Checkmarx Alternatives

Why Look for Checkmarx Alternatives?

Checkmarx One is among the most comprehensive application security platforms available. It bundles SAST, SCA, DAST, IaC security, container security, API security, secrets detection, and ASPM under one umbrella. For large enterprises, that breadth is the entire point. For everyone else, it can be the problem.

The most frequent reason teams evaluate alternatives is cost. Checkmarx is enterprise software with custom pricing and no free tier. Organizations that only need SAST — not the full suite of scanners — end up paying for capabilities they do not use. Teams with tighter budgets often find that a focused SAST tool delivers the security coverage they need at a fraction of the price.

Developer experience is another driver. Checkmarx has improved its developer-facing features with IDE plugins and AI remediation agents, but teams accustomed to tools like Semgrep or Snyk Code sometimes report that Checkmarx feels more oriented toward security teams than developers. Scan times can also be a concern — Checkmarx scans are thorough but not always fast enough for tight CI/CD feedback loops on pull requests.

Finally, some teams simply do not need a platform. They already have SCA covered by one tool, DAST by another, and just need SAST that integrates cleanly with their existing stack. A focused SAST tool that does one thing well can be a better fit than a platform that does many things adequately.

Top Checkmarx Alternatives

1. Veracode Static Analysis

Veracode is Checkmarx’s most direct enterprise competitor. Both are Gartner Magic Quadrant Leaders, both serve regulated industries, and both offer platforms that cover SAST, DAST, and SCA. The key difference is Veracode’s binary analysis approach — you upload compiled bytecode rather than source code, which means the vendor never sees your source.

Veracode’s Pipeline Scan returns results in under 90 seconds for CI/CD integration. The full platform scan provides deeper analysis for release gates and compliance. The platform supports 100+ languages and frameworks.

Best for: Enterprise teams that want Checkmarx-class depth without sharing source code with the vendor. License: Commercial Key difference: Binary analysis means no source code leaves your organization. Faster Pipeline Scan for CI/CD.

Veracode review

2. Semgrep

Semgrep is the open-source alternative that security engineers reach for first. Its pattern-based rule syntax lets you write custom detection rules that look like the code you are searching for — no specialized query language needed. The open-source engine covers 30+ languages and runs scans in seconds.

Semgrep Pro adds cross-file dataflow analysis, taint tracking, and a managed rule registry. Semgrep Supply Chain adds SCA, and Semgrep Secrets handles credential detection. Together, they cover much of what Checkmarx offers but with a lighter-weight, CLI-first approach.

Best for: Security engineers who want fast scans, custom rule authoring, and an open-source foundation they can extend. License: Open-source (LGPL-2.1) with commercial Pro tier Key difference: Custom rules in minutes, not weeks. Open-source core. Lacks DAST, container, and API scanning that Checkmarx bundles.

Semgrep review

3. SonarQube

SonarQube combines code quality analysis with security scanning across 35+ languages. The open-source Community Edition covers 19 languages with basic security rules. Commercial tiers add taint analysis, branch analysis, and PR decoration. The platform’s quality gate system is one of the most mature available.

SonarQube is not as security-deep as Checkmarx — about 85% of its rules target code quality rather than security. But for teams that want code quality and security in one tool, SonarQube covers both at a lower price point.

Best for: Teams that want unified code quality and security analysis with mature quality gates at a lower cost than Checkmarx. License: Commercial (with free Community Edition) Key difference: Code quality plus security in one platform. Not as deep on security as Checkmarx, but broader on quality.

SonarQube review

4. Snyk Code

Snyk Code provides real-time SAST scanning inside IDEs with AI-powered fix suggestions. The DeepCode AI engine was trained on millions of real-world code fixes and provides semantic analysis across 20+ languages. Findings appear as you type, before you even commit.

As part of the Snyk platform, Snyk Code integrates with Snyk Open Source (SCA), Snyk Container, and Snyk IaC. This gives teams a platform approach similar to Checkmarx but with a stronger emphasis on developer experience.

Best for: Developer teams that want fast IDE feedback with AI-generated remediation suggestions. License: Commercial (free tier available) Key difference: Real-time IDE scanning catches issues before commit. AI fix suggestions reduce manual remediation work.

Snyk Code review

5. Fortify Static Code Analyzer

Fortify (now part of OpenText) is the longest-running commercial SAST tool on the market, holding Gartner Leader status for 11 consecutive years. It covers 33+ languages and 1,700+ vulnerability categories with deep taint analysis and dataflow tracking.

Fortify Aviator brings AI-powered remediation to the IDE. The tool supports both on-premises and cloud deployment. Fortify’s audit workflow is mature and well-suited for organizations with dedicated security teams that review and triage findings before passing them to developers.

Best for: Organizations that have used Fortify for years and rely on its audit workflow, or those in government and defense where Fortify is a compliance standard. License: Commercial Key difference: Longest market tenure with 11 years as Gartner Leader. Strong in government and defense. Audit-centric workflow suits security team-led processes.

Fortify review

6. GitHub CodeQL

CodeQL is GitHub’s semantic code analysis engine. It treats code as queryable data and supports deep dataflow and taint analysis across 12 languages. CodeQL queries are precise and catch complex vulnerability patterns that simpler scanners miss.

Free for public repositories, CodeQL is included with GitHub Advanced Security for private repos. The native GitHub Actions integration means zero infrastructure to manage for teams already on GitHub.

Best for: GitHub-based teams that want deep semantic analysis without managing additional infrastructure. License: Free (public repos), commercial (private repos via GitHub Advanced Security) Key difference: Query-based approach enables very precise detection patterns. GitHub-native with no separate server.

GitHub CodeQL review

7. Coverity

Coverity provides interprocedural dataflow and path-sensitive analysis at a depth few tools match. It covers 22 languages and 200+ frameworks, with particular strength in C/C++ and Java. The tool is TUV SUD certified for safety-critical development (ISO 26262, IEC 61508).

Coverity’s precision is its selling point. It produces fewer false positives than most SAST tools, which matters when scanning large codebases where alert fatigue becomes the primary blocker to remediation.

Best for: Enterprise teams with large, complex codebases where precision matters more than speed. License: Commercial Key difference: Deepest interprocedural analysis available. Safety-certified for automotive and industrial applications. Fewer false positives than most alternatives.

Coverity review

8. HCL AppScan

HCL AppScan is a Gartner Leader that combines SAST, DAST, IAST, and SCA. The free CodeSweep IDE plugin provides basic SAST scanning at zero cost — a rare offering from a commercial vendor. RapidFix uses AI to generate fix suggestions.

AppScan supports 30+ languages and integrates with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket. The platform offers cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment models.

Best for: Enterprise teams that want a multi-scanner platform at a lower price point than Checkmarx, with a free IDE plugin. License: Commercial (CodeSweep plugin is free) Key difference: Free CodeSweep IDE plugin for basic SAST. Multi-scanner platform at typically lower enterprise pricing than Checkmarx.

HCL AppScan review

Feature Comparison

When to Stay with Checkmarx

Checkmarx remains the right choice in several scenarios:

• You need a unified application security platform. No other single vendor covers SAST, SCA, DAST, IaC, container, API, and secrets scanning with ASPM prioritization on top. Replacing Checkmarx means assembling and integrating multiple tools.
• ASPM-level prioritization is critical. If you scan large applications with thousands of findings, Checkmarx’s ASPM layer correlates results across scanner types and prioritizes by business context. This cross-scanner prioritization is hard to replicate with separate tools.
• You serve regulated industries. Checkmarx’s compliance reporting, audit trails, and depth of scanning satisfy regulatory requirements that lighter tools may not cover.
• You have 75+ language coverage needs. Checkmarx supports more languages and frameworks than most alternatives. Polyglot enterprise codebases benefit from this breadth.
• Your organization is already invested. Migration from Checkmarx means retraining developers, reconfiguring CI/CD pipelines, re-establishing baselines, and losing historical trend data. The switching cost is high for large deployments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Written by

Suphi Cankurt

Suphi Cankurt is an application security enthusiast based in Helsinki, Finland. He reviews and compares 129 AppSec tools across 10 categories on AppSec Santa. Learn more.