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CodeSonar vs Klocwork 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

CodeSonar
Ranking in Application Security Tools
30th
Ranking in Static Code Analysis
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Klocwork
Ranking in Application Security Tools
19th
Ranking in Static Code Analysis
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of CodeSonar is 1.1%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Klocwork is 1.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Klocwork1.5%
CodeSonar1.1%
Other97.4%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Mathieu ALBRESPY - PeerSpot reviewer
Intigration Developer at ez-Wheel
Nice interface, quick to deploy, and easy to expand
This is the first time I've used this kind of software. It was the only one we could apply to analyze with MISRA rules. At my new company, I tried to use Klocwork. I tried to use it, just once so I cannot compare it exactly with CodeSonar. I also have a plugin for my Visual Studio and I try to make it work. It's not easy, however, I don't think that we have this kind of functionality with CodeSonar. It can do some incremental analysis. However, since this feature is also available on CodeSonar, it would be a good idea to have a plugin on Visual Studio just to have a quick analysis.
KG
Manager, Quality, Functional Safety, Cybersecurity Embedded Processing at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Experience with compliance improvements and efficiency boosts but static analysis engine shows a need for enhancement
One area for improvement is that when customers use different static analysis tools, they report more issues compared to Klocwork. The static analysis engine of Klocwork has areas that need improvement. Customers using different static analysis tools report more issues than with Klocwork, indicating that Klocwork's engine is not as superior. Klocwork should be able to analyze large codebases efficiently, supporting a desktop version for periodic small delta changes before pushing to the server.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of CodeSonar is the catching of dead code. It is helpful."
"What I like best about CodeSonar is that it has fantastic speed, analysis and configuration times. Its detection of all runtime errors is also very good, though there were times it missed a few. The configuration of logs by CodeSonar is also very fantastic which I've not seen anywhere else. I also like the GUI interface of CodeSonar because it's very user friendly and the tool also shows very precise logs and results."
"It has helped us a lot with some issues and has helped us avoid bad code."
"I would suggest trying out automated tools along with CodeSonar on your project, and you will find out that CodeSonar reports many more defects compared to other static analysis tools, so this is a very important tool."
"There is nice functionality for code surfing and browsing."
"What I like best about CodeSonar is that it has fantastic speed, analysis and configuration times."
"The solution is very stable and we have used it for a long time with no issues."
"CodeSonar has helped our organization because it detects dead and nonusable parts of code to create a more optimized code."
"Klocwork has caught up to Fortify and surpassed them; they have a higher detection and false positive rate than Fortify does."
"I recommend this tool as one of the best to be used for static analysis and should at least be tried."
"The best advantage of Klocwork is the reduced setup time."
"Klocwork's most valuable feature is the static code analysis feature, as it detects potential problems earlier to allow the developer to receive feedback quickly and then address issues before they become a problem."
"We consider it a stable product."
"There is a central Klocwork server at our headquarter in France so we connect the client directly to the server on-premises remotely."
"We like using the static analysis and code refactoring, which are very valuable because of our requirements to meet safety critical levels and reliability."
"Overall I find Klocwork's features superior for our needs."
 

Cons

"It would be beneficial for the solution to include code standards and additional functionality for security."
"It was expensive."
"In a future release, the solution should upgrade itself to the current trends and differentiate between the languages. If there are any classifications that can be set for these programming languages that would be helpful rather than having everything in the generic category."
"It was difficult for us to apply a rule, especially to a part of the code, and not apply it to the rest of the code."
"CodeSonar could improve by having better coding rules so we did not have to use another solution, such as MISRA C."
"The MISRA guidelines were not appropriately reported and there were some flags or errors."
"In terms of areas for improvement, the use case for CodeSonar was good, but compared to other tools, it seems CodeSonar isn't a sound static analysis tool, and this is a major con I've seen from it. Right now, in the market, people prefer sound static analysis tools, so I would have preferred if CodeSonar was developed into a sound static analysis tool formally, in terms of its algorithms, so then you can see it extensively used in the market because at the moment, here in India, only fifty to sixty customers use CodeSonar. If the product is developed into a sound static analysis tool, it could compete with Polyspace, and from its current fifty customers, that number could go up to a hundred."
"There could be a shared licensing model for the users."
"We bought Klocwork, but it was limited to one little program, but the program is now sort of failing. So, we have a license for usage on a program that is sort of failing, and we really can't use the license on anything else."
"Every update that we receive requires of us a lengthy and involved process."
"There are other solutions on the market such as Microsoft Visual Studio. They have been adding more static code analysis features that come for free."
"There are many things that can be improved. The code used between projects is one of the very painful points in Klocwork."
"Global variables sometimes generate false positives. Variables with global scopes sometimes produce false positives, which is annoying and time consuming because I get violations from Klocwork which after personal analysis turn out to be not true."
"Klocwork has to improve its features to stay ahead of other free solutions."
"The way to define the rules is too complex. The definition/rules for static analysis could be automated according to various SILs, so as to avoid confusion."
"There are too many warnings, and it requires expertise to determine the correct category for them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The application’s pricing is high compared to other tools."
"Pricing is a bit costly."
"Our organization purchased a license to use the solution."
"The solution's price depends on the number of licenses needed and the source code for the project."
"When it comes to licensing, the solution has two packages, one for a fixed and the other for a floating server, with the former being more cost effective than the latter."
"There are other solutions on the market such as Microsoft Visual Studio. They have been adding more static code analysis features that come for free. It is getting better all the time. That is one of the possibilities is that we've been considering that we may stop using the Klocwork because it doesn't give us any added value."
"Klocwork should not to be quite so heavy handed on the licensing for very specific programs."
"This solution offers competitive pricing."
"The pricing for Klocwork is very competitive if you compare it from apple to apple. It has competitive pricing regarding the licensing model and the per-license cost. Klocwork isn't a high-end investment for anyone deploying it; even SMBs can afford it. The Klocwork cost per user would depend on the license type, so I'm unable to mention a ballpark figure because it would depend on the type of installation and how the deployment will be, and the nodes to give an accurate calculation or figure. The total price depends on the package, so my company could never publish pricing for Klocwork on the website. My team first collects information from potential clients on the deployment scenario, project environment, etc., before suggesting a package for Klocwork. My rating for Klocwork in terms of pricing is a five because of its flexible license models. There's a license model for every type of organization, whether small, midsize, or enterprise, so it's a five out of five for me."
"The limitation that we have is that Klocwork is licensed to certain programs, and if you want to license them to other programs, you have to pay more money."
"Klocwork is still tight on their licensing. If Klocwork would loosen up on the licensing, and where the license could be used, and how many different programs could be run on it, then we have several development programs that I would love to be able to use it for going forward."
"Licensing fees are paid annually, but they also have a perpetual license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
24%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
22%
Construction Company
8%
Transportation Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Klocwork?
Klocwork's pricing seems attractive, as it uses a per-user license model that does not have a lot of overhead.
What needs improvement with Klocwork?
One area for improvement is that when customers use different static analysis tools, they report more issues compared to Klocwork. The static analysis engine of Klocwork has areas that need improve...
What is your primary use case for Klocwork?
I work on tools such as Klocwork, LDRA, as well as Jira and Confluence, focusing more on the software quality assurance aspect. We use Klocwork for coding and aggregate checks. We use it for static...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Viveris, Micrel Medical Devices, Olympus, SOFTEQ, SONY
ACCESS Co Ltd, Risk-AI, Winbond Electronics, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, University of Southern California, Alebra Technologies, SIMULIA, Risk Management Solutions, Brigham Young University, SRD, HRL
Find out what your peers are saying about CodeSonar vs. Klocwork and other solutions. Updated: May 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.