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HCL AppScan vs SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 30, 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
15th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (1st)
SonarQube Server (formerly ...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
1st
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Software Development Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.7%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) is 26.4%, down from 27.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Rishi Anupam - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Chetan Jayatheertha - PeerSpot reviewer
Has a great quality gate feature and improves the code coverage in your core base
We would like to have more visibility and more documentation, starting with the installation. It needs to be more standardized and explain all the features. We'd also like to get an idea of the level of stability we can get for our larger-sized projects. The notifications from the channel queue can be improved including email notifications. We currently rely on getting those notifications passed onto us and that should not be the case. The customization of different languages would also be helpful. If all the above could be implemented, SonarQube would be the best vulnerability security scanning tool.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The UI was very intuitive."
"You can easily find particular features and functions through the UI."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the scanning or security part."
"This solution saves us time due to the low number of false positives detected."
"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."
"AppScan's most valuable features include its ability to identify vulnerabilities accurately, provide detailed remediation steps, and the newly introduced AI-powered features that enhance its functionality further."
"AppScan is stable."
"The solution offers services in a few specific development languages."
"Issue Explanations: Documentation with detailed samples. Helps in growing technical knowledge and re-writing logic to conforming solutions."
"If code coverage is a low number then that's of great value to me."
"SonarQube is useful for controlling all of our Azure task tracking and scanning."
"The stability is good."
"I like the by-default policies that are they, as they seem to cover most of what I need."
"The static code analysis is very good."
"We use this solution for qualitative coding. We make use of the SonarLint plugin as well as the dashboard."
"The features of SonarQube that I find most valuable for identifying code smells are its comprehensive code analysis capabilities, which cover various aspects of code sustainability."
 

Cons

"​IBM Security AppScan Source is rather hard to use​."
"The solution often has a high number of false positives. It's an aspect they really need to improve upon."
"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."
"AppScan needs to improve its handling of false positives."
"Sometimes it doesn't work so well."
"The solution's scalability can be a matter of concern because one license runs on one machine only."
"Many silly false positives are produced."
"We would like to integrate with some of the other reporting tools that we're planning to use in the future."
"We called support and complained but have not received any information as we use the free version. We had to fix it on our own and could not escalate it to the tool's developer."
"The BPM language is important and should be considered in SonarQube."
"SonarQube could improve by adding automatic creation of tasks after scanning and more support for the Czech language."
"Their dashboarding is very limited. They can improve their dashboards for multiple areas, such as security review, maintainability, etc. They have all this information, so they should publish all this information on the dashboard so that the users can view the summary and then analyze it further. This is something that I would like to see in the next version."
"I find it is light on the security side."
"One thing to improve would be the integration. There is a steep learning curve to get it integrated."
"If the product could assist us with fixing issues by giving us more pointers then it would help to resolve more of the warnings without such a commitment in terms of time."
"The product's pricing could be lower."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."
"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."
"HCL AppScan is expensive."
"The product is moderately priced, though it's an investment due to extensive code analysis needs."
"The price is very expensive."
"The tool was expensive."
"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."
"SonarQube enterprise, I am not sure of the price but from what I understand they are charging a fee. It's is not clear if it is an annual fee or a one-off."
"We pay €10 per month for this solution, which is good. It provides a good value for money."
"The price point on SonarQube is good."
"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."
"We are using the Developer Edition and the cost is based on the amount of code that is being processed."
"The costs for this application, for the kind of job it does, are pretty decent."
"The price of the solution could be reduced."
"We are using the open-source version, which is available free of cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
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

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...
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...
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
Sonar
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
830,726 professionals have used our research since 2012.