Semgrep vs Snyk

Semgrep and Snyk both offer freemium SAST and open-source scanning for developers, but they draw the line differently — Semgrep is priced slightly higher per…

Best for Semgrep: Teams wanting deep static analysis across 35+ languages with AI-powered triage memory that learns from past decisions and reachability analysis to cut false positives, without needing built-in container or IaC scanning.
Best for Snyk: Teams that want one platform covering code, open source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure-as-code together, with a lower documented entry price and regional data hosting options (US, EU, AU).

At a Glance

 SemgrepSnyk
Primary categorySecuritySecurity
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemium (free open-source scanner plus paid Team and Enterprise tiers)freemium
Starting priceFree for up to 10 repositories and 10 contributors; paid Team plan starts at $30 per contributor per monthFree
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsNot documentedNot documented
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Scanning scope

Semgrep: Covers Code (SAST), Supply Chain (SCA), and semantic secrets detection.

Snyk: Covers Code (SAST), Open Source (SCA), Container images, and Infrastructure-as-Code.

Teams needing container or IaC scanning in the same platform get that natively documented in one tool but not the other.

Entry pricing

Semgrep: Teams plan starts at $30/month per contributor.

Snyk: Team plan starts at $25/month per contributing developer.

A lower documented per-seat starting price matters for teams scaling headcount.

Free tier limits

Semgrep: Free Edition covers up to 10 contributors and 10 repositories.

Snyk: Free tier is capped at 5 projects with limited monthly test counts.

Small teams or open-source maintainers may fit comfortably under one cap but not the other.

Secrets detection availability

Semgrep: Semantic secrets detection is available but is a paid $15/month add-on on the Teams plan.

Snyk: No secrets detection feature is documented.

Teams that specifically need hardcoded-credential detection have a documented path in one tool only.

AI-assisted triage

Semgrep: AI-powered triage memory learns from past decisions to auto-suppress repeat false positives, with AI credits included per plan.

Snyk: Integrates with AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) but no native AI triage feature is documented.

Reducing manual triage workload is a documented differentiator for one platform.

Feature-by-Feature

Core Scanning Coverage

FeatureSemgrepSnyk
Static application security testing (SAST)AvailableAvailable
Open source / dependency scanning (SCA)AvailableAvailable
Secrets detectionAvailableNot documented
Container image scanningNot documentedAvailable
Infrastructure-as-code (IaC) scanningNot documentedAvailable

AI & Automation

FeatureSemgrepSnyk
AI-assisted triage/remediationAvailableNot documented
Reachability analysis to reduce false positivesAvailableNot documented

Pricing & Plans

FeatureSemgrepSnyk
Free tierAvailableAvailable
Entry paid tierAvailableAvailable
Enterprise/custom tierAvailableAvailable

Integrations & Ecosystem

FeatureSemgrepSnyk
CI/CD and SCM integrationsAvailableAvailable
IDE integrationsAvailableAvailable
MCP / agentic AI tool supportAvailableAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Semgrep

Free (Community) — $0 N/A
Team — $30 per contributor per month Monthly, per contributor
Enterprise — Custom pricing Custom

Snyk

Free — $0 per contributing developer per month
Team — $25 per contributing developer per month
Ignite — $1,260 per contributing developer per year
Enterprise — Custom annual contract

Pros & Cons

Semgrep

Pros

  • Free and open-source core scanner with a genuinely usable free tier for small teams
  • Fast, lightweight scanning that fits naturally into CI/CD pipelines
  • Custom rules use familiar code-like syntax instead of a complex query language
  • Reachability analysis in Supply Chain reduces alert fatigue from irrelevant dependency CVEs
  • Broad language coverage across 30-plus languages suits polyglot codebases

Cons

  • Team and Enterprise pricing is per-contributor, which can get expensive for large engineering organizations
  • Secrets detection is a separate paid add-on rather than bundled into the base Team plan
  • Enterprise pricing is custom and opaque, requiring a sales conversation for larger deployments
  • Some advanced Pro rules and cross-file analysis depth are limited on the free tier
  • Like most SAST tools, tuning is needed to minimize false positives on large legacy codebases

Snyk

Pros

  • Deep integration into developer workflows (IDE, PR, CI/CD) rather than a separate scanning portal
  • Generous free tier for individual developers and small projects
  • Strong risk-based prioritization reduces false-positive fatigue
  • Covers open source, code, container, and IaC in one connected platform
  • Actively expanding coverage into AI-generated code security

Cons

  • Per-contributing-developer pricing can get expensive as teams scale
  • Team plan caps at 10 licenses, pushing growing teams toward custom Enterprise pricing
  • Some advanced features require higher tiers or custom contracts
  • Scan noise can still require tuning for large, legacy codebases
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, making budgeting harder for mid-size buyers

Use Cases

Choose Semgrep: Teams wanting deep static analysis across 35+ languages with AI-powered triage memory that learns from past decisions and reachability analysis to cut false positives, without needing built-in container or IaC scanning.
Choose Snyk: Teams that want one platform covering code, open source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure-as-code together, with a lower documented entry price and regional data hosting options (US, EU, AU).
Need both: Security teams sometimes run Semgrep for its semantic secrets detection and AI-triage-driven SAST/SCA depth on application code, while relying on Snyk's dedicated Container and IaC products for cloud infrastructure that Semgrep doesn't cover.

Semgrep

  • DevSecOps pipeline scanning — Security and platform engineering teams embed Semgrep directly into CI/CD pipelines to catch vulnerabilities and secrets before merge.
  • Custom internal rule authoring — Security engineers write custom Semgrep rules to enforce internal framework or API usage patterns unique to their codebase.
  • Open-source and pre-commit scanning — Individual developers and open-source maintainers run the free Semgrep scanner locally or as a pre-commit hook to catch issues early.

Snyk

  • Shift-left application security — Engineering teams embed Snyk into IDEs and pull requests so vulnerabilities are caught and fixed before code merges.
  • Open source license and vulnerability compliance — Security and compliance teams use Snyk to track vulnerable and non-compliant open source packages across many repositories.
  • Container and cloud infrastructure hardening — Platform and DevOps teams scan container images and IaC templates before deployment to reduce misconfiguration risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Semgrep and Snyk have free tiers?

Yes — Semgrep's Free Edition covers up to 10 contributors and 10 repositories, while Snyk's Free tier is capped at 5 projects with no credit card required.

How do entry-level paid plans price out?

Semgrep's Teams plan starts at $30/month per contributor; Snyk's Team plan starts at $25/month per contributing developer.

Does either tool scan containers or infrastructure code?

Snyk explicitly offers Snyk Container and Snyk IaC products; Semgrep's documented features focus on code (SAST), supply chain (SCA), and secrets detection, without a stated container or IaC scanning product.

Does either tool detect secrets?

Semgrep includes semantic secrets detection, though it's a $15/month add-on on the Teams plan; Snyk's facts don't mention a secrets detection feature.

Do these tools integrate with AI coding assistants?

Semgrep offers an MCP server for tools like Cursor and Replit; Snyk integrates with AI coding assistants including Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.

Read the full Semgrep review · Read the full Snyk review