GitLab vs HCL AppScan comparison

GitLab and HCLSoftware are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. GitLab is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.6, while HCLSoftware is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.9. GitLab holds a 3.0% mindshare in AS, compared to HCLSoftware ’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of GitLab users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of HCLSoftware users who would recommend it.

GitLab

Read 82 GitLab reviews

3,648 Views
3,011 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

HCL AppScan

Read 43 HCL AppScan reviews

3,792 Views
2,867 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

GitLab

HCL AppScan

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

HCL AppScan and GitLab operate in the software security and development space. GitLab appears to have the upper hand with its comprehensive feature set and ease of integration, enhancing user experience in development functions.

Features: HCL AppScan offers advanced security testing tools, thorough vulnerability assessments, and support for various technologies. GitLab features a DevOps platform, seamless CI/CD pipeline integration, and collaborative tools, providing broader development support beyond security testing.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan users note the need for better report customization, integration flexibility, and interoperability. GitLab users highlight occasional performance issues, enhanced documentation, and product efficiency improvement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan deployment is complex due to its extensive security capabilities, but it has strong customer service. GitLab offers straightforward deployment within its integrated ecosystem, with users reporting satisfactory customer service.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan incurs higher setup costs, with users recognizing security-related returns. GitLab's flexible pricing model is seen as providing strong ROI through its comprehensive features supporting complete development workflows.

To learn more, read our detailed GitLab vs. HCL AppScan Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. HCL AppScan

March 2025

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Helped 844,944 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

GitLab

Ranking in Application Security Tools

9th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (1st), Release Automation (2nd), Rapid Application Development Software (12th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (2nd), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (3rd)

HCL AppScan

Ranking in Application Security Tools

14th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

10th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of GitLab is 3.0%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.6%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Chandel

AWS DevOps/ Site Reliability Engineer at Tata Consultancy

Boosted productivity with automated pipelines and seamless collaboration

There are some challenges with repository file management as GitLab may struggle to manage larger files. Improvements could be made regarding size management and file partitioning. Also, the UI has remained the same for a couple of years and could benefit from an update with AI features and better customization.

Read full review

Rishi Anupam

Senior Manager at Airtel

A stable and scalable scanning solution with good reporting feature

The solution is used for the vulnerabilities scan on the network side The reporting part is the most valuable feature. The penetration testing feature should be included. I have been using the solution for four years. It is a stable solution. I rate it seven out of ten. It is a scalable…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most important features of GitLab for us are issue management and all the CI/CD tools. Another aspect that I love about GitLab is the UI."

"It is a speedy platform compared to the others I have used. I have also enjoyed using the platform as this solution offers a good user experience."

"The best thing is that as the developers work on separate tasks, all of the code goes there and the other team members don't have to wait on each other to finish."

"The solution makes the CI/CD pipelines easy to execute."

"I find the features and version control history to be most valuable for our development workflow. These aspects provide us with a clear view of changes and help us manage requests efficiently."

"It is very useful for reviews. We are using branch merging operations and full reset operations. It is also very useful for merging our code and tracking another branch. The graph diagrams of Git are very useful. Its interface is straightforward and not too complex for us."

"In our software development lifecycle, GitLab is used as a component for code repository management. We use GitLab for several projects to handle code repositories. For other software projects, we use Bitbucket, but the use case for both is very similar."

"The merging feature makes it easy later on for the deployment."

More GitLab pros

"Compared to other tools only AppScan supports special language."

"There's extensive functionality with custom rules and a custom knowledge base."

"It is easy it is to use. It is quick to find things, because of the code scanning tools. It's quite simple to use and it is very good the way it reports the findings."

"We use it as a security testing application."

"The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is its integration with the SDLC, particularly during the coding phase."

"It was easy to set up."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is Postman."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...The initial setup or installation of HCL AppScan is easy."

More HCL AppScan pros

Cons

"We do face issues in our company when we run out of disk space."

"Perhaps the integration could be better."

"The solution could be faster."

"While GitLab is a great tool for developers, it lacks project planner features. Roadmaps and Gantt charts in GitLab are not as advanced as in Jira, and changing start and end dates is more laborious in GitLab."

"GitLab should work on improving their user interface for GitOps as it is lagging behind."

"The price of GitLab could improve, it is high."

"We would like to generate document pages from the sources."

"It should be used by a larger number of people. They should raise awareness."

More GitLab cons

"It has crashed at times."

"Visibility is an issue for us. Our partners do not know we have integrations with some of IBM products."

"Improving usability could enhance the overall experience with AppScan. It would be beneficial to make the solution more user-friendly, ensuring that everyone can easily navigate and utilize its features."

"We have experienced challenges when trying to integrate this solution with other products. When you compare it with the other SecOps products, the quality of the output is too low. It is not a new-age product. It is very outdated."

"AppScan is too complicated and should be made more user-friendly."

"Improvement can be done as per customer requirements."

"They have to improve support."

"I think being able to search across more containers, especially some of the docker elements. We need a little tighter integration there. That's the only thing I can see at this point."

More HCL AppScan cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product is not very expensive but the price can be better."

"GitLab is highly priced for smaller teams, but it's okay if considering a user base of thousands."

"GitLab's pricing is good compared to others on the market."

"GitLab is a free solution to use."

"The solution is free."

"The price is okay."

"The solution is based on a subscription model and is reasonably priced."

"In terms of the pricing for GitLab, on a scale of one to five, with one being expensive and five being cheap, I'm rating pricing for the solution a four. It could still be cheaper because right now, my company has a small team, and sometimes it's difficult to use a paid product for a small team. You'd hope the team will grow and scale, but currently, you're paying a high license fee for a small team. I'm referring to the GitLab license that has premium features and will give you all features. This can be a problem for management to approve the high price of the license for a team this small."

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."

"The product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."

"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."

"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."

"The tool was expensive."

"The solution is moderately priced."

"With the features, that they offer, and the support, they offer, AppScan pricing is on a higher level."

"The price is very expensive."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

26%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GitLab?

I find the features and version control history to be most valuable for our development workflow. These aspects provide us with a clear view of changes and help us manage requests efficiently.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitLab?

The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GitLab?

Certain features in Jira are not available in GitLab, such as the functionality to have weights at the milestone and epic levels. Hopefully, these features will be resolved with work items in GitLa...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GitLab

Compared 29% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs GitLab

Compared 13% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 8% of the time

AWS CodePipeline vs GitLab

Compared 6% of the time

Tekton vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

More GitLab Competitors

Acunetix vs HCL AppScan

Compared 16% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs HCL AppScan

Compared 12% of the time

Veracode vs HCL AppScan

Compared 10% of the time

Fortify on Demand vs HCL AppScan

Compared 8% of the time

Invicti vs HCL AppScan

Compared 3% of the time

More HCL AppScan Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GitLab

March 2025

Download GitLab product report

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan

March 2025

Download HCL AppScan product report

Also Known As

Fuzzit

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

Overview

GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that enables teams to collaborate and deliver software faster.

It provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, from planning and development to testing, deployment, and monitoring.

With GitLab, teams can streamline their workflows, automate processes, and improve productivity.

GitLab

IBM Security AppScan enhances web application security and mobile application security, improves application security program management and strengthens regulatory compliance. By scanning your web and mobile applications prior to deployment, AppScan enables you to identify security vulnerabilities and generate reports and fix recommendations.

HCLSoftware

Sample Customers

1. NASA 2. IBM 3. Sony 4. Alibaba 5. CERN 6. Siemens 7. Volkswagen 8. ING 9. Ticketmaster 10. SpaceX 11. Adobe 12. Intuit 13. Autodesk 14. Rakuten 15. Unity Technologies 16. Pandora 17. Electronic Arts 18. Nordstrom 19. Verizon 20. Comcast 21. Philips 22. Deutsche Telekom 23. Orange 24. Fujitsu 25. Ericsson 26. Nokia 27. General Electric 28. Cisco 29. Accenture 30. Deloitte 31. PwC 32. KPMG

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. HCL AppScan

March 2025

Free Report: GitLab vs. HCL AppScan

Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab vs. HCL AppScan and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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