, Booking.com, Deutsche Bank, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company.
Find out what your peers are saying about SonarSource Sàrl, Checkmarx, Veracode and others in Application Security Tools. Updated: June 2026.
899,917 professionals have used our research since 2012.