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HCL AppScan vs PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
1.7
HCL AppScan enhances architecture with fewer errors and improved security, achieving 50% return and 20% cost savings.
Sentiment score
1.0
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers significant ROI, enhancing client engagement and securing contracts for application security testing globally.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
HCL AppScan's support is responsive with mixed reviews, facing regional challenges and lagging behind competitors like Veracode.
Sentiment score
3.7
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers praised customer service, responsive technical support, and comprehensive resources for user assistance.
Veracode provides excellent assistance and regularly scheduled calls to address customer concerns and updates.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
There is still room for improvement when it comes to the speed of response.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
The technical support from PortSwigger is excellent.
Cyber security manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The technical support for PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is pretty good, and I would give it a nine.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
3.9
HCL AppScan is scalable yet varies by license, integration issues, infrastructure compatibility, and CI/CD pipeline design effectiveness.
Sentiment score
5.4
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is scalable but faces licensing challenges, with some preferring the Enterprise version for extensive use.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
HCL AppScan is stable and reliable, with minor hardware issues, improved by recent upgrades enhancing performance and stability.
Sentiment score
8.4
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is stable and reliable, with minor memory and update issues, rated highly for stability.
Since we've been using HCL AppScan for about three months, we really have not encountered a false positive.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is very stable.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is a very stable tool, and I would rate its stability as eight out of ten.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
 

Room For Improvement

HCL AppScan requires improvements in vulnerability detection, usability, integration, performance, support, pricing, and language/codebase compatibility to stay competitive.
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional could improve interface, integration, and usability, while reducing false positives and enhancing reporting.
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.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
Perhaps they could add some automation to things, to see what we do manually, which it has the tools to do manually, and perhaps enable with a click of a button to do things automatically.
Penetration Tester & Information Security Expert at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Some AI features might be added.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
The dashboard of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional could be made more user-friendly.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
 

Setup Cost

HCL AppScan is considered expensive but cost-effective, with varied pricing opinions influenced by its premium features and discounts.
Burp Suite Professional is a budget-friendly, comprehensive web security tool with flexible licensing options suitable for various business sizes.
Companies often choose based on budget constraints, with Veracode being on the higher end cost-wise.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
The pricing for PortSwigger is very cheap, and there are benefits in terms of time and cost savings.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
I find the price of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional to be very cost-efficient.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
 

Valuable Features

HCL AppScan detects vulnerabilities, integrates with agile processes, offers scalability, user-friendly features, and AI-enhanced rapid scanning for security.
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional offers customizable testing tools, community plugins, a user-friendly interface, and efficient automation for affordable security assessment.
We were able to identify security issues such as certificate-related issues, authentication-related issues, and weak encryption-related issues.
Founder Director at Techsa Services
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.
Associate Principal, Software Engineering at LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech
The most valuable features of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional are its ease of use and its cost efficiency.
Senior Business Development Manager at Intouch World
One of the best things in PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is that it has its own browser.
Penetration Tester & Information Security Expert at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I especially value the features for penetration testing.
Information Security Engineer at Tübitak Bilgem
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL AppScan
Ranking in Application Security Tools
20th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (6th)
PortSwigger Burp Suite Prof...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
9th
Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Fuzz Testing Tools (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of HCL AppScan is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is 2.5%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional2.5%
HCL AppScan2.2%
Other95.3%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

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.
MH
Penetration Tester & Information Security Expert at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Dedicated browser and repeater have improved my proxy testing and manual vulnerability checks
I'm hoping perhaps for something to make it easier, such as to define things where if a message or a response is such and such, automatically make a request that is such and such. Perhaps something like this because otherwise, nowadays we have to do it manually. Perhaps they can automate it a bit more. Perhaps they could add some automation to things, to see what we do manually, which it has the tools to do manually, and perhaps enable with a click of a button to do things automatically. I'm not too sure which, but I'm sure they can from a product management point of view, do things that we need to do two, three, or four steps manually regarding specific testing. For instance, we want to check something specific if it's this or if it's that. Perhaps to define it once and have it more automatic, perhaps.
report
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Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise35
 

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?
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...
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 ...
What do you like most about PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?
The solution helped us discover vulnerabilities in our applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional?
The cost of PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional is reasonable at approximately $500 per year per user.
 

Also Known As

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan
Burp
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essex Technology Group Inc., Cisco, West Virginia University, APIS IT
Google, Amazon, NASA, FedEx, P&G, Salesforce
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL AppScan vs. PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.