HCL AppScan vs Kiuwan comparison

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HCL AppScan

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

HCL AppScan and Kiuwan compete in the application security category. Users indicate Kiuwan may have the upper hand due to its advanced features despite higher pricing.

Features: HCL AppScan offers extensive security testing capabilities, competitive pricing, and comprehensive support. Kiuwan provides advanced analysis features across coding languages, easy integration with workflows, and a robust feature set.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan could improve its integration options, loading speeds, and customization capabilities. Kiuwan needs better customization, enhanced reporting functionalities, and broader integration options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan is noted for straightforward deployment, valuable support during setup, and reliable customer service. Kiuwan presents a more complex deployment but offers responsive service and thorough technical guidance.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan is praised for cost-effectiveness and strong ROI, balancing cost with functional depth. Kiuwan, despite being more costly, provides strong ROI with its advanced features and long-term value satisfaction.

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

HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan

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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

HCL AppScan

Ranking in Application Security Tools

15th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

15th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (1st)

Kiuwan

Ranking in Application Security Tools

23rd

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

25th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.5%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kiuwan is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL AppScan	2.5%
Kiuwan	1.1%
Other	96.4%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Gladwin Christian

QA manager at SmartStream Technologies ltd.

A useful tool to scan applications that can be easily installed

Given that we have been using HCL AppScan for many years, I think the setup process is not difficult at all. Sometimes, some issues stop or prevent my company from moving forward with the product's setup phase. We have to call HCL's support team and engage in long discussions to smoothly carry out the setup phase. In general, the product's setup phase is not difficult in our company. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. The licenses for the solution are available only on cloud deployments nowadays. The solution is already installed in our environment. Every time a new release or software comes out from HCL, our company does a scan, which takes maybe a day or two.

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Mustufa Bhavnagarwala

CyberRisk Solution Advisor at Deloitte

Though a stable tool, the UI needs improvement

Kiuwan can improve its UI a little more. The user experience can be made better. Kiuwan offers a user interface that is similar to the one offered by Windows 7 or Windows 98, which I saw when I ran the tool and tried to scan the repository to find the security issues. The product's UI has certain shortcomings, where improvements are required.

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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

"It has certainly helped us find vulnerabilities in our software, so this is priceless in the end."

"This is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of HCL AppScan is scanning QR codes."

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

"The platform has valuable security features, helping us identify sensitive code issues and the possibility of internal applications' exposure to external threats."

"It identifies all the URLs and domains on its own and then performs tests and provides the results."

"It comes with all of the templates that we need. For example, we are a company that is regulated by PCI. In order to be PCI compliant, we have a lot of checks and procedures to which we have to comply."

"The security and the dashboard are the most valuable features."

More HCL AppScan pros

"Lifecycle features, because they permit us to show non-technical people the risk and costs hidden into the code due to bad programming practices."

"I have found the security and QA in the source code to be most valuable."

"I've found the reporting features the most helpful."

"I like that it provides a detailed report that lets you know the risk index and the vulnerability."

"I personally like the way it breaks down security vulnerabilities with LoC at first glance."

"It provides value by offering options to enhance both code quality and the security of the company."

"I like that I can scan the code without sending it to the Kiuwan cloud. I can do it locally on my device. When the local analyzer finishes, the results display on the dashboard in the cloud. It's essential for security purposes to be able to scan my code locally."

"Software analytics for a lot of different languages including ABAP."

More Kiuwan pros

Cons

"The solution could improve by having a mobile version."

"The databases for HCL are small and have room for improvement."

"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."

"Many silly false positives are produced."

"The tool should improve its output. Scanning is not a challenge anymore since there are many such tools available in the market. The product needs to focus on how its output is being used by end users. It should be also more user-friendly. One of the major challenges is in the tool's integration with applications that need to be scanned. Sometimes, the scanning is not proper."

"They could incorporate AI to enhance vulnerability detection and improve the product's reporting capabilities."

"HCL AppScan needs to improve security."

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

More HCL AppScan cons

"The integration process could be improved. It'll also help if it could generate reports automatically. But I'm not sure about the effectiveness of the reports. This is because, in our last project, we still found some key issues that weren't captured by the Kiuwan report."

"The configuration hasn't been that good."

"Integration of the programming tools could be improved."

"I would like to see better integration with Azure DevOps in the next release of this solution."

"The development-to-delivery phase."

"In Kiuwan there are sometimes duplicates found in the dependency scan under the "insights" tab. It's unclear to me why these duplicates are appearing, and it would be helpful if the application teams could investigate further."

"The QA developer and security could be improved."

"DIfferent languages, such Spanish, Portuguese, and so on."

More Kiuwan cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is very expensive."

"The solution is moderately priced."

"The tool was 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."

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

"The solution is cheap."

"I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high. HCL AppScan is an expensive tool."

"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."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

"Kiuwan is an open-source solution and free to use."

"Check with your account manager."

"This solution is cheaper than other tools."

"I recommend contacting a sales person who will create the best plan payment plan for you, as we did."

"The price of Kiuwan is lower than that of other tools on the market."

"Nothing special. It's a very fair model."

"It follows a subscription model. I think the price is somewhere in the middle."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

University

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	31

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	6

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 Kiuwan?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is quick when processing and giving an output or generating a report.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kiuwan?

I'm not entirely sure about the price and business aspects, but I assume Checkmarx might be less expensive. I think Checkmarx might offer more affordable options, especially in its smaller business...

What needs improvement with Kiuwan?

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Product Reports

HCL AppScan

Download HCL AppScan product report

Download Kiuwan product report

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

No data available

Overview

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

Software analytics technology with a breadth of third party integrations that takes into account the wealth of applications your teams are currently using.

We facilitate and encourage work between unlocalized teams. We understand the complexity of working on multi technology environments, constantly striving to increase the number of programming languages and technologies we support.

Sample Customers

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

DHL, BNP Paribas, Zurich, AXA, Ernst & Young, KFC, Santander, Latam, Ferrovial

HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan