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HCL AppScan vs Kiuwan 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL AppScan
Ranking in Application Security Tools
19th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (6th)
Kiuwan
Ranking in Application Security Tools
28th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
26th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.1%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kiuwan is 1.2%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL AppScan2.1%
Kiuwan1.2%
Other96.7%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder Director at Techsa Services
Has improved identification of encryption and authentication issues across cloud and on-prem applications
During the learning curve of onboarding HCL AppScan, we learned that HCL has altered the portfolio and now offers HCL AppScan 360, which has a much better look and feel with an improved user interface. However, there is one feature called SCA, which stands for Software Composition Analysis, that could be improved. When I'm doing an application scan, HCL AppScan has the ability to generate information about what components are in use. For example, if I'm scanning a web application, it shows me the various components being used. It tells me whether I have Java libraries, .NET frameworks, or other log management libraries such as Log4j, and what versions of those specific components are present. I would like to see more detailed reports from the tool. Currently, you can find out the components belonging to a specific software, but if detailed reporting became available, you would be in a better position to identify vulnerabilities. For instance, I could identify that I had the Log4j vulnerability and know that I need to fix my application accordingly. If they add the features I'm describing, I would consider giving them a higher rating. However, I've only been experienced with the product for three months.
Mustufa Bhavnagarwala - PeerSpot reviewer
CyberRisk Solution Advisor at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I prefer Appscan, as it much more user friendly, and it detects cross-site scripting and SQL injection issues much better than other tools in the market."
"With AppScan, we are now deploying less defects to production."
"We use it as a security testing application."
"The dynamic scan, the DAST tool, dynamic applications scanning and testing tool, is great."
"It has certainly improved our organization in terms of quality of solutions that are developed."
"The static scans are good, and the SaaS as well."
"From the point of view of quality, very excellent quality, it's above all the tools that I have worked with."
"You can easily find particular features and functions through the UI."
"Customer service is excellent."
"The technical support is very good, and we have received valid answers to our questions."
"The solution will measure your development team, give a KPI for the CISO, reduce the time it takes to find and correct coding errors, and more."
"We are using this solution to increase the quality of our software and to test the vulnerabilities in our tools before the customers find them."
"Software analytics for a lot of different languages including ABAP."
"Saving time and money by automatically identifying problems is unbelievable."
"With Kiuwan, we were able to help our clients get a better visibility of their development activities and to mitigate risks."
"​We use Kiuwan to locate the source of application vulnerabilities."
 

Cons

"One thing which I think can be improved is the CI/CD Integration"
"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."
"It has crashed at times."
"HCL AppScan needs to improve security."
"The databases for HCL are small and have room for improvement."
"The solution needs to improve in some areas. The tool needs to add more languages. It also needs to improve its speed."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"IBM Security AppScan Source is rather hard to use."
"Improvement could be made with the integration of the programming tools."
"The configuration hasn't been that good."
"The solution seems to give us a lot of false positives."
"Kiuwan's support has room for improvement. You can only open a ticket is through email, and the support team is outside of our country."
"We faced a lot of problems with the initial setup and support gave us difficulties around the installation."
"The QA developer and security could be improved."
"The development-to-delivery phase."
"I would like to see better integration with Azure DevOps in the next release of this solution."
 

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 solution is cheap."
"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 price is very expensive."
"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."
"The solution is moderately priced."
"The product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."
"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."
"Kiuwan is an open-source solution and free to use."
"The price of Kiuwan is lower than that of other tools on the market."
"Nothing special. It's a very fair model."
"Check with your account manager."
"This solution is cheaper than other tools."
"It follows a subscription model. I think the price is somewhere in the middle."
"I recommend contacting a sales person who will create the best plan payment plan for you, as we did."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
 

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?
During the learning curve of onboarding HCL AppScan, we learned that HCL has altered the portfolio and now offers HCL AppScan 360, which has a much better look and feel with an improved user interf...
What is your primary use case for HCL AppScan?
I'm currently working with BigFix and HCL AppScan. At least three people in my company are using HCL AppScan. Since we are a reseller, we run it in both lab environments and live production applica...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
DHL, BNP Paribas, Zurich, AXA, Ernst & Young, KFC, Santander, Latam, Ferrovial
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. Kiuwan and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.