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Coverity vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) comparison

Black Duck and Sonar are both solutions in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category. Black Duck is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0, while Sonar is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. Black Duck holds a 8.0% mindshare in SAST, compared to Sonar’s 26.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Black Duck users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Sonar users who would recommend it.
Coverity
Read 42 Coverity reviews
  • 11,969 Views
  • 8,281 Comparison Views
88% willing to recommend
SonarQube Server (formerly ...
Read 114 SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) reviews
  • 36,964 Views
  • 30,888 Comparison Views
81% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

SonarQube Server and Coverity are tools for code quality and security analysis. SonarQube stands out with extensive language support and community plugins, appealing to open-source and cost-sensitive users, while Coverity excels in deeper code analysis and security detection, particularly for C++ and C#.

Features: SonarQube supports over 20 programming languages, custom coding rules, and robust integration with CI/CD tools. Users appreciate its Time Machine tool and Quality Gates feature. Coverity is noted for its low false positive rate and comprehensive analysis focusing on security vulnerabilities with a detailed graphical interface and reporting capabilities.

Room for Improvement: SonarQube could enhance multi-language support and simplify integration with platforms like JIRA. It needs better handling of security vulnerabilities and a faster analysis time. Coverity needs improvements in its user interface, integration support with IDEs, and expansion of language support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonarQube supports deployment on multiple platforms including Hybrid, On-premises, and Public Cloud, delivering flexibility across environments. Its community-driven support is highly rated. Coverity is primarily on-premises, with limited cloud support, and its technical support is considered expensive, catering more to larger installations.

Pricing and ROI: SonarQube offers a compelling ROI with its open-source Community edition and competitive pricing for additional features, making it a popular choice for budget-constrained organizations. Coverity is often criticized for its high cost relative to value, particularly with user-based pricing which can challenge potential ROI compared to SonarQube’s flexible model.

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To learn more, read our detailed Coverity vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Report (Updated: March 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Coverity vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
March 2025
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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
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonarQube Server (formerly ...
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
114
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (1st), Software Development Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of Coverity is 8.0%, up from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is 26.7%, down from 28.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
 

Featured Reviews

Md. Shahriar Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Wang Dayong - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to integrate and has a plug-in that supports both C and C++ languages
The product provides false reports sometimes. It also fails to understand the context of the code. It reports that a line of code has issues without considering its relation with the previous line. The product should improve the report quality. While it asks us to improve the code quality, it would be good if it also suggests how to improve the quality.
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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 effectively identifies bugs in code."
"The solution has improved our code quality and security very well."
"Coverity is easy to set up and has a less lengthy process to find vulnerabilities."
"Coverity integrates with issue-tracking systems like Jira and provides email notifications, alerts, and other features."
"Coverity is easy to use and easy to integrate with CI."
"We were very comfortable with the initial setup."
"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."
"Provides software security, and helps to find potential security bugs or defects."
More Coverity pros
"The solution has a plug-in that supports both C and C++ languages."
"It is a very good tool for analysis and security vulnerability checking."
"SonarQube is good for checking and maintaining code quality."
"Provides local scanning for developers."
"It is a very good tool for analysis despite its limitations."
"The static code analysis is very good."
"The good thing with SonarQube is it covers a lot of issues, it's a very robust framework."
"SonarQube is a fantastic tool which saves us precious time."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) pros
 

Cons

"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."
"There is an extra step in my organization that involves uploading to servers, which adds overhead."
"Its price can be improved. Price is always an issue with Synopsys."
"The quality of the code needs improvement."
"Coverity concerns its dashboards and reporting."
"Coverity could improve the ease of use. Sometimes things become difficult and you need to follow the guides from the website but the guides could be better."
"Sometimes, vulnerabilities remain unidentified even after setting up the rules."
"Coverity is not stable."
More Coverity cons
"We could use some team support, but since we are using the community version, it's not available."
"Expression of common vulnerabilities and exposures is not always current."
"In the next release, I would like to have notifications because now, it is a bit difficult. I think that's a feature which we could add there and it would benefit the users as well. For every full request, they should be able to see their bugs or vulnerability directly on the surface."
"An improvement is with false positives. Sometimes the tool can say there is an issue in your code but, really, you have to do things in a certain way due to external dependencies, and I think it's very hard to indicate this is the case."
"For improvement, this solution could be offered on Docker and the cloud and the support for this solution could be improved. Customizing rules could also be made simpler."
"The documentation is not clear and it needs to be updated."
"Any suggestions for potential improvements may include bill of materials functionality."
"There are limitations to the free version that limit development options as far as languages."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Coverity’s price is on the higher side. It should be lower."
"This is a pretty expensive solution. The overall value of the solution could be improved if the price was reduced. Licensing is done on an annual basis."
"The pricing is on the expensive side, and we are paying for a couple of items."
"The licensing fees are based on the number of lines of code."
"I rate Coverity's price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"The tool was fairly priced."
"The tool's price is somewhere in the middle. It's neither cheap nor expensive. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"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."
More Coverity pricing and cost advice
"The price point on SonarQube is good."
"We use the solution free of cost."
"There is both a free and licensed version. The free version has limitations on development languages and support."
"The beauty of this solution is the free open-source version is capable enough in doing pretty much what an enterprise-level version can do."
"I use the full trial version of SonarQube."
"We did not purchase a license (required for C++ support), but this option was considered."
"There are many different packages with different pricing options available. We are able to try what we have and if we need extra features we can upgrade the license."
"It is very expensive. Its price should be improved."
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
33%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
6%
 

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
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 tools that are the best for for Static Code Analysis, I suggest you have a look...
See all answers
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. SonarQube has a great community edition, which is open-source and free. Easy to use...
See all answers
How does Snyk compare with SonarQube?
Snyk does a great job identifying and reducing vulnerabilities. This solution is fully automated and monitors 24/7 to find any issues reported on the internet. It will store dependencies that you a...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 5% of the time
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Compared 5% of the time
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Compared 5% of the time
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Compared 13% of the time
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Compared 11% of the time
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Compared 10% of the time
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Compared 8% of the time
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Compared 4% of the time
More SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Coverity
March 2025
Coverity reportDownload Coverity product report
Buyer's Guide
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
March 2025
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) reportDownload SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) product report
 

Also Known As

Synopsys Static Analysis
Sonar
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Black Duck
Sonar
 

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

SonarQube Server enhances code quality and security via static code analysis. It detects vulnerabilities, improves standards, and reduces technical debt, integrating into CI/CD pipelines.

SonarQube Server is a comprehensive tool for enhancing code quality and security. It offers static code analysis to identify vulnerabilities, improve coding standards, and reduce technical debt. By integrating into CI/CD pipelines, it provides automated checks for adherence to best practices. Organizations use it for code inspection, security testing, and compliance, ensuring development environments with better maintainability and fewer issues.

What are the key features of SonarQube Server?
  • Support for 20+ languages: Extensive programming language support suitable for diverse coding environments.
  • Custom coding rules: Allows for tailored rule sets to match specific coding standards.
  • Flexible quality gates: Define criteria for code acceptance at various intervals.
  • CI/CD integration: Seamless integration with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment tools.
  • Rich interface: User-friendly dashboard with detailed visual insights.
What benefits should users expect from SonarQube Server?
  • Improved code quality: Enhanced analysis contributes to fewer bugs and improved coding practices.
  • Security enhancements: Identifies and mitigates security vulnerabilities pre-emptively.
  • Maintainability: Reduces technical debt, yielding long-term development efficiency.
  • Customizable: Flexibility in configuration aligns with specific project needs.

Many industries implement SonarQube Server to uphold coding standards, maintain security protocols, and streamline their software development lifecycle. In sectors like finance and healthcare, adhering to regulations and ensuring reliable software is critical, making SonarQube Server invaluable. It is often integrated into CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that code changes meet set standards before deployment. This approach enhances productivity and maintains compliance with industry-specific requirements.

Sonar
 

Sample Customers

SAP, Mega International, Thales Alenia Space
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Coverity vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
March 2025
Free Report: Coverity vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)
Find out what your peers are saying about Coverity vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
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