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GitHub Advanced Security vs HCL AppScan 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

GitHub Advanced Security
Ranking in Application Security Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HCL AppScan
Ranking in Application Security Tools
20th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (17th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of GitHub Advanced Security is 4.9%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.3%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
GitHub Advanced Security4.9%
HCL AppScan2.3%
Other92.8%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Sabna Sainudeen - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Application Security at Carlsberg
Seamlessly integrates into developer environment for streamlined code scanning
GitHub Advanced Security should look into API security issues, which they currently do not. Additionally, open-source security vulnerabilities are not getting updated in a timely manner. There are features in GitHub Advanced Security that cannot be used within Microsoft, which is strange since they are the same company. It should also focus on developing a software bill of materials (SBOM) to see all open software used in one place.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It ensures user passwords or sensitive information are not accidentally exposed in code or reports."
"The most valuable is the developer experience and the extensibility of the overall ecosystem."
"I have not experienced any performance or stability issues with GitHub Advanced Security."
"GitHub Advanced Security uses artificial intelligence in the backend, specifically CodeQL, to analyze code and provide fewer but more reliable findings, so there are less false positives."
"GitHub Advanced Security is ten out of ten scalable."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution as it can handle new applications along with the analysis part."
"The best features of GitHub Advanced Security are its flexibility and the multiple options it has compared to other tools."
"GitHub Advanced Security's secret scanning is good."
"It has certainly helped us find vulnerabilities in our software, so this is priceless in the end."
"You can easily find particular features and functions through the UI."
"I like the recording feature."
"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'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."
"The platform has valuable security features, helping us identify sensitive code issues and the possibility of internal applications' exposure to external threats."
"We use it as a security testing application."
"We leverage it as a quality check against code."
 

Cons

"An area of GitHub Advanced Security that has room for improvement is customization."
"Open-source security vulnerabilities are not getting updated in a timely manner."
"The customizations are a little bit difficult."
"There could be a centralized dashboard to view reports of all the projects on one platform."
"Maybe make it compatible with more programming languages. Have a customized ruleset where the end-user can create their own rules for scanning."
"For GitHub Advanced Security, I would like to see more support for various programming languages."
"A more refined approach, categorizing and emphasizing specific vulnerabilities, would be beneficial."
"The deployment part of the product is an area of concern that needs to be made easier from an improvement perspective."
"I think being able to search across more containers, especially some of the docker elements. We need a little tighter integration there. That's the only thing I can see at this point."
"There are so many lines of code with so many different categories that I am likely to get lost. ​"
"There is one feature called SCA, which stands for Software Composition Analysis, that could be improved."
"The databases for HCL are small and have room for improvement."
"The solution's scalability can be a matter of concern because one license runs on one machine only."
"They have to improve support."
"We would like to see a check in the specific vulnerabilities in mobile applications or rooted devices, such as jailbreaking devices."
"Visibility is an issue for us. Our partners do not know we have integrations with some of IBM products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The current licensing model, which relies on active commitments, poses challenges, particularly in predicting and managing growth."
"The solution is 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."
"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."
"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."
"HCL AppScan is expensive."
"With the features, that they offer, and the support, they offer, AppScan pricing is on a higher level."
"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 product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GitHub Advanced Security?
It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution as it can handle new applications along with the analysis part.
What needs improvement with GitHub Advanced Security?
We used additional third-party solutions, but we replaced them with GitHub Advanced Security, even though I do not have a very good opinion about GitHub Advanced Security. Even though it is an inli...
What is your primary use case for GitHub Advanced Security?
I'm working with software development nowadays. As a process, we are using the dependent bot alerts and the code scanning for Java, and some of the code scanning is happening. Security secrets in c...
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Find out what your peers are saying about GitHub Advanced Security vs. HCL AppScan and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.