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Contrast Security Assess vs Qualys Web Application Scanning comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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
8.0
Contrast Security Assess enhances application security, reduces bug fix time, and lowers costs through continuous, automated vulnerability assessments.
Sentiment score
2.5
Qualys Web Application Scanning delivers positive ROI, competitive licensing, scalability, and reduces failure rates with 70% time-saving automation.
In the past, my company employed five security engineers, but with Contrast Security Assess, we only have two people.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
9.2
Contrast Security Assess offers responsive support with knowledgeable staff, but some users seek improved response times for complex issues.
Sentiment score
3.8
Customer service is generally positive but inconsistent, with some noting efficiency while others suggest improvements in speed and engagement.
Contrast Security's customer support is very active and overall incredible.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.7
Contrast Security Assess provides scalable application deployment in various environments, adapting to cloud and on-premises with robust change management.
Sentiment score
7.2
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers scalable cloud integration but faces challenges with concurrent scan limits and report limitations.
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
At one point, there was a limitation on reporting for 100,000 assets at a time.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
It is licensed for assets, so we just contact the team for additional licenses if needed.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.6
Contrast Security Assess is praised for stability, easy deployment, and minimal downtime, despite ColdFusion support challenges.
Sentiment score
7.9
Users praise Qualys Web Application Scanning for its stability, reliability, minimal bugs, and consistently high-performance ratings.
Contrast Security Assess is genuinely more accurate than most tools I have worked with because it uses instrumentation from inside the application.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Contrast Security Assess needs better documentation, tech support, agent upgrades, scanning rules, reporting, and improved setup for comprehensive usability.
Qualys Web Application Scanning needs improvements in detection, usability, integration, performance, pricing, and feature set to compete effectively.
I would love to see more customizable, out-of-the-box reporting that speaks to both technical and non-technical people without extra configuration.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
One area of improvement is reducing false positives by prioritizing agent findings over remote findings when there is a corresponding local agent finding.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
 

Setup Cost

Contrast Security Assess offers flexible, cost-effective pricing based on applications or servers, suitable for various enterprise environments.
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers flexible, negotiable pricing, deemed cost-effective but pricey, with discounts for bulk orders.
The annual licensing for Contrast Security Assess costs about $20,000 to $100,000 per year, and per application, it costs about $5,000 to $15,000 per year.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
 

Valuable Features

Contrast Security Assess excels in IAST, reducing false positives, offering real-time insights and seamless security integration for developers.
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers efficient vulnerability management with Selenium IDE integration, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security features.
The agent lives inside the running application, allowing it to see exactly what is happening in real-time. This means we are getting accurate alerts instead of a long list of potential issues that require manual investigation.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
It effectively detects vulnerabilities like the OWASP Top 10 without any issues in reporting.
Senior Security Engineer at Charter Communications
The product helps by providing options for remediating vulnerabilities it finds, making it really useful.
Team Lead, Cyber Security at Uridium Technologies
The advantage of Qualys Web Application Scanning lies in its user-friendly dashboard and appealing reports, which are useful for presentation to leadership.
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Contrast Security Assess
Ranking in Application Security Tools
31st
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
26th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Qualys Web Application Scan...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
15th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Contrast Security Assess is 1.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys Web Application Scanning1.7%
Contrast Security Assess1.6%
Other96.7%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Eucharia Okafor - PeerSpot reviewer
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Continuous in-app security has transformed our development workflow and has reduced manual checks
Contrast Security Assess changes how the team thinks about security. Instead of us waiting for a security audit at the end of any sprint, vulnerabilities surface as developers are writing and testing code. That shift is significant because fixing a bug in development costs more than fixing it later. It captures everything right there and remediates it because it catches vulnerability and remediates immediately while the application is running. It improves our collaboration between development and security teams, as developers get clear actionable findings immediately. We get continuous visibility into our application risk posture. Ultimately, it helps us to shift fast and save money, which is usually a trade-off, but Contrast Security Assess makes both possible. The feature that stands out most to me in Contrast Security Assess is the ability to capture vulnerability while the application is running. Another standout feature is the real-time detection that finds vulnerabilities as code runs. It has fewer false positives and works continuously in the application; you install it and it is there. It captures issues during development quickly and is easily integrated with a CI/CD pipeline, especially if you are using GitLab or GitHub. The real-time detection feature of Contrast Security Assess helps us very well compared to traditional SAST tools. Traditional tools scan from the outside and guess where problems might be. Contrast Security Assess works from the inside because it is embedded into the application. The agent lives inside the running application, allowing it to see exactly what is happening in real-time. This means we are getting accurate alerts instead of a long list of potential issues that require manual investigation. When it comes to the CI/CD pipeline, Contrast Security Assess really shines for our daily work, as it plugs directly into tools like Jenkins, GitHub, or Azure DevOps. When a developer commits code and triggers a build, Contrast Security Assess is already testing it in the background. If there is any vulnerability, the pipeline automatically flags or stops the application before bad code reaches production. This means security becomes everyone's responsibility, not just the security team's, and it gives us real-time, accurate security that fits into how our team already works.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

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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 they are using it.
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 a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does...
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 not TotalCloud; they have some on-premises solutions also. Patch Management and...
 

Also Known As

Contrast Assess
Qualys WAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Williams-Sonoma, Autodesk, HUAWEI, Chromeriver, RingCentral, Demandware.
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.
Find out what your peers are saying about Contrast Security Assess vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
899,204 professionals have used our research since 2012.