Contrast Security
Contrast Security provides a unified runtime security platform that embeds vulnerability detection and attack protection directly into your applications to secure your entire software development lifecycle.
Semgrep
Semgrep is an open-source static analysis engine that helps you find bugs, enforce code standards, and secure your software development lifecycle by scanning code for vulnerabilities and secrets.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Contrast Security | Semgrep |
|---|---|---|
| Website | contrastsecurity.com | semgrep.dev |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 0 days free trial | ✓ 14 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2014 | 2017 |
| Headquarters | Los Altos, USA | San Francisco, USA |
Overview
Contrast Security
Contrast Security helps you eliminate the friction between development and security by embedding protection directly into your applications. Instead of relying on slow, outside-in scans that produce noisy results, you can use instrumentation to identify vulnerabilities in real-time as your code runs. This approach allows your developers to find and fix security flaws early in the development process without needing to be security experts themselves.
You can protect your entire application portfolio, from legacy Java apps to modern cloud-native serverless functions, using a single platform. By providing continuous visibility across your development, testing, and production environments, the software ensures that only secure code reaches your customers. It effectively automates the heavy lifting of security testing, allowing your team to maintain a high velocity while significantly reducing your overall cyber risk profile.
Semgrep
Semgrep helps you secure your code without slowing down your development workflow. You can scan your source code for security vulnerabilities, hardcoded secrets, and logic errors using a fast engine that integrates directly into your CI/CD pipeline. It supports over 30 languages, allowing you to enforce custom coding standards or use thousands of pre-built rules maintained by the security community.
You can manage your security posture from a central dashboard that prioritizes reachable vulnerabilities, ensuring you fix the issues that actually matter. Whether you are a solo developer securing a side project or a large security team managing thousands of repositories, the platform scales to meet your needs with high-speed scanning that provides results in minutes rather than hours.
Overview
Contrast Security Features
- Interactive Analysis (IAST) Identify vulnerabilities in your running code automatically without performing manual scans or waiting for scheduled security tests.
- Software Bill of Materials Generate a complete inventory of your open-source components to manage third-party risks and ensure license compliance effortlessly.
- Runtime Protection (RASP) Defend your applications against live attacks in production by blocking exploits and unauthorized activity in real-time.
- Serverless Security Secure your AWS Lambda functions by detecting over-privileged roles and vulnerabilities specific to cloud-native architectures.
- Static Analysis (SAST) Scan your source code during the build process to catch common coding errors before they ever reach a testing environment.
- Prioritized Remediation Focus your efforts on the most critical risks with clear guidance on how to fix vulnerabilities quickly.
Semgrep Features
- Code Scanning (SAST). Scan your source code for vulnerabilities and logic errors using a fast engine that supports over 30 popular programming languages.
- Supply Chain Security. Identify vulnerable open-source dependencies in your projects and prioritize fixes for libraries that are actually reachable in your code.
- Secret Detection. Prevent sensitive data leaks by automatically detecting API keys, passwords, and certificates before they are committed to your version control.
- Custom Rule Engine. Write your own security rules using a simple syntax that looks like the code you are already writing every day.
- CI/CD Integration. Automate your security checks by triggering scans on every pull request to catch vulnerabilities before they reach your production environment.
- Reachability Analysis. Reduce developer fatigue by filtering out theoretical vulnerabilities and focusing your team on code that is actually executable and risky.
Pricing Comparison
Contrast Security Pricing
Semgrep Pricing
- Up to 10 developers
- Unlimited public & private repos
- SAST & Secrets scanning
- Community rule sets
- Standard CI/CD integrations
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Supply Chain reachability
- Cross-repository searching
- Prioritized security support
- Advanced reporting dashboards
- Custom policy management
Pros & Cons
Contrast Security
Pros
- Extremely low false-positive rate compared to traditional scanners
- Real-time vulnerability detection speeds up the development cycle
- Easy integration into existing CI/CD pipelines and workflows
- Provides clear and actionable remediation advice for developers
- Continuous monitoring provides peace of mind in production
Cons
- Initial agent installation can be complex for some environments
- Higher price point compared to basic open-source tools
- Performance overhead may occur in very resource-intensive applications
Semgrep
Pros
- Extremely fast scanning speeds compared to traditional tools
- Easy to write and customize security rules
- High-quality community rules reduce initial setup time
- Excellent integration with GitHub and GitLab workflows
- Low false-positive rate improves developer trust
Cons
- Pricing can be high for large organizations
- Deep inter-procedural analysis is limited in free tier
- Learning curve for complex custom rule patterns