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Kibeom Kim - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager at Inexion Co.
Reseller
Top 5
Security testing tool that adds value to our customers by securing their environment and offers stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to make our customers more secure."
  • "A localized version, for example, in Korean would be a big improvement to this solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for security testing.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to make our customers more secure.

What needs improvement?

A localized version, for example, in Korean would be a big improvement to this solution. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for 14 years. 

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Fortify WebInspect
June 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This solution is very expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Information Security Architect at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Good reporting and vulnerability management, but needs better performance and resource utilization
Pros and Cons
  • "Reporting, centralized dashboard, and bird's eye view of all vulnerabilities are the most valuable features."
  • "It requires improvement in terms of scanning. The application scan heavily utilizes the resources of an on-premise server. 32 GB RAM is very high for an enterprise web application."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for code scanning, security scanning, and finding vulnerabilities.

I am using its latest version. I have Fortify code scan on the cloud and Fortify WebInspect on-premise for a dynamic scan. So, SAST is on the cloud, and DAST is on-premise.

What is most valuable?

Reporting, centralized dashboard, and bird's eye view of all vulnerabilities are the most valuable features.

The vulnerability management part of it is very easy. We can suppress or comment on each vulnerability and assign a vulnerability to an individual risk owner, which makes the work easy.

What needs improvement?

It requires improvement in terms of scanning. The application scan heavily utilizes the resources of an on-premise server. 32 GB RAM is very high for an enterprise web application.

Its installation and maintenance are not easy. Its updates and upgrades are hard.

Its performance needs to be stabilized. It should also be able to find more vulnerabilities than other tools.

It is expensive. Its price needs to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its performance is good, but it takes a lot of resources in terms of CPU utilization, so stability-wise, there are problems at times.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 70 to 80 users who use this solution. Its scalability is easy. You just need to add another server, if required.

How are customer service and support?

We have contacted them for multiple issues. Sometimes, scanning didn't work, and the reports didn't come, so we had to escalate. My experience with them was fair. It wasn't great. We asked for remote control or remote setup, but they never provided that. There is no remote assistance. You need to upload the logs. They review and reply back on time. Their response time is very short, which is good, but if we need remote help, it is not easy. You don't get that immediately.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have also been using AppScan. The performance of AppScan is good, but WebInspect has more features, such as a centralized dashboard and the ability to assign a risk into priorities. It is an enterprise and feature-rich tool, but performance-wise, AppScan is good.

How was the initial setup?

The on-premise setup is complex. It requires the installation of a lot of tools, software, licenses, and on. Its installation is very complex as compared to the other tools in the market. It took us a week.

It requires some maintenance in terms of logs. It collects a lot of logs, and you need to remove those logs and keep updating the software. The update is not that regular, and you need to install the update manually on each of the servers. The update requires a lot of effort. It's not a simple auto-update feature.

What about the implementation team?

We had to take help from the vendor. At one point, I was stuck, and the vendor had to install it. They were pretty supportive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its price is almost similar to the price of AppScan. Both of them are very costly. 

Its price could be reduced because it can be very costly for unlimited IT scans, etc. I'm not sure, but it can go up to $40,000 to $50,000 or more than that.

What other advice do I have?

While implementing WebInspect, it is always better to keep all the required software installed and ready. The installation of WebInspect has a lot of dependencies, such as .NET, Java, SQL database, etc. All of the data does not come in-built. So, the moment you start building it, if it creates a problem, you have to remove and reinstall everything from scratch and then come back, which takes a lot of time. So, it is better to have those prerequisites handy, pre-installed, and tested.

I would rate it a seven out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortify WebInspect
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortify WebInspect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Prajyoti Mandal - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Delivery Lead at Accenture
Real User
FPA and Audit Workbench are very helpful and integration with SSC allows us to see vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "When we are integrating it with SSC, we're able to scan and trace and see all of the vulnerabilities. Comparison is easy in SSC."

    What is most valuable?

    The FPA and Audit Workbench are very helpful for me. When we are integrating it with SSC, we're able to scan and trace and see all of the vulnerabilities. Comparison is easy in SSC.

    It's very detailed with examples for each vulnerability. It's very good for the users and beginners. It doesn't take a lot of time to understand the tool.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using this solution for three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's stable and user friendly.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't needed to contact technical support.

    How was the initial setup?

    It's very straightforward.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price is okay.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.

    Fortify WebInspect is always the first tool I recommend for users.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Hans Enders - PeerSpot reviewer
    Hans EndersSr Solution Architect at Micro Focus - Fortify
    Real User

    I believe there is a typo here and that the "FPA" mentioned is actually meant to be "SCA", Fortify's Static Code Analyzer product, which produces the SAST scan results reviewed in either Audit Workbench tool (AWB) and/or the SSC Server web GUI.


    2 cents!

    reviewer966825 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Security Consaulant
    Reseller
    Great vulnerability detection and pretty stable, but an expensive option
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is able to detect a wide range of vulnerabilities. It's better at it than other products."
    • "Lately, we've seen more false negatives."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the solution to test web applications regularly.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution is able to detect a wide range of vulnerabilities. It's better at it than other products.

    What needs improvement?

    The solution is on the expensive side. It's something that clients comment on. If they could make it more reasonable, it would be better.

    Lately, we've seen more false negatives.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been dealing with the solution for three years at this point.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is largely stable. We've only noticed recently that there are more false negatives. I'm not sure if that means there's an issue or not.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    In terms of scalability, many of our customers only have 20-30 websites and therefore one scanner fulfills their requirement. In that sense, we've never really tried to scale the product.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    For the most part, WebInspect has pretty good technical support. Not all Micro Focus products have equally good support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We suggest different solutions to our clients. Some might use Acunetix. We've also used ForeSite in the past as well.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is rather expensive. It's not cheap. If you compare it to, for example, Acunetix, Acunetix is cheaper.

    What other advice do I have?

    While we generally like WebINspect, if a client has a smaller budget, we might suggest Acunetix simply because it is cheaper. However, if a customer's priority was better scanning for their application, we would suggest WebInspect. We like to give our clients options and choices. We prefer to provide them with options that meet their needs and address their pain points.

    Overall, I would rate the solution seven out of ten. If the price was a bit better, I would rate them higher.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1186359 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Sr. Manager Business Operations Protection at a consumer goods company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Great accuracy when scanning, but it has an interface that is awkward and not friendly to work with
    Pros and Cons
    • "The accuracy of its scans is great."
    • "Our biggest complaint about this product is that it freezes up, and literally doesn't work for us."

    What is our primary use case?

    This is a security testing tool that is used by our security team and the QA team.

    What is most valuable?

    The accuracy of its scans is great. Provided it does not freeze, or somebody from another team is not trying to use the same resources, it works well.

    The integration with the Fortify code scanner is nice because you combine those two elements and get one output.

    What needs improvement?

    Our biggest complaint about this product is that it freezes up, and literally doesn't work for us. It may be in part the way we have it set up, or how we've licensed it.

    It is awkward and not very friendly to work with.

    The version that I am using is not capable of generating reports to HTML or PDF, so I can't share them. I have to get somebody else to log into the application and view the results themselves. Simply, I can't output a report that I can easily share.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using WebInspect for about one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The experience that I have had is that it is not stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is probably fine if you buy more licenses.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have not worked with their technical support.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Our licensing is such that you can only run one scan at a time, which is inconvenient. The licensing was bundled with Fortify so I'm sure that we paid for it in some context, although I don't know what the exact cost would be.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are using this WebInspect in conjunction with Fortify. We're not using the client-host based deployment, but rather, a web-based one. The agent is not installed on my machine.

    The suitability of this product depends on your use case. If you're trying to do what we're doing in QA and security then it's probably great. If, however, you want to do things on external sites then I would suggest an external cloud-based one.

    I would rate this solution a four out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user1441263 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Security Engineer at Secure Network
    Real User
    Easy to use with a simple deployment and good documentation
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is easy to use."
    • "The scanner could be better."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the solution for web applications and tests. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    It helped us much as it's a really good automated scanner with nice number of checks.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution is easy to use.

    The initial setup is pretty straightforward and the deployment is quick.

    The solution has good documentation.

    The product is a good option for enterprise-level organizations.

    What needs improvement?

    The scanner could be better. 

    The out of bounds channel is missing and it makes it hard to nail down the vulnerabilities.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I hadn't been working with the solution for very long; I worked with it at my last company.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The first time we ran the module, it was okay, however, the next time we ran it, it almost crashed. For example, when I started the proxy, I tried to create some traffic from the application and nothing happened, but then, after that, everything began to hang. I'm not sure if this was an issue with a particular version or not. I'm not sure if it was some sort of bug.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Typically, if I have an issue, I contact my internal support team. They may directly contact technical support. However, I have not done so myself. Therefore, I can't speak to their responsiveness or knowledge levels.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I've used PortSwigger in the past, and it was a pretty good product as well.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is not complex. It's pretty straightforward. You just have to download it to the Microsoft server and you're done.

    The total deployment may take an hour, or, at maximum, two.

    What about the implementation team?

    I handled the implementation myself.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We used Acunetix and Netsparker with Burp Suite.

    What other advice do I have?

    We're just customers. We don't have a business relationship with the company.

    I would recommend WebInspect to enterprise-level organizations. to use. For a smaller company, I'd recommend something more automated. WebInspect has far more manual work, however, it does have good documentation. 

    Overall, I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Security Researcher at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
    Real User
    Easy to use with a simple interface, but we sometimes had trouble capturing login sequences
    Pros and Cons
    • "The user interface is ok and it is very simple to use."
    • "It took us between eight and ten hours to scan an entire site, which is somewhat slow and something that I think can be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use WebInspect for performance network application testing to be sure that we aren't creating any security issues.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is the performance.

    The user interface is ok and it is very simple to use.

    What needs improvement?

    There were times when we had to run the login sequence several times in order to capture it properly.

    It took us between eight and ten hours to scan an entire site, which is somewhat slow and something that I think can be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using WebInspect for about one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability is good.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability has only been an issue in that larger sites take a lot longer to scan.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have not been in contact with technical support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have used Qualys in the past but more for vulnerability management in the infrastructure, as opposed to web application security.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward and very simple. I simply download the file on my home laptop and started testing with it.

    What about the implementation team?

    I can deploy this solution on my own.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I have been told by friends and colleagues that Acunetix is better, so I will be evaluating that solution in the future.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Senior Information Technology Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Good static code analysis helps to discover vulnerabilities
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is the static analysis."
    • "Creating reports is very slow and it is something that should be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am using WebInspect for finding vulnerabilities.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is the static analysis.

    What needs improvement?

    Creating reports is very slow and it is something that should be improved.

    In the future, I would like to see better integration between static analysis and dynamic analysis.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with WebInspect for one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We have never had a problem with stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This is a scalable solution. I performed an analysis of more than five million rows and it took perhaps three hours.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Technical support is a bit slow, as sometimes it takes too long to get responses. However, the support is good because our problem was fixed after just one interaction with them.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Prior to using WebInspect, I was using SonarQube. The problem with SonarQube is that they are not very good at analyzing ASP.NET applications, so I gave up on it.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The pricing is not clear and while it is not high, it is difficult to understand.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    HansEnders - PeerSpot reviewer
    HansEndersSenior Solution Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Vendor

    I believe the reviewer or the forum organizer has posted this review in the wrong area, or confused Fortify's WebInspect product (DAST) with their Static Code Analyzer ("Fortify SCA") product (SCA).

    +++++++++
    Fortify general: www.microfocus.com

    SCA: www.microfocus.com

    WebInspect: www.microfocus.com

    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Fortify WebInspect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: June 2025
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Fortify WebInspect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.