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HCL AppScan vs Rapid7 InsightAppSec comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2024

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)
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (15th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (15th)
Rapid7 InsightAppSec
Ranking in Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 11.5%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightAppSec is 5.1%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HCL AppScan11.5%
Rapid7 InsightAppSec5.1%
Other83.4%
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
 

Featured Reviews

AnshulTomar - PeerSpot reviewer
Scalable platform with efficient static and dynamic testing features
We use the product for Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST). By integrating AppScan into our CI/CD pipelines, aligned with Agile methodologies, we ensure that security testing becomes an integral part of the software development lifecycle The…
Shritam Bhowmick - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides reliable applications security but needs better integration options
There are areas for improvements regarding false positives. Integration capabilities are lacking, as options for integrations with other tools such as SNOW, Jira, or other integration tools are not sufficient in Rapid7 InsightAppSec. The user interface sometimes has glitches, which may prevent appropriate results during navigation, and even when we get appropriate results, it can be impossible to export them to CSV records or download files. Regarding scalability, Rapid7 InsightAppSec is not a scalable solution for our industry due to limited integration capabilities. Rapid7 relies on another tool called InsightConnect, which requires additional investment, detracting from scalability. Another area that needs improvement is the integration of AI capabilities into the platform. Both Rapid7 InsightAppSec and InsightVM need to advance in that area. In terms of behavioral and pattern recognition, identifying complex attacks such as SQL, blind SQL, JSON, and LDAP injections often results in 94% false positives. This necessitates improvement in their behavioral-based analytics feature.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is cheap."
"Technical support is helpful."
"For me, as a manager, it was the ease of use. Inserting security into the development process is not normally an easy project to do. The ability for the developer to actually use it and get results and focuses, that's what counted."
"We are now deploying less defects to production."
"IBM AppScan has made our work easy, as we can do four to five scans of websites at a time, which saves time when it comes to vulnerability."
"The static scans are good, and the SaaS as well."
"It's generally a very user-friendly tool. Anyone can easily learn how to scan"
"It identifies all the URLs and domains on its own and then performs tests and provides the results."
"We have seen measurable decrease in the mean time to respond to threats by 20 percent."
"You have various attack modules, and you also have the Attack Replay feature for the attack sequence. You can reproduce an attack and see it. That is a very good feature I noticed in this solution. It helps developers as well."
"I would rate the technical support from Rapid7 a ten, indicating high-quality support."
"The product’s most valuable feature is UI. It is easy to manage and find vulnerabilities in the application."
"The initial setup for us was easy enough. We didn't face too many issues. Deployment took maybe 30 minutes. It's quite quick and doesn't cause too much trouble at the outset."
"It uses a signature-based method to check for problems with your code and will provide an alert if anything is found."
"The reporting functionality is excellent."
"It is very convenient to get reports from the tool, which offers high-level environmental statistics."
 

Cons

"It's a little bit basic when you talk about the Web Services. If AppScan improved its maturity on Web Services testing, that would be good."
"Visibility is an issue for us. Our partners do not know we have integrations with some of IBM products."
"They could incorporate AI to enhance vulnerability detection and improve the product's reporting capabilities."
"The solution's scalability can be a matter of concern because one license runs on one machine only."
"Improvement can be done as per customer requirements."
"A desktop version should be added."
"AppScan needs to improve its handling of false positives."
"It has crashed at times."
"The reporting feature of Rapid7 InsightAppSec needs improvement as it currently provides basic reports."
"Rapid7 InsightAppSec needs improvement in detecting phishing pages."
"In the future, if they can have integration with a lot of ticketing systems then it would be amazing."
"The only concern I have with Rapid7 is that it does not provide enough information about vulnerabilities within AppSec."
"The dynamic scanning feature has simplified and improved the security testing process. I suggest adding a SaaS feature to the solution to support scanning SaaS applications, making it more comprehensive. It would be beneficial if the solution could also scan mobile applications. It only scans web applications and should also cover mobile applications, including firmware recommendations."
"There is room for improvement in Rapid7 InsightAppSec by giving clients the ability for extra columns on reports and enabling the extraction of remediation reports into a CSV format. Currently, the PDF format is cumbersome to go through when dealing with thousands of pages."
"When you add new projects for the same product, it either duplicates or replaces the scan configuration. If I run a scan for the same product with a different scan configuration, it should keep the previous scan configuration and not replace it with the new scan configuration. It should just add the new scan configuration. That would be helpful. They do keep the results as it is, but the scan configuration keeps changing. For example, I have set a scan configuration to a full scan, and next week, I want to run a new scan for the same product with some changes or new functionalities. I want to run a partial scan. Currently, if I change the scan configuration to partial, it changes the old one also to partial. That should be improved."
"They should add more features. I would like to see them do a little more on static analysis and also interactivity analysis. Currently, it does very basic static analysis. It could do a little more static analysis, which is something that would help. A lot more interactivity analysis should also be there. It should basically look at security during interactivity."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"HCL AppScan is expensive."
"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."
"The solution is cheap."
"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."
"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."
"The price is very expensive."
"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."
"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."
"They offer a good price, but I don't remember its cost. It is fair as compared to the competition. We have opted for project-based licensing, not user-based. We can add any number of users. That doesn't matter. It is worth the money."
"Its price is competitive. It is not expensive."
"The price of this product is very cheap."
"Rapid7 InsightAppSec is cheap."
"I'm not sure how much it costs exactly, but I know it's expensive."
"I rate Rapid7 InsightAppSec’s pricing an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL AppScan?
The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is its integration with the SDLC, particularly during the coding phase.
What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?
AppScan needs to improve its handling of false positives. It also requires enhancements in customer support, similar to what Veracode provides. Regularly scheduling calls with clients to discuss fe...
What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?
The primary use case for AppScan is for security purposes. I compare AppScan with other tools such as Veracode. We use AppScan for vulnerability detection and auto-remediation of vulnerabilities wi...
What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightAppSec?
In Rapid7 InsightAppSec, a distinctive feature is the provision of a CDM for integrating web servers and web applications. To establish the connection between these applications, you only need to p...
What needs improvement with Rapid7 InsightAppSec?
There are areas for improvements regarding false positives. Integration capabilities are lacking, as options for integrations with other tools such as SNOW, Jira, or other integration tools are not...
What is your primary use case for Rapid7 InsightAppSec?
Our main use case for Rapid7 InsightAppSec is to perform internal assessment of applications and external facing applications. We have a cloud engine plus on-premises engine, and we have been lever...
 

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
InsightAppSec
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
CenterPoint Energy, CPA Australia, Hypertherm, First American Financial Corporation, Rackspace
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. Rapid7 InsightAppSec and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
873,209 professionals have used our research since 2012.