SAST tools › SAST vs SCA
SAST vs SCA: your code or your dependencies
SAST scans the code your team writes for flaws such as injection. SCA (software composition analysis) scans the open-source packages you import and matches their versions against databases of known vulnerabilities (CVEs). They don't overlap, so most teams need both. Start with free SCA, Dependabot on GitHub or OSV-Scanner anywhere, next to a free SAST tier.
SAST, SCA and DAST in one table
| SAST | SCA | DAST | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads | Your source code | Manifests and lockfiles (package-lock.json, pom.xml), container images | The running app |
| Finds | Bugs your team wrote: injection, unsafe calls, missing checks | Known CVEs in packages, risky licenses, malicious packages | Runtime problems: headers, sessions, server settings |
| Knows a bug from | Rules or a model reading the code | An advisory database (GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV.dev) | How the app answers crafted requests |
| Fix is usually | A code change on the flagged line | A version bump | A code or config change you have to locate |
| Misses | Flaws inside libraries | Bugs in your own code; zero-days with no advisory yet | Code it can't reach |
| Free start | Semgrep, CodeQL on public repos | Dependabot, OSV-Scanner | OWASP ZAP |
DAST is the third leg, testing the deployed app from outside; SAST vs DAST covers it in full.
One bug of each kind
An SCA bug: Log4Shell. CVE-2021-44228 is in Apache Log4j2 versions 2.0-beta9 through 2.15.0 (except the security releases 2.12.2, 2.12.3 and 2.3.1): an attacker who controls a logged string can make the server load and run code from an LDAP server. NVD scores it 10.0, and CISA added it to its known-exploited list on December 10, 2021. Your own code only has to do something ordinary, such as logging a request header. A SAST tool reading that line sees nothing wrong, because the flaw is inside the library. An SCA tool reads log4j-core 2.14.1 in your build file, matches it to the advisory and tells you to upgrade.
A SAST bug: SQL in a migration. In a Discourse pull request from IonWarp's public security benchmark, a migration inserts host names with '#{h}' string interpolation. No package is out of date and there is no CVE to match, so no SCA tool will ever flag it. It is a SAST finding, though Semgrep's free default rules missed it in Winding AI's run on November 13, 2026.
Paid SCA tools add reachability: whether your code actually calls the vulnerable function. Semgrep Supply Chain, Socket (from its Team plan) and Endor Labs sell it, and GitHub has it in preview for JavaScript and TypeScript on Enterprise. It is the main way to cut the pile of version-bump alerts down to the ones that matter.
The top SCA tools and what they cost
| Tool | What it is | Also does SAST? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dependabot | GitHub's alerts and update pull requests for vulnerable packages | No (CodeQL is separate) | Free |
| OSV-Scanner | Google's open-source (Apache-2.0) CLI over the OSV.dev database; containers and licenses too | No | Free |
| OWASP Dependency-Check | Open-source (Apache-2.0) scanner using the NVD API | No | Free |
| Trivy | Open-source (Apache-2.0) scanner for containers, Kubernetes, repos and clouds | No (secrets and misconfig, yes) | Free |
| Snyk Open Source | Snyk's SCA, sold with Snyk Code | Yes Snyk Code | Free: 200 tests a month. Team: $25 per developer, 5 to 10 developers. Enterprise: 1 credit ($1) per contributor a day |
| Semgrep Supply Chain | SCA with reachability, malicious-package detection and SBOMs | Yes Semgrep Code | Free up to 10 contributors; $30 per contributor on Teams |
| Socket | Blocks malicious packages; reachability from Team up; GitHub only below Enterprise | No | Free for 1 seat; Team $25 (from 5 seats) and Business $50 (from 20) per developer seat; $20 and $40 billed yearly |
| Aikido | SCA with reachability and license scanning in an all-in-one platform | Yes | Free for 2 users; Basic $350 for 10 users |
| Endor Labs | SCA with reachability, malware detection and patched library versions | Yes AI SAST | Free AURI tool for individual developers; teams by quote |
| Mend SCA | Part of Mend AppSec, with Mend SAST | Yes | Mend AppSec up to $1,000 per developer a year |
| Black Duck SCA | Enterprise SCA with license compliance, SBOMs, and snippet and binary analysis | Yes Coverity, sold separately | Quote |
GitLab's dependency scanning is in Ultimate only, priced by quote. Snyk, Semgrep and GitHub count a developer as anyone who pushed a commit to a scanned private repository in the last 90 days.
A worked budget: 12 developers on GitHub
Twelve developers is just past Semgrep's free tier (10 contributors) and Snyk's Team plan (10 developers at most), which is where the choice gets real. List prices a month for SAST plus SCA:
| Setup | Sum | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Dependabot + Semgrep CE and Bandit/gosec in CI | $0 + $0 | $0, plus your time |
| Dependabot + GitHub Code Security | 12 × $30, plus GitHub Team 12 × $4 | $408 |
| Socket Team + Semgrep CE | 12 × $25 | $300 |
| Aikido Basic, 15-user tier | Flat | $525 |
| Semgrep Teams, Code + Supply Chain | 12 × ($30 + $30) | $720 |
| Snyk Enterprise, Code + Open Source | 12 × 2 credits × 30.4 days | about $730 |
The free row is real: Dependabot alerts and update pull requests cost nothing on any GitHub plan, and the open-source SAST tools run in any CI. What money buys is fewer alerts (reachability, AI triage), one dashboard across repos, and someone to call.
Where IonWarp fits
IonWarp is an AI pull-request reviewer for GitHub, on the SAST side of this table. Its Security Review reads the changes in pull requests that touch auth, input, data access or secrets; it has no CVE database and does no dependency scanning, so it can't replace any tool in the SCA list. Pair it with Dependabot at the very least. Its Starter plan is free for 3 seats and Pro is $49 a month for 5. Visit IonWarp
Questions
What are the top 10 SCA tools?
Snyk Open Source, Semgrep Supply Chain, Socket, Mend SCA, Black Duck SCA, Endor Labs and Aikido are the paid names most teams compare; Dependabot, free on GitHub, and the open-source OSV-Scanner and Trivy round out the ten. Dependabot is the place to start.
Is Dependabot an SCA tool?
Yes, a basic one. Dependabot alerts match your dependency graph against GitHub's advisory database, and Dependabot security updates open pull requests that bump vulnerable packages. Both are free. Paid SCA tools add reachability analysis, license policy, malware detection and support for other Git hosts.
Does SAST find vulnerable dependencies?
No. SAST analyses the code your team writes. A known vulnerability inside a library, such as Log4Shell in log4j-core, is found by matching the library's version against an advisory database, which is what SCA does.
Related
- SAST vs DAST What testing the running app adds, and DAST tool prices.
- Open-source SAST tools The free scanners for the SAST half of the budget.
About this page
Published by Winding AI, Inc., the company that makes IonWarp, an AI pull-request reviewer. We earn nothing from links to other tools; links to IonWarp carry a tag so IonWarp can count visits from this site. Visits are counted with Google Analytics. If a price or fact here is wrong, write to support@winding.ai.