AI Code Review
Application Security
Amartya Jha
• 20 April 2025
When you start hunting for Snyk alternatives, it’s rarely because you hate Snyk. It’s usually because you’ve hit one of those walls:
Costs are scaling out of control as your repos grow
Tired of false positives slowing down your team
Frustrated with the heavy-handed platform bloat
Or just wanting a more open, flexible security stack you can own.
If that sounds like you, welcome. This is the guide you were hoping to find (but probably thought didn’t exist).
We’re not going to shove a random list of "10 tools you’ve never heard of" in your face. We’re going deeper:
Why teams are moving beyond Snyk today
Which real tools solve which real problems
How you can build a smarter, modular security stack without drowning in dashboards or invoices
We’ll cover 14 actual Snyk alternatives, from open-source-first scanners like Trivy and Checkov, to heavyweight players like Veracode, to newer, dev-friendly platforms like CodeAnt.ai and Xygeni.
(And yes, we’ll talk about the free alternatives too, because not everyone has $50K/year to burn.)
Along the way, I’ll tell you what each tool does great, where it might annoy you, and who it’s really for.
If you’ve been googling things like:
"Best Snyk open source alternative"
"free snyk alternatives reddit"
"Is there anything better than snyk.io?"
You’re about to get answers that don’t feel like SEO noise, finally.
Let’s dive in.
1. CodeAnt.ai
All right, cards are on the table. CodeAnt.ai is our platform.
So yes, we’re a little biased 😉
But if you're seriously looking for a Snyk alternative that's faster, more developer-native, and doesn't add unnecessary friction, CodeAnt is genuinely worth your attention.
Instead of treating security like a ticketing system outside of development, CodeAnt moves quality and security checks into your daily coding flow, catching problems early, suggesting smart fixes automatically, and helping you ship better code without slowing you down.
CodeAnt AI Evaluation
It supports over 30 programming languages across web, mobile, cloud, and backend ecosystems, which is perfect for modern polyglot teams.
AI-powered pull request reviews deliver instant summaries and one-click fixes, massively reducing the back-and-forth in code reviews.
Includes a massive library of 30,000+ static analysis rules, covering security vulnerabilities, code quality issues, and infrastructure misconfigurations.
Monitors code, infra, and dependencies together, helping you spot vulnerabilities or leaked secrets before they hit production.
Let's you write custom rules in plain English, so even non-security specialists can extend checks without digging into complex tooling.
Actively reduces code review time by up to 50%, according to teams like Kuku FM, Good Glamm Group, and Draup.
SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliant, making it a safe choice for teams working with sensitive data or compliance-heavy industries.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know: CodeAnt works beautifully for teams that want to catch security and quality issues early without adding drag to their workflows. And it works best for highly complex CI/CD environments with lots of custom pipelines, but also expect some manual tuning. Our advanced documentation is growing, but it’s not as exhaustive (yet) as some older platforms.
CodeAnt Pricing
AI Code Review Platform: $10/user/month (unlimited reviews + one-click fixes)
Full Code Quality & Security Platform: $15/user/month
Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing (for private cloud deployment, SLAs, deeper integrations)
2. Xygeni
If Snyk feels too focused on scanning repos but misses your full software supply chain, Xygeni steps in. It protects not just your code, but your pipelines, artifacts, secrets, containers, and DevOps tools. Aims to lock down everything from code to deployment.
Xygeni Evaluation
Covers vulnerabilities, malware, secrets, and misconfigurations across the entire SDLC.
Real-time threat detection automatically flags and isolates malicious code.
Offers a centralized ASPM dashboard to track risks based on exploitability, not just volume.
Smart auto-fix PRs and guided remediation reduce noise for devs.
Reinforces DevOps security policies without needing massive config work.
Modules span code, OSS, IaC, CI/CD, and container security out-of-the-box.
Some users praise for usability, but public real-world adoption feedback is still thin.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know: Xygeni looks powerful for securing fast-moving cloud-native setups. But budget carefully, detailed pricing isn’t transparent, and integration depth can vary across DevOps tools.
Xygeni Pricing
Standard: $375/mo/dev
Premium: $675/mo/dev
3. SonarQube
SonarQube remains a go-to if you want battle-tested code quality and basic security scanning without buying into a heavy SaaS security suite. It’s especially attractive for teams who need self-hosted control or want direct CI/CD and IDE integrations.
SonarQube Evaluation
Scans 30+ languages for bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, and now even AI-generated code issues.
Integrates cleanly into major pipelines: GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins, Azure.
Offers real-time code feedback inside IDEs (SonarLint).
Strong OWASP Top 10 compliance tracking.
Highly trusted by millions of developers globally.
Best suited for improving internal code quality and hygiene, less strong on complex runtime security.
Scaling to big enterprise setups can get complicated without SonarQube experts.
If you’re Choosing This, You Should Know, SonarQube is good for catching code smells and quick wins early. But if you're chasing deeper cloud-native or runtime risks, you'll need to layer other tools alongside it.
SonarQube Pricing
Community Edition: Free (good for startups)
Developer: $500/Year [Comes under self-managed]
Enterprise/Data Center Editions: Paid (custom pricing)
Refer to the image below for the cloud pricing.
4. Semgrep
Semgrep has exploded in popularity because it gives devs fast, smart SAST without the old-school noise. It’s extremely customizable, works natively in PRs and IDEs, and its AI-driven noise reduction means teams trust the alerts they get.
Semgrep Evaluation
Blazing fast scans, median CI scan time is ~10 seconds.
30+ languages supported, with 20,000+ rules out of the box.
AI-powered noise filtering cuts false positives by up to 98%.
Semgrep Assistant suggests auto-fixes inside PRs.
Deep cross-file and semantic analysis for more realistic detection.
Integrates with Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Slack, and more.
Struggles a bit with very niche languages and requires rule tuning for best accuracy.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know: If you need developer-friendly SAST that fits agile workflows, Semgrep is a beast. But if you're a strict Java shop or have weird internal frameworks, expect to write custom rules.
Semgrep Pricing
Starts at $20–40/contributor/month, depending on tier
Enterprise: Custom plans available
5. Checkmarx
Checkmarx is built for companies that need full-stack application security, not just checking code, but APIs, containers, open-source libraries, and even production systems. If you're scaling up and compliance is non-negotiable (think: finance, healthcare), Checkmarx is built with those needs in mind.
Checkmarx Evaluation
Offers a unified platform: SAST, DAST, SCA, API security, and IaC scanning.
Tight developer experience, integrations directly into popular IDEs, and CI/CD systems.
AI-assisted prioritization helps teams focus on what’s risky, not just high volume.
Supports a massive range of tech stacks, 75+ languages and frameworks.
Built-in developer training (Codebashing) boosts security literacy inside teams.
Highly trusted, used by 100% of Fortune 100 organizations.
Pricing and onboarding can feel heavy for smaller companies without dedicated security teams.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know: Checkmarx is a serious enterprise-grade tool. It's brilliant for companies that must meet regulatory frameworks, but it feels like overkill (and overpriced) for lightweight startups.
Checkmarx Pricing
Custom quotes only
Pricing often scales based on app size, users, and feature depth
6. Trivy
If you want an open-source, no-BS alternative to Snyk for container security, Trivy is one of the best in the game. It’s simple, fast, and gets you real vulnerability coverage without the heavy SaaS platform tax.
Evaluation
Scans containers, file systems, IaC configs, and OSS libraries, all in one binary.
Supports SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) generation and license compliance checks.
Integrates easily into GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Kubernetes, and more.
Wide language and OS support, praised across industries.
Free, permissive open-source license, use it anywhere without worrying about hidden costs.
Great for basic to moderate depth scanning, not a direct replacement for enterprise compliance reporting.
Needs a little tuning for very large, multi-service projects.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know: Trivy is good when you need fast, reliable security feedback inside your existing pipelines. But if you’re chasing SOC 2, PCI-DSS, or other strict audits, Trivy will only cover one slice of what you need.
Pricing
Free and open-source
Some paid enterprise support options via Aqua Security (optional)
7. Jit
Jit flips the traditional security playbook: instead of building a giant fortress later, it inserts small, continuous security checks into your actual dev workflows. Perfect if you want security to feel like a natural extension of coding, not an annoying afterthought.
Evaluation
AI-driven security agents handle scanning, alerting, and auto-remediation.
Brings findings directly into developers’ coding environment (IDEs, PRs) for immediate action.
Prioritizes risks based on real runtime context, less noise, more focus.
Connects the dots across codebases, cloud services, secrets, and deployment pipelines.
Strong community-driven product momentum, highly rated on G2.
Still maturing in documentation and advanced enterprise customization.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know, it is "security as code" and if you want a lightweight layer that doesn’t slow devs down, Jit fits beautifully. But if you need rigid compliance workflows or deep in-house customization today, you might need to supplement it.
Pricing
Free for up to 3 developers
$50/developer/month for scaling teams (billed annually)
Enterprise custom pricing available
8. Veracode
Veracode is one of the most well-known enterprise AppSec platforms and a popular Snyk alternative. Teams choose it when security isn’t just about code, it’s about meeting compliance, passing audits, and getting stakeholder buy-in. It’s often brought in when security maturity needs to scale up fast across big teams and multiple dev environments.
Evaluation
Offers full AppSec coverage: SAST, DAST, SCA, manual penetration testing, and API scanning.
Cloud-based delivery, no on-prem overhead, easy to scale across orgs.
Built-in remediation advice and developer education modules (e.g., secure coding tutorials).
Integrates with major IDEs and CI/CD tools, though some setups feel clunky without help.
Broad policy management and risk scoring are great for audit trails, less great for quick feedback.
Designed more for AppSec and compliance teams than dev-first startups.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know. Veracode is a solid choice if you're at the “compliance-first” stage of maturity. But for engineering-led orgs looking for tight feedback loops, it may feel heavy and top-down unless paired with dev-native tools.
Pricing
No public pricing
Vendr says the buyer pays $18,741/year.
Typically, custom quotes for enterprise deployments
Paid tiers vary by scan types, app count, and feature usage
9. Gosec
Gosec isn’t flashy. It doesn’t claim to fix your supply chain or do fancy dashboards. But if you’re writing in Go, it quietly handles a bunch of important checks, the kind you’ll wish you had if things ever go sideways.
Evaluation
Catches Go-specific issues like unsafe exec, SQL injection risks, or sketchy TLS setups.
CLI-first. No weird configs. You just run it and see what’s wrong.
Simple to bake into your CI, no platform, no account, no vendor lock-in.
Doesn't pretend to be multi-language or enterprise. And that's kind of its charm.
Community-maintained but reliable for what it does.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know, It’s the no-nonsense option for Go shops. If you’re running microservices in Go and want a fast, free check before you deploy, Gosec gets it done.
Pricing
Fully open-source, zero cost
10. Mend.io (formerly WhiteSource)
If managing open-source dependencies feels like walking through legal landmines, this Snyk alternative should be in your toolkit: Mend.io. It’s built for teams that don’t just care about vulnerability, they care about what they’re legally allowed to ship.
Evaluation
Tracks vulnerabilities across all your open-source packages, including the ones buried 5 levels deep.
Flag license issues before they become real problems, so your legal team doesn't call you mid-sprint.
Has decent exploitability scoring to help you ignore the noise and focus on risks that matter.
Generates SBOMs and handles policy enforcement well, especially for large teams with process overhead.
Not super dev-friendly out of the box, expect a bit of setup and tuning to avoid overwhelming your engineers with alerts.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know, Mend isn’t here to keep your pull requests fast and breezy. It’s more for security leads and compliance teams who need to prove everything’s safe and licensed, even if it adds a bit of friction for devs.
Pricing
One plan: $1,000/developer/year
11. GitHub Dependabot
If you're already living inside GitHub, Dependabot is the easiest win you’ll ever get. It quietly watches all your dependencies and opens PRs the moment a package you're using gets a security fix, and it does this without you lifting a finger..
Evaluation
Natively integrated into GitHub works out of the box via simple config, no extra services or accounts.
Supports a huge range of ecosystems (npm, pip, Maven, NuGet, Docker, GitHub Actions, and more).
Zero-cost automation: runs for free, even on private repos, without using GitHub Actions minutes.
It’s widely adopted for a reason: 75+ million PRs generated in 2022 alone.
Now supports Copilot-powered autofix previews (for TypeScript) to help handle breaking changes.
Downsides: It can create PR noise, especially for old or poorly maintained repos. Grouping is still limited.
Doesn’t “understand” context, might bump a version that passes semver but breaks your app due to a peer dependency quirk.
If you’re Choosing This, You Should Know It’s not smart enough to fix your app, just your dependencies. Your test suite is the safety net. Without that, you’re flying blind. But for any modern team with CI in place, it’s an absolute no-brainer.
Pricing
Free on GitHub (public + private repos)
Available even on free GitHub plans
GitHub Enterprise Server also supports it
12. DeepSource (SAST)
DeepSource acts like a second pair of eyes on your code, but this pair doesn't get tired, miss things, or complain. It reviews every commit for bugs, bad patterns, and security flaws and even suggests fixes. If you’re scaling a team and can’t manually catch everything in code review, DeepSource gives you confidence to do so.
Evaluation
Covers style, performance, and security issues across 15+ languages.
Comes with Autofix, automatic PRs that clean up issues (like removing unused vars, fixing bad patterns, etc.).
Acts as a smart linter, a bug catcher, and a CI gate, all in one.
Clean UI, dev-friendly explanations, fast GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket integration.
Also checks for test coverage drops and blocked merges if new code is untested.
It can feel noisy at first, on large or legacy codebases, it flags a lot.
Doesn't support writing your own rules, yet you're bound to what they offer (though the coverage is solid).
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know, It’s best for teams that value quality and want to fix issues early. Not a silver bullet, but it’s a huge boost to culture: code stays clean, juniors learn better habits, and merge conflicts over style become a thing of the past.
Pricing
Free for open source / solo devs
Starter plan: ~$8/user/month
Business plan: ~$24/user/month
Enterprise: Custom (includes on-prem + SSO)
13. Chekov
Checkov is your open-source Snyk alternative if you're deploying infrastructure with code. It acts like a bouncer at the door, scanning Terraform, Kubernetes, CloudFormation, and more to make sure you’re not pushing out a misconfigured S3 bucket or leaving a security group open to the world.
Evaluation
Covers a massive range of IaC frameworks: Terraform, CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Serverless, Docker, Helm, and more.
Checks against 1000+ built-in security policies (CIS benchmarks, SOC 2, etc.).
Fully open-source (Apache 2.0), works locally, in CI/CD, or as a pre-commit hook.
Custom rules supported via Python/YAML enforce your org’s exact security posture.
Great documentation, active community, and backed by Bridgecrew (now Palo Alto).
Occasionally noisy on false positives (e.g., not detecting dynamic config paths).
Doesn’t account for live cloud context; it’s static by design.
If You’re Choosing This, You Should Know that If you’re using Terraform, you should already be using Checkov. It’s fast, extendable, and free. For orgs under audit pressure or scaling to multi-cloud, it’s a great foundation, and can be upgraded with Bridgecrew’s dashboard if needed.
Pricing
Free open-source CLI
Enterprise via Prisma Cloud (custom pricing)
Build Your Security Stack in 3 Layers, Smarter Than Just “Snyk Alternatives”
A common mistake teams make when looking for a Snyk alternative is trying to find a single tool that does everything.
Here’s the better play: modular security.
Think of your security setup in layers, each one solving a different risk, each one optimized for speed, control, or coverage.
This way, you’re not locked into one platform. You’re choosing tools that fit your workflow, not force you into theirs.
Layer 1: The Application Layer
Where your code lives. Where mistakes get merged. Where things break, or don’t.
Ask yourself:
Are we reviewing every PR for logic flaws or insecure code?
Can we catch security issues before they hit the main?
Is code quality consistent across the team?
Smart Stack:
CodeAnt.ai → AI-powered reviews that catch vulnerabilities and bad patterns as soon as they appear
+ Semgrep or DeepSource-SAST → deeper static code analysis, especially for language-specific edge cases
Why this works: This is your first filter, and probably the most important. Catch issues where devs live: in the pull request.
Layer 2: The Infrastructure Layer
Where cloud misconfigurations become CVEs. Where “just one open port” can cost you.
Ask:
Are we scanning Terraform, K8s, Docker, etc., before deployment?
Are our CI/CD pipelines enforcing security by default?
Are we blocking misconfigurations, or just seeing them later?
Smart Stack:
Checkov → IaC scanning across Terraform, Helm, CloudFormation, and more
Trivy → container scanning, image SBOMs, open-source CVEs
+ CodeAnt.ai → reviews IaC and infra code in PRs (not just app logic)
Why this works: You don’t need a security team watching every pipeline; your pipeline becomes the security team.
Layer 3: The Dependency + Compliance Layer
Because the problem isn’t just what you wrote, it’s what you imported.
Ask:
Are our third-party packages safe and up to date?
Are we complying with OSS licenses?
Could we pass an audit tomorrow?
Smart Stack:
GitHub Dependabot → automatic PRs for known vulnerable dependencies
Mend.io → license compliance, deep CVE tracking, policy enforcement
+ CodeAnt.ai → flags risky packages and dependency issues right in the PR
Why this works: You get proactive alerts, legal coverage, and full visibility without drowning in false positives.
Final Layer: Integration & Developer Experience
Here’s what makes or breaks a security stack: Can devs use it?
Can they see issues inside GitHub or GitLab?
Are they being educated or just overwhelmed?
Is security slowing them down, or speeding them up?
This is where most “Snyk alternatives” fail.
They add scanning, but no context.
They add alerts, but no feedback loop.
✅ CodeAnt.ai solves this by sitting at the heart of your stack, right where your team is already working, reviewing, committing, and learning.
Conclusion
There’s no perfect security stack, only the one that fits your team, your codebase, and your speed. But if there’s one place worth starting, it’s where your code changes: the pull request.
That’s where CodeAnt.ai lives.
It won’t replace everything, but it will make the rest of your stack more visible, more actionable, and a lot less painful.
👉Try CodeAnt for free and start catching what matters, where it matters.
