HCL AppScan vs OWASP Zap comparison

Why PeerSpot?

HCLSoftware and OWASP are both solutions in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category. HCLSoftware is ranked #20 with an average rating of 7.0, while OWASP is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. HCLSoftware holds a 2.9% mindshare in SAST, compared to OWASP’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of OWASP users who would recommend it.

HCL AppScan

Read 44 HCL AppScan reviews

9,624 Views
6,737 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

OWASP Zap

Read 41 OWASP Zap reviews

9,843 Views
9,252 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

HCL AppScan

OWASP Zap

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

HCL AppScan and OWASP Zap compete in the web application security testing category. Though HCL AppScan offers advanced features and integrates well with development lifecycles, OWASP Zap stands out for its cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

Features: HCL AppScan features advanced scanning capabilities, integration into the software development lifecycle, and detects vulnerabilities like XSS and SQL injections with precision. It provides industry-specific templates and robust security-focused findings. OWASP Zap, an open-source tool, is widely accessible and known for its powerful spidering and user-friendly interface, ideal for beginners. It provides flexibility and community-driven enhancements.

Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan could reduce false positives, improve usability, and enhance customer support. Better container integration and central management for its static and dynamic scanning are also needed. OWASP Zap should focus on improving automation accuracy, enhancing reporting, and supporting diverse environments like mobile testing. Users suggest more robust updates and better documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan offers deployment flexibility, being available on public cloud, hybrid cloud, and on-premises. However, users often wish for more responsive technical support. OWASP Zap is primarily on-premises but available on public cloud through community setups. Its open-source nature means relying on community forums for support, which can delay quick resolutions.

Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan is expensive but valued for its detailed reports and integration features, providing a strong long-term ROI by reducing vulnerabilities and costs. OWASP Zap's main advantage is being a free, open-source solution, making it popular among small to medium businesses and startups, offering extensive features without financial barriers.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL AppScan vs. OWASP Zap Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan vs. OWASP Zap

November 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 920,929 peers since 2012

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 Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (24th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (7th)

OWASP Zap

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

12th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.9%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OWASP Zap is 2.5%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OWASP Zap	2.5%
HCL AppScan	2.9%
Other	94.6%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani

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.

Read full review

Amit Beniwal

Project Manager at Al Hassan LLC

Simplifies vulnerability discovery and has high quality support

There are areas for improvement with OWASP Zap, particularly in the alignment of vulnerabilities concerning CVSS scores. Sometimes, a vulnerability initially categorized as high severity may be reduced to medium or low over time after security patches are applied. This alignment with the present severity score and CVSS score could be improved.

Read full review

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 HCL AppScan is its integration with the SDLC, particularly during the coding phase."

"The product has valuable features for static and dynamic testing."

"It's generally a very user-friendly tool. Anyone can easily learn how to scan"

"We catch them, we fix them, and we can offer a higher quality product to our clients."

"It's a good product; its automated crawler identifies all URLs and performs security tests, and it has very rich test cases which ensure pretty good coverage in terms of security testing while the UI is user friendly and intuitive."

"There's extensive functionality with custom rules and a custom knowledge base."

"The solution is easy to install. I would rate the product's setup between six to seven out of ten. The deployment time depends on the applications that need to be scanned. We have a development and operations team to take care of the product's maintenance."

"I mainly use AppScan for vulnerability scanning and database bridging."

More HCL AppScan pros

"The OWASP's tool is free of cost, which gives it a great advantage, especially for smaller companies to make use of the tool and at the same time give a comprehensive report with great confidence to the client for helping them in their go-live decision."

"The product discovers more vulnerabilities compared to other tools."

"The reporting is quite intuitive, which gives you a clear indication of what kind of vulnerability you have that you can drill down on to gather more information."

"If you're a company and you've got your own websites, internally and externally, it's great."

"Technical support is excellent."

"OWASP Zap is a good tool, one of my favorites for a long time, and I would recommend it."

"The most valuable feature is the spidering because, being a security person, it is very important for me to know each and every section of that application, so we cannot afford to miss any single web page or any single link on a particular website."

"This solution is providing us with value and as long as it continues to do so, we'll continue to use it."

More OWASP Zap pros

Cons

"The performance could be better. Sometimes it doesn't work so well."

"The databases for HCL are small and have room for improvement."

"They could incorporate AI to enhance vulnerability detection and improve the product's reporting capabilities."

"The depth was low, but the part that the user could miss was also diagnosed."

"The product has some technical limitations."

"The solution could improve by having a mobile version."

"This product lacks in many areas, and so we are looking at other options."

"I think it's a little bit complex, and that's quite a common issue with most of the IBM products."

More HCL AppScan cons

"OWASP Zap needs to extend to mobile application testing."

"I would recommend this product to people although I think it is very difficult to deploy and we also have issues with maintenance."

"It would be a great improvement if they could include a marketplace to add extra features to the tool."

"The documentation needs to be improved because I had to learn everything from watching YouTube videos."

"I'd also like to see an improvement in test reports because we get too many false positives."

"The work that it does in the limited scope is good, but the scope is very limited in terms of the scanning features. The number of things it tests or finds is limited. They need to make it a more of a mainstream tool that people can use, and they can even think about having it on a proprietary basis. They need to increase the coverage of the scan and the results that it finds. That has always been Zap's limitation. Zap is a very good tool for a beginner, but once you start moving up the ladder where you want further details and you want your scan to show more in-depth results, Zap falls short because its coverage falls short. It does not have the capacity to do more."

"Lacks resources where users can internally access a learning module from the tool."

"There isn't too much information about it online."

More OWASP Zap cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is moderately priced, though it's an investment due to extensive code analysis needs."

"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."

"Pricing was the main reason that we went ahead with this solution as they were the lowest in the market."

"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."

"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."

"Our clients are willing to pay the extra money. It is expensive."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

"It's free and open, currently under the Apache 2 license. If ZAP does what you need it to do, selling a free solution is a very easy."

"We have used the freeware version. I believe Zap only has freeware."

"This solution is open source and free."

"OWASP ZAP is a free tool provided by OWASP’s engineers and experts. There is an option to donate."

"The tool is open-source."

"The tool is open source."

"It's free. It's good for us because we don't know what the extent of our use will be yet. It's good to start with something free and easy to use."

"This app is completely free and open source. So there is no question about any pricing."

More OWASP Zap pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

University

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	31

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	22

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL AppScan?

AppScan is considered more cost-effective than Veracode, although I have not updated the exact pricing details. Companies often choose based on budget constraints, with Veracode being on the higher...

See all answers

Is OWASP Zap better than PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro?

OWASP Zap and PortSwigger Burp Suite Pro have many similar features. OWASP Zap has web application scanning available with basic security vulnerabilities while Burp Suite Pro has it available with ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OWASP Zap?

OWASP might be cost-effective, however, people prefer to use the free edition available as open source.

See all answers

What needs improvement with OWASP Zap?

The improvement that has to be done for APIs focuses on manual activities where the feature exists, but it is not at the same level as what Burp Suite does with intercepting and tools such as Postm...

See all answers

Comparisons

Veracode vs HCL AppScan

Compared 7% of the time

Checkmarx One vs HCL AppScan

Compared 7% of the time

SonarQube vs HCL AppScan

Compared 5% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs HCL AppScan

Compared 5% of the time

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs HCL AppScan

Compared 2% of the time

More HCL AppScan Competitors

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs OWASP Zap

Compared 11% of the time

Invicti Web + API vs OWASP Zap

Compared 9% of the time

Veracode vs OWASP Zap

Compared 6% of the time

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs OWASP Zap

Compared 6% of the time

Ixia BreakingPoint vs OWASP Zap

Compared 3% of the time

More OWASP Zap Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan

October 2026

Download HCL AppScan product report

Buyer's Guide

OWASP Zap

October 2026

Download OWASP Zap product report

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

No data available

Overview

HCL AppScan offers quick vulnerability detection with effective SDLC integration and is known for its user-friendly interface and seamless security integration.

HCL AppScan provides dynamic and static scanning to identify vulnerabilities like XSS and SQL injection. It integrates well into CI/CD pipelines, supports multiple languages, and offers web and dynamic scanning, helping businesses ensure security across development lifecycles. Users benefit from API coverage, Postman integration, and its ability to function in cloud and on-premise environments, facilitating a shift from DevOps to DevSecOps practices.

What features define HCL AppScan?

User-friendly interface: Simplifies navigation and usage.
Vulnerability detection: Quickly identifies issues like XSS and SQL injection.
Integration with SDLC: Seamlessly blends with development processes.
Dynamic scanning: Offers comprehensive security evaluations.
Multiple language support: Supports diverse programming environments.

What benefits should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts to growing needs and projects.
Low false-positive rates: Delivers accurate and reliable results.
Detailed reporting: Provides comprehensive vulnerability insights.
Effective integration: Enhances CI/CD pipeline security.

HCL AppScan is leveraged in sectors requiring rigorous security checks, such as finance and healthcare, where it conducts comprehensive scans and offers insights into potential vulnerabilities. Its robust scanning capabilities aid companies in maintaining compliance and security standards.

HCLSoftware

OWASP Zap is a free and open-source web application security scanner.

The solution helps developers identify vulnerabilities in their web applications by actively scanning for common security issues.

With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Zap is a popular choice among developers for ensuring the security of their web applications.

OWASP

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT

1. Google 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Amazon 5. Facebook 6. Twitter 7. LinkedIn 8. Netflix 9. Adobe 10. PayPal 11. Salesforce 12. Cisco 13. Oracle 14. Intel 15. HP 16. Dell 17. VMware 18. Symantec 19. McAfee 20. Citrix 21. Red Hat 22. Juniper Networks 23. SAP 24. Accenture 25. Deloitte 26. Ernst & Young 27. PwC 28. KPMG 29. Capgemini 30. Infosys 31. Wipro 32. TCS

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan vs. OWASP Zap

November 2026

Free Report: HCL AppScan vs. OWASP Zap

Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. OWASP Zap and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

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