In today's rapidly evolving technology landscape, software development often relies on integrating open-source components and third-party libraries to accelerate the creation of feature-rich applications. Unfortunately, these components can introduce potential security risks and vulnerabilities. As a result, Software Composition Analysis (SCA) Tools have emerged as a critical solution for identifying and managing these risks. With many options in the market, you may get confused while selecting the tool. This article provides the ten best software composition analysis tools with their features, pricing, likes, and dislikes. What are Software Composition Analysis Tools (SCA Tools)?Software composition analysis tools are security solutions that help organizations identify, manage, and mitigate potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with open-source components and third-party libraries in their software applications. These tools provide comprehensive visibility into the composition and dependencies of software applications.As a result, they enable developers to ensure the security, compliance, and quality of their codebase, ultimately protecting organizations from potential threats and allowing them to deliver secure, high-performing software products to their users.Common Features of Software Composition Analysis Tools Dependency analysisSCA tools automatically scan the application's codebase to create an inventory of all open-source components and third-party libraries, along with their respective versions and dependencies. That helps developers understand the extent of external components used in their software.Vulnerability detectionSCA tools can detect potential security risks and vulnerabilities in the application's codebase by cross-referencing the identified components with known vulnerability databases, like the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) or other proprietary databases.License complianceSCA tools analyze the licenses associated with each open-source component, helping organizations adhere to the legal requirements and obligations of using these components in their software.Prioritization and remediationBased on the severity of detected vulnerabilities, SCA tools help prioritize which issues need immediate attention and recommend remediation actions, such as updating a component to a more secure version or applying patches.Integration with development workflowsMany SCA tools integrate with existing development tools and processes, such as continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, issue trackers, and integrated development environments (IDEs), enabling developers to address vulnerabilities and compliance issues early in the development lifecycle.List of best Software Composition Analysis tools.1. GitHubGitHub is an AI pair programmer that empowers you to complete tasks. It assists you in converting natural language into coding language. This unlimited repository helps your team to work together.Features- Code spaces for individuals- Collaborative coding- Automation and CI/CD- Security- Client Apps- Project management- Team administration - Software life cycle securityScreenshot of GitHubEdit new filePricingGitHub provides pricing plans on a monthly and yearly basis. If you are interested in a yearly plan, then a one-month free trial is available.On a monthly basis, pricing rates are as follows.- These plans have categorized three types - Free - Basics for individuals- Team - Advanced collaboration - $4/user/month- Enterprise - Flexible deployment - $21/user/month- On a yearly basis, pricing rates are as follows;- Free - Basics for individuals- Team - only for first 12 months - $3.67/user/month - Enterprise - only for first 12 months - $19.25/user/monthLikes- It is a more reliable tool for source control.- This platform is user-friendly.- It provides useful features like version control, code review, and project management for developers.- You can make group assignments and open-source contributions easily.- GitHub repository has a lot of customization potential.Dislikes- Everything is the command line. Remembering all the commands becomes a difficult task.- Its functionality is complicated. Using large files can be complex.- Beginner takes more time to learn the process.- Integrating it with VS code is difficult.- It will not provide a customized notification system for mobile apps.- For the free version limited number (at least one) of private repositories are available.- Only a limited number of users can handle the same project. Supported industries- Healthcare- Financial services- ManufacturingOther detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedSupportEmail/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge BaseSupported deviceMac, Windows, On-Premise - Windows, Linux, Mobile - Android, iPhone, iPadTrainingVideosCustomer ratingsCapterra: 4.8 out of 5 (5800 +reviews), G2: 4.7 out of 5 (1967+reviews)User opinionGitHub is one of the most exciting startups. It provides a fully managed platform. It is an awesome tool for any user ranging from students to professionals, and is easy to use. This is a highly recommended software to improve your software development workflow.2. GitLabIf you want to build your enterprise, then GitLab is easy. GitLab’s simple and flexible approaches meet the needs of small teams to large enterprises. It has a simple, flexible approach and helps shorten the delivery lifecycle, streamlining manual processes.Features- Powerful planning tool- Source code management- Code review workflow- Remote development- Continuous integration- Code testing and coverage- API security- Environment management- Error trackingScreenshot of GitLabIssuesIssues boardPricingThree different pricing plans are available here. And provides a free trial facility. Go through the below details to learn more about pricing.- Free - It is entirely free and suitable for individual users- Premium - It starts from $29/user/month- Ultimate - You need to contact the vendorLikes- It provides easy configuration and automation.- It is a single application covering all departments, including research, QA, security, and operations. - It offers robust branching and merging capabilities.- It is easy to use the CLI commands in other automated scripts. Dislikes- The user interface needs more improvement. - Sometimes you may face problems like connecting to the server.- Basic agile tools are used here, so you can’t replace tickets remotely.- Understanding coding issues takes more time.- You have to update manually from the old version to the new version. - The level of support is insufficient, particularly for complex or advanced use cases.Supported industries- Financial services- Public sector- EducationOther detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedSupportFAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base,24/7 (Live Rep), ChatSupported deviceOn-Premise - Windows, Linux, Mobile - iPhone, iPadSupported languagesEnglishTrainingIn-person, Live Online, Webinars, Documentation, VideosCustomer ratingsCapterra: 4.6 out of 5 (970+reviews)G2: 4.5 out of 5 (700 +reviews)User opinionGitLab empowers development security and operations so teams can build better software faster. It has an integrated approach that eliminates the need for multiple tools. You can face some billing issues, and handling large projects would be difficult.3. WizWiz provides full visibility to cloud workloads. It simplifies cloud operation by providing a single policy for both developer and security. So your company can proactively improve your cloud security posture. With the help of lac code, you can build your policies and framework.Features- Compliance automation - Automatic posture management- No deployment agents- Deep assessment - Unified code and cloud policy - Custom framework- Flexible reporting- Cloud-native incident response - Analyze effective permission- Vulnerability managementPricingPricing details are not provided on their website. Likes- Easy to use and operate - It provides great insight into infrastructure configuration issues- It gives significantly improved visibility into the cloud security posture- It has the best CSPM Dislikes - These systems are tedious to setup- Some of the integrations feel half-baked or incomplete- Wiz makes significant changes quickly; these changes sometimes cause errors in tools- Only a chat option is available to make contact- It provides fewer options to generate reportsOther detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedSupported languagesEnglishCustomer ratingG2: 4.7out of 5 (339+reviews)User opinion Wiz continuously monitors the environment for new vulnerabilities and provides a real-time risk assessment. It enables you to protect cloud data. You can quickly access your compliance and focus more on your teams. It cannot use the word “AND / OR “ in queries. 4. SnykSnyk is a developer security platform enabling you to secure the whole application, providing actionable insights and workflows. It has expertise with advanced ML and human-in-the-loop AI. It finds vulnerabilities in real-time and then offers actionable fix advice. Features- Easy integration - Continuous scan - Fix with a click - Vulnerability database- Governance at scale - Code security- Security of base images- Development life cycle securityScreenshot of SnykRequestPricingSnyk offers free demos for its users, and it has three different pricing plans; they are as follows. - Free - It is entirely free- Team - It starts from $25/month and is billed monthly- Enterprise - You can have customized offers based on your needs Likes- It is easy to integrate.- It shows category-wise vulnerabilities like critical, high, medium, and low.- Snyk is extremely straightforward; It doesn't require the team to review extensive documentation. - Automated repository analysis is good.Dislikes- Compared to other tools, it is less efficient and useful.- Its unavailability issues can cause the Snyk code to fail.- Need more improvement in code quality suggestions.- More information is needed to do documentation.- Its reported vulnerabilities scan takes more time.Other detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedSupportKnowledge Base, ChatSupported deviceDesktop - Mac, WindowsTrainingIn-person, Live Online, Webinars, DocumentationCustomer RatingsCapterra: 4.8 out of 5 (17+reviews), G2: 4.6 out of 5 (108+reviews)User opinionSnyk is even better and warns you before merging your pull requests. It is a developer security platform for securing custom code. Its security solutions enable modern applications to build securely. However, it is easy to use on existing products. Overall, it is a great tool for security analysts, not for security engineers.5. Azure Microsoft Defender Cloud The Microsoft defender cloud offers integrated security for multi-cloud and hybrid environments. This tool helps you achieve real-time security access and fix issues with integrated insights from code to runtime. Features- Contextual security posture management- Modern threat detection - Unify security management - Real-time security access- Centralized insights across multipipeline- Hybrid cloud and infrastructureScreenshot of Microsoft Defender for cloudHome pageSecure scorePricing It offers an Azure free account with $200 credits to use within 30 days. It provides free services. After that credit, you can use the pay-as-you-go option to keep the free services and pay only if you exceed the free monthly amounts.After a year, you will keep getting more than 55 free services and must pay only when you exceed the free amount.Likes - It gives insight into user actions- It is easy to automate - It has straight forward dashboard- It is easy to use and manage security across multiple platforms. Dislikes - Difficult to protect unmatched cloud devices with this software.- Some of the default alerts do not trigger emails. - Needs more SaaS integrations.- Sometimes not updated with the latest threat.- Embedding with third-party apps would be challenging. Other detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedTrainingLive Online, Webinars, Documentation, VideosCustomer RatingsCapterra: 5.0 out of 5 (1+reviews), G2: 5.0 out of 5 (1+reviews)User opinion Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides security assessments for cloud resources running in Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. It enhances security postures, protects against modern threats, and reduces risks. In addition, it works seamlessly with all other Microsoft services.6. Mend.ioMendi.io is formerly known as WhiteSource. It can build world-class AppSec programs, which help global organizations.
