Coverity vs Qualys Web Application Scanning comparison

Black Duck and Qualys are both solutions in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category. Black Duck is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0, while Qualys is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.4. Black Duck holds a 7.9% mindshare in SAST, compared to Qualys’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Black Duck users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Qualys users who would recommend it.

Coverity

Read 42 Coverity reviews

12,384 Views
8,537 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Qualys Web Application Scan...

Read 35 Qualys Web Application Scanning reviews

3,464 Views
2,693 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Coverity

Qualys Web Application Scan...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 29, 2024

Qualys Web Application Scanning and Coverity compete in the web and application security category. Qualys appears to have the upper hand due to its ease of use, API integration for CI/CD, and accurate scanning capabilities, which are highlighted in user reviews and feature comparisons.

Features: Qualys Web Application Scanning integrates with Selenium IDE for automated login, provides zero-day vulnerability protection including Heartbleed, and offers comprehensive scanning aligned with OWASP Top 10 and PCI-ASV standards. Coverity offers interprocedural analysis, low false positive rates, and robust code integration tools for various IDEs, facilitating deeper scanning and earlier vulnerability detection.

Room for Improvement: Qualys users suggest enhancing asset organization, API maturity, and reducing false positives. Improvement in the licensing process and better customer relations is also desirable. Coverity faces criticism for high false positive rates, issues with SCM integration, and calls for UI enhancements and better IDE support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Qualys WAS offers flexible deployment options, such as hybrid, public, and private cloud solutions, adapting well to various environments, with generally responsive customer service. Coverity is primarily on-premises with limited cloud flexibility, though it has a strong technical support reputation but can face initial setup challenges.

Pricing and ROI: Both solutions are considered expensive; however, Qualys offers competitive pricing models with subscription flexibility, resulting in ROI through reduced scanning times and enhanced application reliability. Coverity's high costs, particularly in per-user pricing models, are a concern, though for specific features, its pricing can be competitive.

To learn more, read our detailed Coverity vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Coverity vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning

March 2025

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Helped 841,004 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

Coverity

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

4th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Qualys Web Application Scan...

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

11th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of Coverity is 7.9%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 2.2%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

Md. Shahriar Hussain

Information Security Analyst at Banglalink

Offers impressive reporting features with user-friendliness and high scalability

The solution can be easily setup but requires heavy integration due to the multiple types of port and programming languages involved. Comparing the resource requirements of the solution I would say it can be installed effortlessly. I would rate the initial setup an eight out of ten. A professional needs some pre-acquired knowledge to manage Coverity's deployment process, but the local solution partners provide support well enough for trouble-free deployment. The overall deployment process of Coverity took around two and a half hours in our organization. The deployment duration depends upon the operating system and resources including high-end RAM and CPU processors.

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SubhajitAich

Security Consultant at Cognizant

A stable solution that can be used for infrastructure vulnerability scanning and web application scanning

Qualys Web Application Scanning is very complex to use, and its graphical interface is not very user-friendly. Compared to other solutions like Tenable and Rapid7, you need to navigate a lot to get the actual results out of Qualys Web Application Scanning. If I have to search for one thing within the entire console, I have to look for it randomly. It's not very easy and very comfortable to find something. Overall, it's a very good solution, but it will be very good if the tool is more user-friendly.

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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

"The solution has improved our code quality and security very well."

"Provides software security, and helps to find potential security bugs or defects."

"The features I find most valuable is that our entire company can publish the analysis results into our central space."

"We were very comfortable with the initial setup."

"The product has been beneficial in logging functionality, allowing me to categorize vulnerabilities based on severity. This aids in providing updated reports on subsequent scans."

"What I find most effective about Coverity is its low rate of false positives. I've seen other platforms with many false positives, but with Coverity, most vulnerabilities it identifies are genuine. This allows me to focus on real issues."

"The ability to scan code gives us details of existing and potential vulnerabilities. What really matters for us is to ensure that we are able to catch vulnerabilities ahead of time."

"It's very stable."

More Coverity pros

"The interface is user-friendly and easy to understand."

"The product prevents possible vulnerabilities in our network."

"The most valuable feature of Qualys Web Application Scanning is the effective scanning that can be done."

"Its most valuable features are patch management, vulnerability management, and PCI compliance."

"QualysGuard web-based scanner is very useful for performing external penetration and PCI scans from remote locations."

"The tool links vulnerabilities with DDIs and gives a complete overview of the application. The continuous monitoring capability is good."

"By using QualysGuard, we are able to finish external scans with assured results in half the time."

"It scans web applications to identify vulnerabilities during deployment."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pros

Cons

"Coverity takes a lot of time to dereference null pointers."

"Some features are not performing well, like duplicate detection and switch case situations."

"Ideally, it would have a user-based license that does not have a restriction in the number of lines of code."

"When I put my code into Coverity for scanning, the code information of the product is in the system. The solution could be improved by providing a SBOM, a software bill of material."

"I had tried integrating the tool with Azure DevOps, but the report I got stated that my team faced many challenges."

"The solution's user interface and quality gate could be improved."

"The product could be enhanced by providing video troubleshooting guides, making issue resolution more accessible. Troubleshooting without visual guides can be time-consuming."

"Right now, the Coverity executable is around 1.2GB to download. If they can reduce it to approximately 600 or 700MB, that would be great. If they decrease the executable, it will be much easier to work in an environment like Docker."

More Coverity cons

"The virus code updates are not frequent enough."

"When comparing this solution to Veracode, Veracode has good interactive features and gives a clear understanding of what the vulnerabilities are, which error line of the vulnerability is on and what can be done. It gives interactive features, whereas this solution does not give a clear understanding of where or how to fix the problem."

"The product should allow users to upload their payloads."

"The product's pricing could be better."

"There's a distinction between internal and external scanning processes that could be streamlined. Currently, for internal scanning, specific configurations and scanner appliances need to be deployed within the network, which differs from the simpler setup for external scans. This dual process complicates the setup for comprehensive scanning coverage."

"The scanner reports a lot of false positives, which is something that needs to be improved."

"The reporting contains too many false positives."

"The authenticated scanning feature could be improved by adding support for real-time scanning tokens and authorization tokens."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, where one is low, and ten is high price."

"Depending on the usage types, one has to opt for different types of licenses from Coverity, especially to be able to use areas like report viewing or report generation."

"I would rate Coverity's pricing as a nine out of ten. It's already very expensive, and it's a problem for us to get more licenses due to the price. The pricing model has some good aspects - for example, a personal license gives access to all languages without code limitations, which is better than some competitors. However, it's still a lot of money for us to spend."

"I rate Coverity's price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."

"The pricing is on the expensive side, and we are paying for a couple of items."

"Coverity is quite expensive."

"The solution's pricing is comparable to other products."

"The licensing fees are based on the number of lines of code."

More Coverity pricing and cost advice

"The product pricing is fair and reasonably priced."

"We are on an annual license for the solution and the pricing could be more affordable."

"I rate the software’s pricing a six out of ten."

"It is an expensive platform."

"Pricing was reasonable and competitive. It was not too far above the other products."

"We normally purchase an annual license."

"From my perspective, it is a budget-friendly option."

"There are different options available with respect to licensing."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

33%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 security. It helps to guide our development teams during code reviews by providing rem...

See all answers

What do you like most about Coverity?

The solution has improved our code quality and security very well.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Coverity?

I do not know about the pricing.

See all answers

What do you like most about Qualys Web Application Scanning?

The vulnerability management feature is a strong one. And also the patch management feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?

The product pricing is fair and reasonably priced.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?

One area for improvement is the user interface. The new UI, which was recently upgraded, feels more complex and less user-friendly than the old version. However, as we continue to use it, we antici...

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Comparisons

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs Coverity

Compared 51% of the time

Klocwork vs Coverity

Compared 6% of the time

Fortify on Demand vs Coverity

Compared 6% of the time

Veracode vs Coverity

Compared 5% of the time

Polyspace Code Prover vs Coverity

Compared 5% of the time

More Coverity Competitors

OWASP Zap vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 19% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 12% of the time

Veracode vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 9% of the time

Fortify WebInspect vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 7% of the time

Acunetix vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 7% of the time

More Qualys Web Application Scanning Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Coverity

March 2025

Download Coverity product report

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Web Application Scanning

February 2025

Download Qualys Web Application Scanning product report

Also Known As

Synopsys Static Analysis

Qualys WAS

Overview

Coverity gives you the speed, ease of use, accuracy, industry standards compliance, and scalability that you need to develop high-quality, secure applications. Coverity identifies critical software quality defects and security vulnerabilities in code as it’s written, early in the development process, when it’s least costly and easiest to fix. With the Code Sight integrated development environment (IDE) plugin, developers get accurate analysis in seconds in their IDE as they code. Precise actionable remediation advice and context-specific eLearning help your developers understand how to fix their prioritized issues quickly, without having to become security experts.

Coverity seamlessly integrates automated security testing into your CI/CD pipelines and supports your existing development tools and workflows. Choose where and how to do your development: on-premises or in the cloud with the Polaris Software Integrity Platform (SaaS), a highly scalable, cloud-based application security platform. Coverity supports more than 20 languages and 200 frameworks and templates.

Black Duck

Qualys Web Application Scanning (WAS) is a fully cloud-based web application security scanner. The scanner will automatically crawl periodically and test web applications to discover potential vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. The consistent testing equips the automated service to generate consistent results, lessen false positives, and offer the ability to scale to protect thousands of websites effortlessly.

Qualys Web Application Scanning is bundled with different scanning technology to carefully scan websites for malware infections and will send notifications to website owners to assist in preventing blacklisting and brand reputation damage. As digital transformation takes place in various organizations, Qualys WAS gives organizations the ability to track and document their web app security status through its interactive reporting capabilities.

Qualys WAS empowers organizations to remediate any web application vulnerabilities quickly. Some of the key tools offered are:

Deep Scanning: All apps and APIs on your internal network and public cloud are covered by Qualys WAS deep scanning to show you any visible vulnerabilities.
DevSec Ops Tool: Detect security issues in your code while still in app development stages and generate comprehensive reports.
Comprehensive Discovery: Discover and catalog new and unknown web apps in your network.
Malware Detection: Scan a website, identify vulnerabilities, and receive alerts to any infections.

Benefits of Qualys Web Application Scanning

Qualys Web Application Scanning offers many benefits, including:

Quick Deployment: Requires no infrastructure or software to upkeep.
Effortless Scalability: Effortlessly launch a deep scan and protect thousands of websites.
Centralized Management: Manage and mend all web app vulnerabilities through a single interface.
Excellent Integration Capabilities: Integrates with Qualys Web App Firewall (WAF) for a single-click virtual patching of found vulnerabilities.
Respond to Threats Immediately: Qualys Continuous Monitoring offers the user a hands-free service by automatically launching scanning and sending notifications of a potential threat.
Cost-effective Solution: Data is analyzed in real time as Qualys WAS is an end-to-end solution; this helps avoid costs associated with managing multiple security vendors.

Reviews from Real Users

Qualys Web Application Scanning stands out among its competitors for a variety of reasons. Two of those reasons are its progressive scan and quick detection of vulnerabilities.

P.K., a senior software developer at a tech vendor, writes, "The feature that I have found most valuable is the progressive scan. It is good. It's done in 24 hours."

Nagaraj S., lead cybersecurity engineer at a tech service company, notes, "I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."

Qualys

Sample Customers

SAP, Mega International, Thales Alenia Space

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.

Buyer's Guide

Coverity vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning

March 2025

Free Report: Coverity vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning

Find out what your peers are saying about Coverity vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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