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reviewer1410597 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Of Technology at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Vendor
Sep 23, 2020
Good reporting, performance, and coverage for different languages
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the application tracking reporting."
  • "Overall, we are very satisfied with Checkmarx and it is a product that I recommend."
  • "The cost per user is high and should be reduced."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use Checkmarx for application security and tracking.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the application tracking reporting.

From the user's perspective, the interface is pretty good. It will point out the exact line of code when an issue is found.

It is good in terms of coverage for different languages.

It is updated automatically so there is less maintenance.

What needs improvement?

The cost per user is high and should be reduced. Five years ago, it was a user-based model, which was significantly better. It would be great if we could distribute the cost equally between projects.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Checkmarx for about two years.

Buyer's Guide
Checkmarx One
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about Checkmarx One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable in terms of being able to run multiple instances for different products. We have approximately 10 users, which is the size of our application security team.

I would like to increase our usage of this product, but it will ultimately depend on the company's strategy.

How are customer service and support?

Given the stability of Checmarx, it doesn't require a lot of communication with technical support. That said, we have been in touch with them for non-technical issues and they have a good team with a lot of Russian speakers.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Prior to using Checkmarx, I used AppScan but the concept is completely different. With Checkmarx, you are working with source code, whereas as with AppScan, you are working with binaries. You can say that AppScan is more like a dynamic security scan and Checkmarx is more static.

These products are quite different in terms of how you do the testing. Checkmarx is better from both a performance perspective and reporting a lower number of false positives.

How was the initial setup?

We did not have any trouble with the initial setup. Our deployment was done within a couple of hours. The easiest thing to do is create a virtual machine and deploy it.

What about the implementation team?

Our in-house IT staff was responsible for the implementation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The number of users and coverage for languages will have an impact on the cost of the license. We would like to deploy it for the whole company but it's a question of spending thousands of dollars. Investing $200,000 or $300,000 would be an upper management decision.

The educational component is additional and costs approximately $100 per month for each user. This is too high so we did not agree to the service.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, we are very satisfied with Checkmarx and it is a product that I recommend.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1415661 - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Real User
Sep 15, 2020
Intuitive interface, easy to set up, and saves us money by finding problems at an early stage
Pros and Cons
  • "The UI is very intuitive and simple to use."
  • "Checkmarx is probably one of the best static code analyzers available in the market at this point."
  • "Creating and editing custom rules in Checkmarx is difficult because the license for the editor comes at an additional cost, and there is a steep learning curve."

What is our primary use case?

We use Checkmarx for static analysis as part of our software development lifecycle. It is very important because it helps us identify the security flaws in the code at a very early stage. Ultimately, this helps in reducing costs.

What is most valuable?

The UI is very intuitive and simple to use. You don't need to know anything about the product before you being working with it.

The interface used to audit issues is also simple to use.

Compared to similar products, the code scanning time is fast.

What needs improvement?

Most the the static analysers come with pre-loaded rulesets. However, many times developers have to write their own custom rules. Writing custom rules in Checkmark is difficult because you need a different editor which is licensed separately. Besides not much training material is available on how to write the rules. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Checkmarx for almost four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is pretty stable and we have not had any issues. We have a monitoring team that monitors the health of our infrastructure and we are alerted to any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We were able to scale easily and did not have any issues in doing so. At this team, we have between 70 and 80 applications that we are scanning with it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have contacted technical support a couple of times and the issues were addressed in a timely manner.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used other products and found that you have to spend considerable time fine-tuning the scanning engine. With Checkmarx, it is a lot less and I would say that this is one of the significant differences with this solution.

The maintenance in terms of running the scans and fine-tuning the scans is very low.

On the other hand, we have used other tools where writing custom rules is not so difficult to do.

How was the initial setup?

Checkmarx is pretty straightforward and very easy to set up.

What about the implementation team?

Our in-house team deployed and manages this product. I have one person who handles all of it, and the deployment can be completed within a day or two. As long as the infrastructure is ready, it can be done within a day.

What was our ROI?

Checkmarx helps us to find problems with source code at an early stage in the development, which saves us in terms of troubleshooting costs.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The interface used to create custom rules comes at an additional cost.

What other advice do I have?

Checkmarx is probably one of the best static code analyzers available in the market at this point. It is very easy to deploy, use, and maintain. The amount of maintenance required is pretty low. It is absolutely a good tool that I can recommend.

Checkmarx has added a lot of functionality since we began using it. This includes OSA, the open-source scan, a training module, and run-time protection.

For static code analysis, we are only using Checkmarx and we plan to continue. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Checkmarx One
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about Checkmarx One. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
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Cuneyt KALPAKOGLU Phd. - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & Chairman at Endpoint-labs Cyber Security R&D
Reseller
Top 5Leaderboard
Sep 8, 2020
The flexibility in regards to finding false-positives and false-negatives is amazing
Pros and Cons
  • "From my point of view, it is the best product on the market."
  • "Even if there are multiple vulnerabilities in the source coding, Checkmarx is able to identify which lines need to be corrected and then proceeds to automatically remediate the situation."
  • "Micro-services need to be included in the next release."
  • "Presently they support micro-services, but the supporting methodology of the micro-services is not good enough at the moment."

What is our primary use case?

I am the founder and the chairman of an internationally certified cybersecurity research lab. I have a Ph.D. in cryptology and network security.

We are a strategic partner of Checkmarx. Our job is to help them develop solutions. Currently, we are developing some algorithms and strategic solutions for them. Checkmarx informs us about what is happening, in advance, before they launch a product. We are also one of their testers.

What is most valuable?

Aside from my occupation, I am an academic. Because of our status, we test products as well as their competition, for example, we45, AppScan, SonarQube, etc. I have to point out, from an academic and business point of view, there is a very serious competitive advantage to using Checkmarx. Even if there are multiple vulnerabilities in the source coding, Checkmarx is able to identify which lines need to be corrected and then proceeds to automatically remediate the situation. This is an outstanding advantage that none of the competition offers. 

The flexibility in regards to finding false-positives and false-negatives is amazing. Checkmarx can easily manage false-positives and negatives. You don't need to generate an additional platform if you would like to scan a mobile application from iOS or Android. With a single license, you are able to scan and test every platform. This is not possible with other competitive products. For instance, say you are using we45 — if you would like to scan an iOS application, you would have to generate an iOS platform first. With Checkmarx you don't need to do anything — take the source code, scan it and you're good to go. Last but not least, the incremental scanning capabilities are a mission-critical feature for developers. 

Also, the API and integrations are both very flexible.


What needs improvement?

Checkmarx is going to announce the cloud version very soon. Every product has something innovative at the moment. Presently, we are extremely satisfied and that's why Checkmarx has been the leader for the last few years, consecutively. This is the third year they have been recognized in the static code analysis world.

Micro-services need to be included in the next release; however, as a developer, I can assure you that micro-service methodology is going to be improved in the next version. Presently, they support micro-services, but the supporting methodology of the micro-services is not good enough at the moment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Checkmarx for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Checkmarx is stable. We investigate the stability of the competition as well. From my point of view, it is the best product on the market. It's relatively expensive, but it's the best product. Keep in mind, this is not my private comment. I respect the comments, results, and the statistics of Gartner and these are their findings.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Checkmarx has been selected as the front-runner by Gartner for the third year in a row — you bet it's scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

We give technical support in our territory; Checkmarx's technical support is also quite good. If you open a ticket with a question, they'll reply the same day.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex at all, it's straightforward and robust. If you decide to use Checkmarx, you'll be ready to go in one day.

What other advice do I have?

If you wish to purchase Checkmarx, you should scan the same source code with a different product, compare them to their competition, and make a decision. This way, you can see the difference and understand the benefits of Checkmarx. Test and scan some lines of code in any programming language you wish, then do the same with a competitor. Checkmarx will produce far fewer false-positives compared to any other solution on the market. Other solutions will produce roughly 900 false-positives whereas Checkmarx will cut that number in half. I am not trying to sell this product to you, this is simply the reality of it.

From the technological side, I would give this solution a rating of ten. From a commercial aspect, because it's relatively expensive, I would give it a rating of eight. Overall, because I must choose one number between one and ten, I will give Checkmarx a rating of ten.

Day by day, they are improving this product. For example, one of the most important features missing was open sources, which they have now added. They were also missing code training facilities, but they have added those as well. They have a complimentary product now.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Senior Security Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Aug 19, 2020
Detailed reporting assists in repairing problems, but there are a lot of false positives
Pros and Cons
  • "The reports are very good because they include details on the code level, and make suggestions about how to fix the problems."
  • "You can't use it in the continuous delivery pipeline because the scanning takes too much time."

What is our primary use case?

When I had an issue that was causing trouble in my code, I would upload it to Checkmarx to perform static code analysis. I would then study the reports.

How has it helped my organization?

Using this product improved the stability of my code that went into production.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the scanning.

The reports are very good because they include details on the code level, and make suggestions about how to fix the problems.

What needs improvement?

You can't use it in the continuous delivery pipeline because the scanning takes too much time. Better integration with the CD pipeline would be helpful.

It reports a lot of false positives so you have to discriminate and take ones that are rated at either a one or a two. The lower-rated problems need to be discarded.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used Checkmarx for about six months at my previous place of employment. I stopped using it about six months ago.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had perhaps 100 users at my previous job.

How are customer service and technical support?

I was not in contact with technical support.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user1286010 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jul 8, 2020
Simple to use interface, but it needs to have support for more languages
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the simple user interface."
  • "I would like to see the rate of false positives reduced."

What is our primary use case?

We use Checkmarx for scanning our source code.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the simple user interface.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see the rate of false positives reduced.

Checkmarx needs support for more languages, including COBOL.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is fine.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not been in contact with technical support.

What other advice do I have?

This is a product that I recommend and I would rate it a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user1375824 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Jul 7, 2020
User friendly with a good interface and excellent at detecting vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The user interface is excellent. It's very user friendly."
  • "The solution overall is very good at detecting and pinpointing vulnerabilities in the code."
  • "The tool is currently quite static in terms of finding security vulnerabilities. It would be great if it was more dynamic and we had even more tools at our disposal to keep us safe. It would help if there was more scanning or if the process was more automated."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to check our systems for any vulnerabilities in our applications. Currently, I'm working on a banking tool, which is aligned with the menu. Our system was created 30 years ago and still is running in the market and doing well. However, currently, there are so many changes happening. Any solution coming into the technology needs to have a security check to ensure everything is safe. 

What is most valuable?

The reporting on the solution is very good. The reports we get are very self-explanatory. They aren't complex or confusing. They will tell us if we are facing vulnerabilities and where. From the reporting, it's quite easy to find the problems and fix them.

The solution overall is very good at detecting and pinpointing vulnerabilities in the code.

The user interface is excellent. It's very user friendly.

The solution offers good training documentation so we know how to handle problems as they arise.

What needs improvement?

Honestly speaking, we do not have much experience in this tool yet as we just started using it a couple of months ago. I personally am still just diving into the data. It may be too early to tell if there are improvements that need to be made.

The tool is currently quite static in terms of finding security vulnerabilities. It would be great if it was more dynamic and we had even more tools at our disposal to keep us safe. It would help if there was more scanning or if the process was more automated.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've only been using the solution for three months. It hasn't been too long yet. I'm new to the position. My organization, however, has been using the solution for quite a while.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have different team members on the solution in the UK and India. It's only available to those directly involved in the security aspects of our company.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have our own in-house team that manages a lot of issues that may come up on the solution. 

The thing is, security is a major concern for us. We cannot exactly contact their team about a lot of things as we do have process guidelines and we need to follow these processes if we run into issues. If we have problems, we have an expert that can sit right next to us and figure out a solution. This helps us better manage the tool and the security surrounding it, rather than, for example, calling up the company and having a random help desk technician try and assist us.

How was the initial setup?

For our purposes, the initial set up was not complex. It was fairly easy to plug the solution into our build processes and pipelines. We haven't had any issues with configurations or anything like that. It's been very straightforward.

The deployment is very fast and only takes about 15 minutes or so.

We manage the solution ourselves. However, if I personally want to access it, I do need to contact specific team members. Only specific individuals have access. It's not accessible to everyone in the organization. 

What about the implementation team?

A specific team in our organization handled the initial setup and holds the license for the product.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I've looked at SonarQube. The basic difference between the two solutions is that Checkmarx is a bit more intelligent and can detect vulnerabilities better and faster than SonarQube. SonarQube is more focused on code and style formatting or code complexity. It depends on the priorities of the organization, as each has its own unique benefits.

What other advice do I have?

I don't recall the exact version of the solution we are using.

I would recommend the solution. I'd rate it eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer971370 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Leaderboard
Jun 22, 2020
Easy interface that is user friendly, quick scanning, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the easy to understand interface, and it 's very user-friendly."
  • "We have received some feedback from our customers who are receiving a large number of false positives."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is for a white-box penetration testing security. When we work with source code, it's a tool to help us conduct a deep analysis on a source code level. 

We push the zip file with source code to our own stent with the solution and receive a report. Also, we work with the interface to find the vulnerabilities we may have.

The most popular projects for us are the mobile application security assessment. We propose this option to our customers to check source code for iOS and Android mobile applications.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the easy to understand interface, and it 's very user-friendly. We spend some time tuning to start scanning a new project, which is only a few clicks. A few simple tunes for custom rules and we can start our scan.

We can do the work quickly and we don't need to compile the source code because Checkmarx does the work without compiling the project.

The scanning is very quick. It's about 20,000 lines per hour, which is a good speed for scanning.

What needs improvement?

Checkmarx has tried to build a deeper analysis using IAST and SAST. They have a code version for developers. It would be good if they improve the combination of the two solutions. 

Both are good, but ISAT (Interactive Application Security Testing) is in progress and doesn't support the full spectrum of languages. A combination of the two solutions would achieve good results.

We have received some feedback from our customers who are receiving a large number of false positives. I believe that they can improve their engine to reduce false positives. It's better for reducing false positives when you use a compilation.

There are several levels and they are mapped to the different languages and some customers want to check when the developers will pass the training. There should be a questionnaire for the team lead to check the employees and how well they understand the material and the training. 

Also, they will want to add their own content to this solution.

I would like to see some improvements in technology to reduce false positives. This is only relevant to some use cases, not all. For example, there are several false positives for some languages, but it works in C#.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution since 2015.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable and we have not had bugs or glitches. If it is set up according to the instructions, there will be no negative feedback from the customers.

The platform has regular updates.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable, but it depends on the package you have purchased as some do not allow you to expand. 

How are customer service and support?

They have a great support team, and they can help you tune a solution. For our country, it is very important that they have Russian speaking support engineers and to have a quick response.

Also, they have a very good knowledge base. The resources are public on the Checkmarx website and they have good instructions and regulations on how you should tune the solution. It shows you where you can download the plug-ins, how to do it, and explains how they should be integrated.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have some experience with AppScan and with SonarQube. We started with a trial and felt that Checkmarx was the best.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty simple, it's no problem to start using Checkmarx. It's a very good approach if you compare it with competitors.

It only takes a few hours to tune your Checkmarx solution. You may need more time for deeper integration when it comes to DLC integration, for example, when using plug-in build management, such as Jenkins. 

If you are scanning and you have the source code then you are good to start scanning in a few hours. Three to four hours is required for tasks done in source code.

We have one or two engineers who can work with the solution.

For some of our customers have more than 100 developers and a DevOps team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This solution is expensive.

The customized package allows you to buy additional users at any time.

You could advise the vendor that you are in need of some more resources, and they can send you a trial license which lets you pay later. In the meantime, you can start working with the trial license.

They have subscriptions for licenses, but this is confidential information and I cannot share the price as per our non-disclosure agreement.

If you purchase a typical package then it is clear licensing with no hidden payments. You can add integration services for Checkmarx if you needed to, but it's optional.

The hardware is on the customer site. It could be virtual, or a physical server, or even cloud-based. You can choose what you want to use and there are still no hidden fees. Licensing and policy are clear.

What other advice do I have?

We are resellers but we are also users of this product when we need to check source code because our main business activity is security assessments, not reselling.

We have many customers who have purchased this solution from our company. One of them is Softcell, a Ukrainian company.

With our approach, we need to find a way to reduce false positives. We don't have great resources to do this work long-term, and we need quick results. There are some projects that have a lot of false positives but we can reduce them by tuning during the scanning. 

Some of our customers like the Codebashing model. It's an additional model for learning for security practice for developers. They ask for additional tests to this model and want to receive the functionality to check the knowledge.

When you receive your product, you should start with testing and understand how it works according to your environment. This includes the language and what framework to choose because it is not a simple solution. You should understand that you should tune it.

The most effective approach is to implement SAST into the SDLC, (software development life cycle).

You should regularly check your source code, and check your security before every release. For infrastructure, security testing is not enough. There are several applications and static source code security is a must.

You should choose Checkmarx SAST for security checks and try to optimize it's build management or source code repository.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
Software Configuration Manager at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Jun 19, 2019
Works well with Windows servers but no Linux support and takes too long to scan files
Pros and Cons
  • "Overall, the ability to find vulnerabilities in the code is better than the tool that we were using before."
  • "Checkmarx being Windows only is a hindrance. Another problem is: why can't I choose PostgreSQL?"
  • "From an administrative standpoint, I would rate Checkmarx with a five out of ten."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use that we have for Checkmarx is the evaluation of source code vulnerabilities.

We use Git to connect to Checkmarx. We don't use GitHub. We use our own self-hosted Git. We're just using generic Git. One of the biggest thorns in our side is managing that aspect of it. It wouldn't matter if it was GitHub or Bitbucket or any of the other tools that you can use to connect Git to Checkmarx. The issue is the same. 

The tool is good at telling us what repository we're connected to, but it is horrible in telling us what branch we're connected to.

How has it helped my organization?

I haven't been monitoring how well our projects have been at reducing vulnerabilities. Checkmarx is one that you have to actively follow, and my position doesn't require that I do that. I set up the tool, and then I let other people use it.

I'm the system administrator of the tool rather than an active user of it. This product has room for improvement in administration.

Adding users is kind of a pain. We need a more automated way of adding users. User administration for the IDs can be improved, they can make it a more automated feature set so that you can add users more quickly and easily. 

Most tools that I'm dealing with today have a mechanism where people can self-enroll.

What is most valuable?

I'm more of the admin as opposed to a user of Checkmarx. Overall, the ability to find vulnerabilities in the code is better than the tool that we were using before.

What needs improvement?

One of the biggest heartaches that we have is that all of our Windows servers are on an automated upgrade. Whenever Windows upgrades, we lose the order of the ciphers and it brings down the Checkmarx webpage. 

Our company policy is that we upgrade our servers at a minimum of once a month, if not more. It's a hassle to keep up on that. The ciphers are such a pain to manage.

To set up a cipher connection, there's a tool out there called IIS Crypto. We just run that tool to set the best practices. It forces us to reboot the server. We haven't figured out how to automate the whole thing yet. 

There have been some Windows updates that haven't triggered this issue where the ciphers get messed up. The only thing we're running is TLS2. At that higher level, everything is just a pain.

All of our servers are built out through code. In other words, we use Ansible and Jenkins to automatically create machines. Everything is virtual these days. It's either virtual in-house or virtual in the cloud. 

The issue with Checkmarx is the next pain point, i.e. their installation procedure is GUI-based. They've got a command line for upgrades. I haven't seen the command line for the initial install.

My last statement on Checkmarx is Windows would not be my choice for any kind of server implementation. I'm not a Windows fan at all. Every other tool in our company is Linux-based and our target systems are Linux as well.

I don't have the experience and the knowledge of working on a Windows system compared to my Linux knowledge. Checkmarx being Windows only is a hindrance as well.

Another problem is: why can't I choose PostgreSQL? I would like to have an additional feature added to the product to support either PostgreSQL or MySQL. Those are the two free databases that are enterprise-ready.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Checkmarx for two to three years since we fully put it into production.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Checkmarx is a stable product, especially based on the number of updates that we receive. Every time we get a new update or a hotfix, I'm very much in the loop on getting that information. Compared to some other products, it doesn't have the churn that others do, i.e. in the number of updates and patches that we have to apply to it.

We're licensed for 100 users. Primarily we use Checkmarx for developers, managers, architects, and maybe some of the design folk, but not QA. This would solely be in the realm of development and architecture. 

There is no plan for us to increase our usage of Checkmarx. We're trying to get as many scans as possible. One of the issues that we have is the concept of an incremental scan. The more of the incremental that you do, the slower the service becomes.

When you go in and you look at the last result: it's your baseline or your full scan, followed by applying each incremental. The more of the incrementals that you have, the slower Checkmarx gets.

They've come up with a recommendation for users to do one full scan a week and maybe six incremental scans. This needs to be worked on to get the performance better on this particular tool.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Checkmarx can scale up very easily. Anything that can be automated can be scaled. If I can automate it, I can scale it. Under the hood, it does the management of the scan engines well.

We have some large code bases, that according to the Checkmarx internal people, based on the number of lines of code, everything is 100% optimized hardware-wise. The fastest that the scan should take is 13 hours. That's a full scan, an incremental is a little different.

The problem with Checkmarx from that standpoint is, in our most active code base, we want it to be scanned frequently. At one point in time, it was taking up to 26 hours to do a single scan. We were scanning twice a week or four times a week. 

That same code base has two separate instances of itself. A long time ago they started as a common code base and then they split. Now, in essence, we have two products based on the same code base. We had to scan them twice a week.

How are customer service and technical support?

The customer service on the phone so far with Checkmarx has been good. We've had more issues with other projects that have gone into the cloud than with this particular instance. 

It's mostly email until you scream enough with Checkmarx or you go through your salesperson. It's a little bit of a burden to get to them. 

For the most part, the people that I have dealt with know their stuff, and we haven't had any problems. It's been a challenge. We did try to do things that no one else had tried before according to them, and so we ended up having setbacks because of trying new things. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The tool that we were using before was AppScan.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Checkmarx is straightforward. We did a bunch of things that shot ourselves in the foot that we weren't expecting. We were initially trying to put Checkmarx in the cloud. We were even putting Checkmarx into an Azure system until we found out that Azure, with the Microsoft SQL engine, does not support what Checkmarx requires. 

The Azure implementation of SQL does not allow the USE statement. Extremely odd. Maybe Microsoft figured out if you can't use USE, that means you have to have more databases and so they can charge more. Microsoft Oracle and IBM have been pulling that crap for years. They're making a lot of money.

It probably took us a couple of months to go through all of the issues, basically trying to find a home for SQL. We ended up creating a Microsoft SQL server in Amazon.

What about the implementation team?

With Amazon's RDB, you can use Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, Microsoft SQL, etc. as its RDB engines. Depending on whether you already have a license, or if you want to pay for the license when you set up the instance, you can do either. 

We had the license. We just created an instance in the Amazon cloud.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I've got 100 licenses for Checkmarx. As people come and go, it's a hassle to add and remove them. In this day and age, it's such a meaningless time-waster.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We were previously working with Azure. We switched because of their implementation of SQL Server. Checkmarx uses statements to move from database to database. Azure does not support that in its implementation at this time. 

Time will tell and Microsoft does improve their code over time.

What other advice do I have?

From an administrative standpoint, I would rate Checkmarx with a five out of ten. From what my users are telling me, I'd give it an eight for the tool's ability to report on vulnerabilities in the user experience. 

I would rate Checkmarx with an eight on the user side and a five on the admin side.

Customers need to work with Checkmarx to scale the system for their needs, i.e. work with their recommendations. The best practices that they have there. 

They have this formula to calculate how many CPUs and how much memory you need. The memory requirements are huge. We've got 64 GB machines to scan them.

That's the low end of what they're recommending. Their processes do a lot of number crunching in memory. For a 4 million line code base, it's just going to consume a lot of time and a lot of resources. 

We are only using the source code scanner. We're not using the OSS scanner. We use Artifactory for our OSS repository, and Artifactory comes with its own built-in OSS scanner. We didn't need two OSS scanners.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Cyber Security Analyst at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
May 25, 2019
The static operation security has been able to identify more security issues since implementing this solution
Pros and Cons
  • "Our static operation security has been able to identify more security issues since implementing this solution."
  • "It would be really helpful if the level of confidence was included, with respect to identified issues."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is SAST, Static Application Security Testing.

How has it helped my organization?

Our static operation security has been able to identify more security issues since implementing this solution.

What is most valuable?

There are many good features like site integration, but the most valuable feature for us is the XL scan of source code. 

What needs improvement?

It would be really helpful if the level of confidence was included, with respect to identified issues. Some competitors have this feature, and it helps a lot to concentrate on the real findings.

For how long have I used the solution?

One year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In general, stability is good, although sometimes it crashes. We use this product daily, and I would rate the stability a four out of five.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support for this solution is very effective. Each time we have had questions, the answers they provided have been very clear and comprehensive.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Prior to this solution, we were using IBM Security AppScan. We had many, many issues with the application, along with complaints about the deployment time. The main reason we switched is that it was not updated, and it did not support certain technologies. For example, it did not support Visual Studio 2017, so we had to switch to a new solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for this solution is straightforward.

It took less that one day to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation in-house.

What was our ROI?

We have not yet seen ROI.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did evaluate other options.

What other advice do I have?

If people are in need of static application security, then I would recommend this product.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Practice Head - IT Risk & Security Management Services at Suma Soft Private Limited
Real User
May 18, 2019
Enables us to find vulnerabilities in our software before the development cycle is complete
Pros and Cons
  • "The main benefit to using this solution is that we find vulnerabilities in our software before the development cycle is complete."
  • "The biggest advantage we have seen is that we're able to develop and deliver secure solutions in a faster time."
  • "The reports are good, but they still need to be improved considering what the UI offers."

What is our primary use case?

My team uses this product extensively for application vulnerability assessment. This solution is for static application security testing and is used within our software development process.

As the software developers are creating solutions, they are able to identify vulnerabilities while the application is being written, rather than after the entire development is over.  

We were interested in having the raw source code scanned, so that was the primary requirement and that is where Checkmarx comes in. We do not need any precompiled libraries, or compiled source code, to be checked by the source code analysis solution.

We have a security team that uses this product to scan source code, rather than have the developers handle it. We do not have any developer licenses (i.e. the SDLC Edition). Instead, the security team identifies the vulnerabilities and shares the report with the development team.

How has it helped my organization?

The main benefit to using this solution is that we find vulnerabilities in our software before the development cycle is complete.

As an example, an application may contain three hundred thousand lines of code that was written over two or three months. Rather than having to examine the entire product for vulnerabilities, we are able to assess weaknesses and identify vulnerabilities in, say, five hundred or one thousand lines of code. This is really advantageous for us.

What is most valuable?

There are many features, but first is the fact that it is easy to use, and not complicated.

One of the cool features is that it identifies the development technology that we are using on its own, whether it is Java or .NET or otherwise, it identifies it by itself.

The most important aspect is that it shows us exactly, on which particular line, the vulnerability is.

The user interface is very intuitive and it offers help on the fly.

What needs improvement?

The reports are good, but they still need to be improved considering what the UI offers. For example, the UI will suggest the "best-fix location", whereas this information is not captured in the reports.

For how long have I used the solution?

A couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not observed any issues, such as the application crashing, with respect to the stability of this solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is quite scalable. We are not using the SDLC edition, but with that version, the developers can use different plugins and initiate the scan from their own development environment.

There are three or four members in our security team who use this tool. At the current time, we are happy with this solution and do not plan to increase its usage to the point where we need a different license.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have found the technical support to be good. Whenever anyone has an issue, we write directly to Checkmarx.com and they issue a support ID. Most of the time we receive a quick response.

We are currently based in India, and they have increased their team size in India with a couple of people providing support. It covers the Indian subcontinent as well. With this increase, our tickets are answered very quickly as compared to what we used to get.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I do not have recent, hands-on experience with this tool but, I have used it in the past and my team now uses it extensively. We did not use a tool previous to this one, and we plan to continue using this because we are getting good results.

We use this solution for static application security testing. For dynamic testing, we use the Netsparker solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty simple and straightforward, and it does not take more than fifteen minutes, maximum. The entire deployment was completed in not more than half an hour.

Not many people are required for deployment or maintenance. We have not done much since the original installation. When a new version comes in, any member of the security team can update the solution. In that way, a single person can maintain it. Within my team, it is a Senior Security Analyst who maintains this solution for us.

What about the implementation team?

It is a very simple tool and we do not have a complex environment. It is installed on a standalone machine.

We do not have an integrated solution. This is a standalone solution that is used with the Security Gate. The installation was completed in-house, by our team only.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI, but quantifying it in terms of the numbers is difficult. The biggest advantage we have seen is that we're able to develop and deliver secure solutions, in a faster time. We used to test our applications efficiently, and we still do, but there used to be a period of rework required. Now, that does not happen. We are able to identify the issues and address them while the development is in progress.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have a subscription license that is on a yearly basis, and it's a pretty competitive solution. I don't know of any additional costs, beyond the standard licensing fees, for our version of the software.

In the case of the SDLC edition, which is a higher version, there may be some professional support that is required. Otherwise, any license that they provide is just an annual subscription fee.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated the Fortify Static Code Analyzer and IBM Security AppScan, but our evaluation was not fully completed. We were happy with what we were seeing with Checkmarx, so we did not go ahead with the others.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to any software development team using a different set of tools is to look at Checkmarx. It's a very good product. It's a great product, in fact. Any organization spending money on a subscription license should not look at it as a cost, rather, it should be seen as an investment. The Checkmarx solution can act as a resource that can help the development team to secure their application delivery. Be it an internal application for their own use, or applications being written for their customers.

This solution tells us where, in our code, the "best-fix location" is. To put this into perspective, consider a particular piece of code where there are ten vulnerabilities detected. Perhaps it is an SQL injection vulnerability. This tool gives you specific locations and informs that if you fix the code in certain areas (e.g. in three specific locations) then the subsequent vulnerabilities will automatically be addressed. Therefore, you save on development effort because you do not need to fix all ten vulnerabilities specifically and independently.

I would rate this product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Checkmarx One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Checkmarx One Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.