Trivy vs cdxgen

Trivy8.5Visit Ccdxgen7.9Visit

Higher score Trivy #3 in SBOM Generation Tools 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 6 features Visit Trivy

vs

C cdxgen #6 in SBOM Generation Tools 7.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 6 of 6 features Visit cdxgen

• Trivy fits best

  Free SBOM generation plus security scanning

• cdxgen fits best

  Multi-ecosystem source, container, and binary SBOMs

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Side by side

Feature	Trivy 8.5/10 Visit ↗	Ccdxgen 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.5	7.9
Ranking	#3 in SBOM Generation Tools	#6 in SBOM Generation Tools
Best for	Free SBOM generation plus security scanning	Multi-ecosystem source, container, and binary SBOMs
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Cloud
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Linux, macOS, Windows
Support	Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Integrations	6 integrations	1 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Trivy 0/6 · cdxgen 6/6
SPDX output	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
CycloneDX output	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Source code input	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Container image input	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Binary input	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Build-pipeline support	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Our review
Pros	Generates and scans SBOMs in CycloneDX and SPDX formats Scans containers, filesystems, repositories, Kubernetes, and AWS Covers misconfigurations, secrets, software licenses, and dependencies	Generates CycloneDX BOMs from source, repositories, containers, and binaries Exports SPDX 3.0.1 JSON-LD and supports CI/CD pipelines Companion commands audit, validate, sign, and convert BOMs
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires managing the tool in your environment Support is through community resources and documentation Reachability analysis and pull-request scanning are not established capabilities	Command-line workflow may not suit teams seeking a graphical interface Support channels are community and documentation Its primary native output is CycloneDX, with SPDX available as an export
Our verdict	Trivy is an open-source security scanner maintained by Aqua Security, suited to teams that want SBOM generation alongside broader security checks. It runs as a command-line binary locally, in CI/CD pipelines, or in Kubernetes-based… Read the review →	cdxgen is an open-source command-line tool for generating software bills of materials from source code, repositories, package URLs, container images, and binary artifacts. It is aimed at developers, build engineers, and AppSec or… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Trivy — where it wins

  • Generates and scans SBOMs in CycloneDX and SPDX formats
  • Scans containers, filesystems, repositories, Kubernetes, and AWS
  • Covers misconfigurations, secrets, software licenses, and dependencies

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires managing the tool in your environment
  • Support is through community resources and documentation
  • Reachability analysis and pull-request scanning are not established capabilities

• cdxgen — where it wins

  • Generates CycloneDX BOMs from source, repositories, containers, and binaries
  • Exports SPDX 3.0.1 JSON-LD and supports CI/CD pipelines
  • Companion commands audit, validate, sign, and convert BOMs

  Where it doesn't

  • Command-line workflow may not suit teams seeking a graphical interface
  • Support channels are community and documentation
  • Its primary native output is CycloneDX, with SPDX available as an export

• Trivy8.5/10 · Free plan

  A free, self-hosted SBOM generator that also scans code, containers, Kubernetes, and AWS.

  Visit TrivyFull verdict →
• Ccdxgen7.9/10 · Free plan

  A flexible SBOM command-line tool spanning source, containers, and binaries.

  Visit cdxgenFull verdict →