September 2026 Edition, published · The permanent record of that edition, superseded since. The current standing is on the category page →
Index › IT › Developer platform › SAST › Small business · September 2026 Edition

Static application security testing for small business buyers

Asked as “SAST tool”, and as “static code security scanner”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 47 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing · first-choice share
70Semgrep AppSec Platform09Aikido Security09Snyk Code13others

70% of first choices, clear leader.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
01Semgrep AppSec Platform70%2%63endorsed leader
02Snyk Code9%6%36accepted challenger
03Aikido Security9%13%23accepted challenger
04Snyk4%10%10accepted challenger
05SonarQube2%21%52accepted challenger
Show the seven products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
10OpenText Fortify0%89%18criticized challenger
11Veracode Static Analysis0%78%23criticized challenger
12Checkmarx One0%77%30criticized challenger
06CodeQL0%17%24accepted challenger
08CodeAnt AI0%8%12accepted challenger
07Bandit0%6%16accepted challenger
09Codacy0%0%11accepted challenger
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to headHead-to-head pages are published for mid-market buyers, so these open on mid-market figures, not small business.
All fifteen head-to-head pages: the top six products, each against each

One product takes 70% of first choices here, so the chart would put eleven markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. Three products carry a negative rate above 25% in this category.

What they warned about

Eight of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2 and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Checkmarx One
77%
23 of 30 labels negative · 11 of 12 models · 14 hard negative
“Why Avoid: These are built for large teams with dedicated AppSec specialists. (e.g., older versions of Checkmarx One, Fortify, Veracode enterprise plans)” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
Veracode Static Analysis
78%
18 of 23 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 12 hard negative
“Veracode | Enterprise‑focused, complex workflow, no transparent pricing; typically sold via long sales cycles and annual contracts.” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
OpenText Fortify
89%
16 of 18 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 9 hard negative
“e.g., older versions of Checkmarx One, Fortify, Veracode enterprise plans ... Why Avoid: These are built for large teams” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
SonarQube
21%
11 of 52 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“Defaults to high false positives (40–60% untuned ...), demanding custom rules and maintenance that small businesses often can't sustain” Grok 4.20, negative prompt

What they cite

Twelve of the twelve models returned a source list in this edition: four return the pages they cited and eight the search results they consulted.

Sites the answers cite

65 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 905 links across 152 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

43 answers · 78 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Corgea33 answers · 37 citations · 11 models
vendor site · ZeroPath32 answers · 33 citations · 11 models
30 answers · 41 citations · 10 models
vendor site · OX29 answers · 32 citations · 11 models
vendor site · G228 answers · 36 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Safeguard25 answers · 36 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Pixee24 answers · 26 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Endor Labs19 answers · 22 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Checkmarx17 answers · 23 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Jit17 answers · 18 citations · 9 models
16 answers · 20 citations · 9 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

Search against answers

Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best sast tool”, “sast tool”, “sast tools”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Company and productsShareOwn site citedName searches, GoogleAI search demand, est.Organic visitsPaid search a month, est.Google ads, last 30 days
Semgrep AppSec Platform semgrep.dev70%1673,46143
Snyk snyk.io
Snyk Code 9%, Snyk 4%
13%15012,10058161,651 company60
Aikido aikido.dev
Aikido Security 9%
9%3262,400516,442 company$936120
SonarQube2%14,8001,353
GitHub parent site
GitHub Advanced Security 2%
2%781,500,00031,479
DeepSource deepsource.com2%832037,8470
GitLab parent site
GitLab SAST 2%
2%2490,5004,844
CodeQL0%2,90081
Bandit0%110,00023,958
CodeAnt AI codeant.ai0%1826092,282$47256

Google's top ten for the three searches hold 24 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (checkmarx.com, endorlabs.com, safeguard.sh, zeropath.com). The first result for “best sast tool” is reddit.com.

How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHide
ModelDirect“What is the best SAST tool for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which static code security scanner would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top SAST tools for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best SAST tool for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a SAST tool. What should we look at?”Negative“Which SAST tools should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Aikido Security, Semgrep AppSec Platform
One alternativeGitLab SAST
against: Checkmarx One
Snyk CodeChanged
Three alternativesAikido Security, Kiuwan, Semgrep AppSec Platform
Aikido Security, Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesGitHub Advanced Security, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesCodeQL, SonarQube
no first choiceagainst: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
GPT-5.4 miniSemgrep AppSec Platform
One alternativeGitHub Advanced Security
against: SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
Three alternativesCheckmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Snyk Code
against: SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesCodeQL, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesCodeQL, GitHub Advanced Security
against: AppThreat/sast-scan
no first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.5 FlashAikido Security
One alternativeSemgrep AppSec Platform
against: Snyk, SonarQube
Aikido SecurityHeld
Two alternativesSemgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesAikido Security, GitLab SAST, Snyk Code
against: CodeQL, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesOpengrep, Snyk Code, SonarQube
against: CodeQL
Aikido Security
Two alternativesSemgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk
against: Checkmarx One, GitHub Advanced Security, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
against: Bandit, Black Duck Coverity, Checkmarx One, CodeQL, OpenText Fortify, PMD, SpotBugs, Veracode Static Analysis
Perplexity SonarSemgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesCheckmarx One, GitHub Advanced Security, Veracode Static Analysis
against: Aikido Security, CodeAnt AI, ZeroPath
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
Three alternativesCodeQL, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Five alternativesAikido Security, CodeQL/GitHub Advanced Security, GitLab SAST, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Four alternativesAikido Security, CodeAnt AI, CodeQL, Snyk
no first choiceagainst: Black Duck Coverity, Checkmarx One, CodeQL, GitLab SAST, OpenText Fortify, Perforce Klocwork, SonarQube, Veracode Static Analysis
Grok 4.20Semgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesSnyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
Two alternativesSnyk, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, Veracode Static Analysis
Semgrep AppSec Platform, SonarQube
Four alternativesAikido Security, CodeQL, Codiga, Snyk Code
against: Checkmarx One
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesBandit, CodeQL, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Four alternativesCheckmarx One, CodeQL, Snyk Code, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, SonarQube, Veracode Static Analysis
Mistral SmallSemgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesCodacy, CodeAnt AI
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
One alternativeAikido Security
CodeQL, Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesBandit, Codiga, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
One alternativeSonarQube
no first choiceagainst: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
DeepSeek V4 FlashSemgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesCodeQL, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
One alternativeSnyk Code
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Four alternativesAikido Security, CodeQL, Snyk Code, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Eight alternativesBandit, Brakeman, CodeAnt AI, CodeQL, Qodana, Snyk Code, SonarQube, gosec
against: Checkmarx One, Veracode Static Analysis
no first choiceagainst: Black Duck Coverity, Checkmarx One, HCL AppScan, OpenText Fortify, SonarQube, Veracode Static Analysis
Llama 4 MaverickSemgrep AppSec PlatformSemgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
Two alternativesSnyk, SonarQube
no first choiceSemgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesCodacy, CodeAnt AI
no first choiceagainst: Semgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Qwen 3.7 FlashSnyk
Two alternativesSemgrep AppSec Platform, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec PlatformChanged
One alternativeSonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, Veracode Static Analysis
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesAikido Security, CodeAnt AI, Snyk Code
against: SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesBandit, SonarQube, gosec
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Snyk Code, Veracode Static Analysis
GitHub Advanced Security, GitLab SASTagainst: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
Kimi K2Snyk Code
Two alternativesSemgrep AppSec Platform, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, Veracode Static Analysis
Semgrep AppSec PlatformChanged
One alternativeGitHub Advanced Security
against: Checkmarx One
Semgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk Code
Three alternativesCodacy, CodeQL, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Four alternativesBandit, CodeQL, SonarQube, gosec
DeepSource, Semgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk Code
Two alternativesAikido Security, SonarQube
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
against: Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
GLM 4.7 FlashXSemgrep AppSec Platform
Two alternativesSnyk Code, SonarQube
against: Aikido Security
Semgrep AppSec PlatformHeld
One alternativeSnyk Code
against: SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform, SonarQube
Five alternativesAikido Security, CodeQL, DeepSource, GitLab SAST, Snyk Code
against: Pixee, ZeroPath
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Three alternativesCodacy, Qodana, SonarQube
no first choice
One alternativeSemgrep AppSec Platform
against: Aikido Security, Black Duck Coverity, Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, SonarQube, Veracode Static Analysis, ZeroPath
MiniMax M2.5Semgrep AppSec Platform, Snyk Code
Three alternativesCodiga, Corgea, GitHub Advanced Security
Semgrep AppSec Platform, SnykChanged
One alternativeSonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform
Five alternativesAikido Security, Codacy, DeepSource, Snyk Code, SonarQube
Semgrep AppSec Platform, SonarQube
Two alternativesCodeAnt AI, Qodana
no first choiceagainst: Black Duck Coverity, Checkmarx One, OpenText Fortify, Veracode Static Analysis
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 11:54yes97 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 10:08yes45 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:42yes1527 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 11:05yes187 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 09:42yes3518 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 11:06yes98 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 13:35yes1716 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 13:04yes52 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 11:13no035 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 12:45yes1432 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 13:55yes1228 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 11:12yes836 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 10:29yes98 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 09:53yes25 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 11:37yes1625 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 12:20yes206 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 09:59yes4115 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 09:49yes96 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 10:18yes2319 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 14:04yes53 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 11:45yes539 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 13:11yes1527 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 11:55yes2590 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 12:12yes538 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 12:50yes1610 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 12:44yes48 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 11:01yes1434 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 11:21yes207 s
ComparativeGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 12:36yes3516 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 12:55yes2918 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 14:06yes1636 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 09:27yes52 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 14:16yes2662 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 12:14yes1457 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 09:41yes9120 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 11:19yes518 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 12:51yes97 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 12:30yes47 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:27yes920 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 09:27yes206 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 13:43yes127 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 12:26yes55 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 13:08yes1112 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 12:10yes53 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 12:19yes1021 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 13:09yes538 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 10:53yes1954 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 13:10yes519 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 11:34no05 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 14:02no013 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 10:06yes928 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 13:36yes207 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 10:26yes1611 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 13:36no06 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 10:58yes916 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 11:58yes54 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 13:45yes536 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 13:18yes1427 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 13:20yes10174 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 13:14no013 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:14no05 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 10:47no05 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 11:12yes1430 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 09:52yes207 s
Negative framingGrok 4.20spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex (asked for grok-4.20-non-reasoning; the API answered as this version)2026-09-17 10:58yes3615 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 12:38yes55 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 10:23yes1722 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 13:45yes54 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 12:25yes2079 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 11:09yes2833 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 10:55yes2370 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 09:23yes2144 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Aikido read as Aikido Security
Checkmarx read as Checkmarx One
Checkmarx (Checkmarx One) read as Checkmarx One
Checkmarx (CxSAST) read as Checkmarx One
GitHub Advanced Security / CodeQL read as GitHub Advanced Security
GitLab Ultimate read as GitLab SAST
Mend read as Mend SAST
Semgrep read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Semgrep (Community Edition / Opengrep) read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Semgrep Community Edition read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Semgrep Community Edition (CE) read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Semgrep Community Edition (Semgrep OSS) read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Semgrep OSS read as Semgrep AppSec Platform
Veracode read as Veracode Static Analysis
Unresolved, counted raw
AppThreat/sast-scan
Kiuwan
Open-source linters / language-specific analyzers
ZeriFlow
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.
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