Defensics Protocol Fuzzing vs HCL AppScan comparison

The compared Black Duck and HCLSoftware solutions aren't in the same category. Black Duck is ranked #4 in FTT , and holds a 18.3% mindshare in the category. HCLSoftware is ranked #20 in AS , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Black Duck users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of HCLSoftware users who would recommend it.

Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Read 4 Defensics Protocol Fuzzing reviews

1,211 Views
121 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

HCL AppScan

Read 44 HCL AppScan reviews

4,542 Views
3,179 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

HCL AppScan

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Defensics Protocol Fuzzing and HCL AppScan based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about PortSwigger, GitLab, OWASP and others in Fuzz Testing Tools.

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

Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Fuzz Testing Tools (4th)

HCL AppScan

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (20th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (17th), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) (6th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Quality Assurance solutions, they serve different purposes. Defensics Protocol Fuzzing is designed for Fuzz Testing Tools and holds a mindshare of 18.3%, down 21.0% compared to last year.
HCL AppScan, on the other hand, focuses on Application Security Tools, holds 2.2% mindshare, down 2.6% since last year.

Fuzz Testing Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Defensics Protocol Fuzzing	18.3%
PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional	32.7%
GitLab	26.7%
Other	22.299999999999997%

Fuzz Testing Tools

Application Security Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL AppScan	2.2%
SonarQube	16.9%
Checkmarx One	9.9%
Other	71.0%

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Sarath Kumar Choday

Senior Technical Lead at HCL Technologies

Product security tests for switches and router sections

Codenomicon Defensics should be more advanced for the testing sector. It should be somewhat easy and flexible to install. What I see in the documentation isn't that. Even if something doesn't malfunction, sometimes it is hard to install and execute. The product needs video documentation. This would help a lot more.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is related to US usage with TLS contact fees, i.e. how more data center connections will help lower networking costs."

"Whatever the test suit they give, it is intelligent. It will understand the protocol and it will generate the test cases based on the protocol: protocol, message sequence, protocol, message structure... Because of that, we can eliminate a lot of unwanted test cases, so we can execute the tests and complete them very quickly."

"We have found multiple issues in our embedded system network protocols, related to buffer overflow. We have reduced some of these issues."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution...The initial setup or installation of HCL AppScan is easy."

"You can easily find particular features and functions through the UI."

"The reporting part is the most valuable feature."

"The security and the dashboard are the most valuable features."

"Compared to other tools only AppScan supports special language."

"It highlights, with several grades of severity, the types of vulnerabilities, so we can focus on the most severe security vulnerabilities in the code."

"It comes with all of the templates that we need. For example, we are a company that is regulated by PCI. In order to be PCI compliant, we have a lot of checks and procedures to which we have to comply."

"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."

More HCL AppScan pros

Cons

"It does not support the complete protocol stack. There are some IoT protocols that are not supported and new protocols that are not supported."

"Sometimes, when we are testing embedded devices, when we trigger the test cases, the target will crash immediately. It is very difficult for us to identify the root cause of the crash because they do not provide sophisticated tools on the target side. They cover only the client-side application... They do not have diagnostic tools for the target side. Rather, they have them but they are very minimal and not very helpful."

"Codenomicon Defensics should be more advanced for the testing sector. It should be somewhat easy and flexible to install."

"They have to improve support."

"The solution often has a high number of false positives. It's an aspect they really need to improve upon."

"The dashboard, for AppScan or the Fortified fast tool, which we use needs to be improved."

"The tool should improve its output. Scanning is not a challenge anymore since there are many such tools available in the market. The product needs to focus on how its output is being used by end users. It should be also more user-friendly. One of the major challenges is in the tool's integration with applications that need to be scanned. Sometimes, the scanning is not proper."

"Sometimes it doesn't work so well."

"They could add a software component analysis tool."

"The pricing has room for improvement."

"IBM Security AppScan Source is rather hard to use."

More HCL AppScan cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is a bit expensive."

"The price is very expensive."

"The product has premium pricing and could be more competitive."

"HCL AppScan is expensive."

"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 tool was expensive."

"AppScan is a little bit expensive. IBM needs to work a little bit on the pricing model, decreasing the license cost."

"The solution is cheap."

"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."

More HCL AppScan pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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

Questions from the Community

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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.

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What needs improvement with HCL AppScan?

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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...

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Comparisons

SonarQube vs Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Compared 11% of the time

Coverity Static vs Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Compared 11% of the time

Checkmarx One vs Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Compared 8% of the time

Blue Cedar vs Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Compared 8% of the time

Ixia BreakingPoint vs Defensics Protocol Fuzzing

Compared 8% of the time

More Defensics Protocol Fuzzing Competitors

SonarQube vs HCL AppScan

Compared 10% of the time

Veracode vs HCL AppScan

Compared 10% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs HCL AppScan

Compared 8% of the time

Acunetix vs HCL AppScan

Compared 7% of the time

Checkmarx One vs HCL AppScan

Compared 7% of the time

More HCL AppScan Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Defensics Protocol Fuzzing vs. PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional

January 2026

Download Defensics Protocol Fuzzing product report

Buyer's Guide

HCL AppScan

January 2026

Download HCL AppScan product report

Also Known As

Codenomicon Defensics

IBM Security AppScan, Rational AppScan, AppScan

Overview

Defensics® fuzz testing is a comprehensive, powerful, and automated black box solution that enables organizations to effectively and efficiently discover and remediate security weaknesses in software. By taking a systematic and intelligent approach to negative testing, Defensics allows organizations to ensure software security without compromising on product innovation, increasing time to market, or inflating operational costs.

Black Duck

IBM Security AppScan enhances web application security and mobile application security, improves application security program management and strengthens regulatory compliance. By scanning your web and mobile applications prior to deployment, AppScan enables you to identify security vulnerabilities and generate reports and fix recommendations.

HCLSoftware

Sample Customers

Coriant, CERT-FI, Next Generation Networks

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

Buyer's Guide

Defensics Protocol Fuzzing vs. GitLab

January 2026

Free Report: Defensics Protocol Fuzzing vs. GitLab

Find out what your peers are saying about Defensics Protocol Fuzzing vs. GitLab and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.

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