# Software composition analysis for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "software composition analysis tool" and as "open source dependency vulnerability scanner", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/software-composition-analysis/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/software-composition-analysis/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Snyk Open Source leads with 39% of first choices; verdict contested. 61 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Snyk Open Source](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/snyk-open-source/index.md) | 39% | 18% | 62 |
| 2 | [Trivy](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/trivy/index.md) | 18% | 0% | 41 |
| 3 | [OWASP Dependency-Check](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/owasp-dependency-check/index.md) | 15% | 22% | 41 |
| 4 | [GitHub Dependabot](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/github-dependabot/index.md) | 5% | 14% | 28 |
| 5 | [FOSSA](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/fossa/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 19 |
| 6 | [Aikido Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/aikido-security/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 13 |
| 7 | [Socket](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/socket/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 19 |
| 8 | [GitHub Advanced Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/github-advanced-security/index.md) | 2% | 15% | 26 |
| 9 | [Grype](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/grype/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 12 |
| 10 | [OSV-Scanner](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/osv-scanner/index.md) | 2% | 7% | 14 |
| 14 | [Sonatype Lifecycle](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sonatype-lifecycle/index.md) | 2% | 55% | 22 |
| 15 | [Semgrep Supply Chain](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/semgrep-supply-chain/index.md) | 0% | 14% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 50 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Aikido Security, Snyk Open Source; alternatives FOSSA, OWASP Dependency-Check
- GPT-5.4 mini: Snyk Open Source; alternatives Mend.io – Mend SCA, Sonatype Lifecycle
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Aikido Security; alternatives FOSSA, SOOS, Snyk Open Source
- Perplexity Sonar: Snyk Open Source; alternatives FOSSA, GitHub Advanced Security, OWASP Dependency-Check, Semgrep Supply Chain
- Grok 4.20: Snyk Open Source; alternatives FOSSA, GitHub Advanced Security, Grype, Syft
- Mistral Small: FOSSA, Snyk Open Source; alternatives GitHub Advanced Security
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Snyk Open Source; alternatives Endor Labs, FOSSA, OWASP Dependency-Check
- Llama 4 Maverick: FOSSA, Snyk Open Source
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Snyk Open Source; alternatives Sonatype Lifecycle
- Kimi K2: Snyk Open Source; alternatives FOSSA, GitHub Advanced Security, GitHub Dependabot, Semgrep
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Snyk Open Source; alternatives GitHub Advanced Security, Trivy
- MiniMax M2.5: Snyk Open Source, Sonatype Lifecycle; alternatives GitHub Advanced Security, Mend.io – Mend SCA
- GPT-6 Luna: Snyk Open Source; alternatives GitHub Dependabot, Socket
- Muse Glimmer 30B: FOSSA, Snyk Open Source; alternatives Grype, OWASP Dependency-Check, Trivy

## Sources the answers cite

79 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- guideflow.com: 48 answers, 52 citations
- dupple.com: 33 answers, 33 citations
- checkmarx.com: 31 answers, 34 citations
- appsecsanta.com: 29 answers, 47 citations
- aikido.dev: 28 answers, 37 citations
- sonatype.com: 25 answers, 31 citations
- expertinsights.com: 24 answers, 24 citations
- safeguard.sh: 23 answers, 40 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://guideflow.com/blog/software-composition-analysis-tools (46 answers)
- https://dupple.com/learn/best-software-composition-analysis-tools (33 answers)
- https://checkmarx.com/learn/sca/sca-tools-key-capabilities-11-tools-to-watch-in-2026 (27 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/application-security/the-top-software-composition-analysis-tools (23 answers)
- https://codeant.ai/blogs/best-software-composition-analysis-sca-tools (22 answers)
- https://blog.jetbrains.com/qodana/2025/09/best-software-composition-analysis-tools (20 answers)
- https://sonatype.com/compare/best-sca-tools (19 answers)
- https://craci.com/compare/sca-tools (17 answers)
- https://endorlabs.com/learn/best-sca-tools-05b7a (17 answers)
- https://aikido.dev/blog/top-software-composition-analysis-sca-tools (14 answers)

## Warned against

- Black Duck: 20 of 25 labels negative. "Marketed as a large‑enterprise solution; pricing can be prohibitive for small teams... Enterprise workflows and binary analysis are unnecessary for most small businesses." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Mend.io – Mend SCA: 14 of 28 labels negative. "Priced on a per‑developer basis, often in the thousands of dollars per developer per year... renewal costs can rise year over year and that licensing is opaque." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Snyk Open Source: 11 of 62 labels negative. "What I'd Avoid ... eventually pushes toward paid plans; also requires account creation and has usage limits" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt)
- Sonatype Lifecycle: 12 of 22 labels negative. ""Enterprise-first" SCA platforms (e.g., Veracode, Checkmarx, Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle) ... Verdict: Avoid unless you are already an enterprise customer" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Trivy (36%) to Snyk Open Source (41%). Margin 26 points, beyond the floor.

- Trivy: 36% to 15%, −21. Cleared the floor by 10 points · rank 1 → 3 of 45.
- OWASP Dependency-Check: 5% to 17%, +12. Cleared the floor by 1 point · rank 4 → 2 of 45.
- Snyk Open Source: 33% to 41%, +8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 1 of 45.
- Aikido Security: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 8 → 4 of 45.
- FOSSA: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 14 → 6 of 45.
- GitHub Advanced Security: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 18 → 7 of 45.
- Socket: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 8 of 45.
- Grype: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 16 → 9 of 45.
- Sonatype Lifecycle: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 45 → 14 of 45.
- Semgrep Supply Chain: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 15 of 45.
- Mend.io – Mend SCA: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 12 → 42 of 45.
- GitHub Dependabot: 5% to 4%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 5 of 45.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.