GitHub CodeQL vs Klocwork

GitHub CodeQL9.0Visit Klocwork8.5Visit

Higher score GitHub CodeQL #3 in SAST Tools 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit GitHub CodeQL

vs

Klocwork #6 in SAST Tools 8.5/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Klocwork

• GitHub CodeQL fits best

  GitHub-centric development teams

• Klocwork fits best

  Embedded and enterprise engineering teams

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Side by side

Feature	GitHub CodeQL 9.0/10 Visit ↗	Klocwork 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.5
Ranking	#3 in SAST Tools	#6 in SAST Tools
Best for	GitHub-centric development teams	Embedded and enterprise engineering teams
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$30/user/mo	Pricing on request
Free plan	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Desktop	Self-hosted, Cloud
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Web, Windows, Linux
Support	Docs	Email, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	10 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features GitHub CodeQL 5/5 · Klocwork 5/5
Pull request scans	✓	✓
IDE support	✓	✓
CI/CD integration	✓	✓
Custom security rules	✓	✓
Automated fixes	✓	✓
Specs
Analysis targets	source code	source code
Languages supported	11	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Semantic queries detect vulnerabilities and coding errors. Pull-request, GitHub Actions, and external CI scanning. Custom queries and SARIF support for tailored analysis.	Incremental analysis focuses checks on changed files. Wide IDE coverage includes Visual Studio Code and Android Studio. Custom checkers, quality gates, triage, and Smart Rank support governance.
Cons	Private-repository scanning requires paid GitHub Code Security. Paid pricing is based on unique active committers. The feature set is centered on source-code analysis.	Pricing requires contacting sales. It is not open source. Its analysis targets source code rather than runtime behavior.
Our verdict	GitHub CodeQL is a semantic static-analysis engine for finding security vulnerabilities, coding errors, and other issues in source code. It represents code as data and queries that representation, giving development and security teams a… Read the review →	Klocwork is Perforce Software’s static application security testing and code-analysis product for mission-critical and embedded software teams. It analyzes C, C++, C#, Rust, Java, JavaScript, Python, and Kotlin for security… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• GitHub CodeQL — where it wins

  • Semantic queries detect vulnerabilities and coding errors.
  • Pull-request, GitHub Actions, and external CI scanning.
  • Custom queries and SARIF support for tailored analysis.

  Where it doesn't

  • Private-repository scanning requires paid GitHub Code Security.
  • Paid pricing is based on unique active committers.
  • The feature set is centered on source-code analysis.

• Klocwork — where it wins

  • Incremental analysis focuses checks on changed files.
  • Wide IDE coverage includes Visual Studio Code and Android Studio.
  • Custom checkers, quality gates, triage, and Smart Rank support governance.

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires contacting sales.
  • It is not open source.
  • Its analysis targets source code rather than runtime behavior.

• GitHub CodeQL9.0/10 · Free plan

  Deep SAST for GitHub workflows, with free public-repository scanning.

  Visit GitHub CodeQLFull verdict →
• Klocwork8.5/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad SAST and code-analysis platform for embedded and enterprise engineering teams.

  Visit KlocworkFull verdict →