The Top 11 Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Tools
Discover the top DAST tools with features like automated scanning, vulnerability detection, reporting, and integrations.
Written by Caitlin Harris
Technical Review by Laura Iannini
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Checkmarx DAST
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is the process of using automated scanning and attack simulations (also called “penetration tests”) to find vulnerabilities in a web or mobile application while it’s still in production.
The Challenge: Web apps are central to many public-facing and internal business processes. If an app is deployed with vulnerabilities in it, the company that deploys it could fall victim to a cyberattack that could not only destroy their data, but also cause them reputational and financial damage.
How DAST Tools Work: Dynamic Application Security Testing tools identify runtime vulnerabilities and security issues in web and mobile apps that are in production. They use a combination of continuous, automated scanning and pentesting to find security vulnerabilities that a cybercriminal could exploit, then provide the dev team with a quality vulnerability assessment report so they can quickly locate and remediate any issues.
DAST tools can also highlight misconfigurations and issues with the app’s interface or user experience and help dev teams prove compliance with data protection regulations.
In this article, we’ll highlight:
- The best DAST tools designed to secure web applications
- Key features of each solution
- Who they are best suited for
Aikido’s surface monitoring platform dynamically tests for common vulnerabilities in your web app’s frontend without reducing performance or breaking any front-end functionality. We recommend Aikido for teams looking to implement DAST as part of a broader web application security platform.
Why We Picked Aikido: We like that Aikido performs vulnerability scans within temporary environments that are deleted once scans are complete. It also requires read-only access to your data and therefore cannot edit your source code.
Aikido Best Features: Features include authenticated DAST checks, daily automatic scans with custom alerting rules, false positive removal, alert deduplication and prioritization based on severity and context. The platform is compatible with all major version control providers, languages, and cloud providers, with seamless deployment into existing security regimes. It’s also SOC2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 compliant.
What’s great:
- Highly secure platform with temporary scan environments
- Requires only read-only access to your data
- Reduces team strain by removing false positives and prioritizing alerts
- Compatible with all major version control providers, languages, and cloud providers
Pricing: For pricing, please contact Aikido directly.
Who it’s for: Aikido is best suited for teams seeking a comprehensive DAST solution that integrates seamlessly with their existing web application security platform.
Intruder
Intruder is a proactive security monitoring platform designed to protect all internet-facing systems. It offers comprehensive vulnerability scanning and management, attack surface monitoring, DAST, penetration testing, and facilitated remediation.
Why We Picked Intruder: We like Intruder’s human support team that assists internal security teams in understanding and resolving vulnerabilities as they are detected. The platform’s continuous scanning provides clear visibility of your online attack surface.
Intruder Best Features: Features include vulnerability scanning across network infrastructure, web applications, and APIs, attack surface monitoring, DAST, penetration testing, facilitated remediation, and a robust alerting system. Integrations include seamless compatibility with existing infrastructure without requiring changes.
What’s great:
- Human support team for vulnerability resolution
- Continuous scanning for clear attack surface visibility
- Comprehensive vulnerability scans without infrastructure changes
- Robust alerting system filters out irrelevant alerts
- Concise, audit-ready reports and cyber hygiene scoring for compliance
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Intruder’s website directly.
Who it’s for: Intruder is a strong solution for organizations seeking continuous vulnerability scanning, threat detection, and compliance management, particularly those with a need for human-assisted remediation.
Intruder
Invicti
Invicti is an application security testing tool designed for enterprise environments. It offers automated security testing capabilities that integrate seamlessly into the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Why We Picked Invicti: We like Invicti’s ability to educate developers on secure code practices, reducing future risks. Its combination of DAST and IAST scanning methods provides a comprehensive view of application security.
Invicti Best Features: Features include DAST and IAST scanning, signature- and behavior-based testing, and developer education on secure coding. Integrations include a broad range of developer tools and workflows.
What’s great:
- Combines DAST and IAST for thorough security scanning
- Signature- and behavior-based testing reduces false positives
- Educates developers on secure coding practices
- Easily integrates with various developer tools and workflows
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Invicti’s website directly.
Who it’s for: Invicti is best suited for larger development teams in enterprises seeking scalable application security testing with robust automation capabilities to manage their security workload efficiently.
Invicti
Acunetix
Acunetix is a robust web application security solution that integrates DAST and IAST scanning to identify over 7,000 vulnerabilities, including SQL injections, XSS, and misconfigurations. It offers detailed remediation guidance, enhancing security across development teams.
Why We Picked Acunetix: We appreciate Acunetix’s ability to not only detect vulnerabilities but also provide explicit remediation guidance, pinpointing the exact lines of code needing correction. Its comprehensive scanning of all websites, applications, and APIs ensures no entry points are overlooked.
Acunetix Best Features: Key features include DAST and IAST scanning, vulnerability detection across various threats, automatic website and API discovery, real-time vulnerability reporting, and integration with CI/CD, issue trackers, and WAFs. Acunetix also scans single-page applications, script-heavy sites, and hard-to-reach areas like password-protected sections.
What’s great:
- Provides detailed remediation guidance for vulnerabilities
- Automatically identifies and monitors all websites, applications, and APIs
- Real-time vulnerability reporting enhances responsiveness
- Eliminates false positives with proof of exploit
- Seamless integration with popular development tools
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Acunetix directly.
Who it’s for: Acunetix is ideal for development teams seeking to efficiently identify and remediate web application vulnerabilities, fostering a shared security responsibility across the team.
Acunetix
Checkmarx DAST
CheckmarxOne DAST is a dynamic application security testing solution that enables development teams to detect vulnerabilities in live applications by simulating attacks. It provides a deep understanding of the application’s behavior and integrates seamlessly with existing software pipelines.
Why We Picked CheckmarxOne DAST: We appreciate that Checkmarx offers both DAST and SAST through a single platform, ensuring efficient and thorough vulnerability detection. Its ability to integrate into existing CI/CD processes is highly beneficial.
CheckmarxOne DAST Standout Features: Key features include DAST and SAST integration, seamless compatibility with CI/CD pipelines, a unified dashboard for vulnerability findings, support for multiple scan types, and cloud-powered scanning. It supports over 75 programming languages, 100 frameworks, various package managers, and a growing array of IaC templates.
What’s Great:
- Efficient vulnerability detection with DAST and SAST on a single platform
- Seamless integration into existing software pipelines and CI/CD processes
- Comprehensive view of application risk via a unified dashboard
- Multiple scan types triggered from a single action
- Cloud-powered scanning eliminates infrastructure management
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Checkmarx directly.
Best suited for: CheckmarxOne DAST is recommended for large development teams and complex environments, but its end-to-end support makes it suitable for smaller teams as well.
Checkmarx DAST
HCL AppScan
HCL AppScan is a dynamic application security testing (DAST) tool that automates security scans across web applications, APIs, and mobile backends. It aids security professionals and penetration testers in efficiently identifying vulnerabilities within complex applications.
Why We Picked HCL AppScan: We appreciate its ability to scan and navigate complex applications, providing robust reporting capabilities that help teams understand and address vulnerabilities.
HCL AppScan Best Features: Key features include advanced configuration options with machine learning components for scanning large, complex applications, incremental scanning to focus on new sections, and the ability to record and assess multi-step sequences. It also generates various reports to prove compliance with standards like PCI, HIPAA, and OWASP Top 10, offering in-depth insights into detected vulnerabilities.
What’s great:
- Efficiently scans and navigates complex applications
- Provides detailed, customizable reports for compliance and vulnerability insights
- Incremental scanning saves time and resources
- Assesses multi-step sequences dynamically
Pricing: For pricing details, contact HCL AppScan directly.
Who it’s for: HCL AppScan is best suited for development teams that need robust reporting capabilities to understand and mitigate vulnerabilities in their complex applications.
HCL AppScan
NightVision
NightVision is a web and API scanning tool designed to help development teams secure applications on both public and private networks. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows for quick setup and easy management, making it accessible even to those without extensive training.
Why We Picked NightVision: We appreciate NightVision’s ability to integrate directly into CI/CD pipelines, enabling scans with every code push and rapid scanning of pull requests. Its comprehensive scanning options, including authenticated and unauthenticated scans and modern greybox crawling, are also standout features.
NightVision Best Features: Key features include integration with CI/CD pipelines, authenticated and unauthenticated scanning, modern greybox crawling for undocumented APIs, detailed evidence for each alert, and a smart proxy for scanning private network applications without infrastructure changes.
What’s great:
- Enables any team member to initiate and manage scans
- Provides detailed evidence for each alert, aiding in quick vulnerability remediation
- Integrates seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines
- Offers flexible scanning options for various application types
- Allows scanning of private network applications without infrastructure changes
Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit NightVision directly.
Who it’s for: NightVision is ideal for development teams, especially those seeking a quick-to-set-up and easy-to-use tool for web and API security testing. It’s particularly beneficial for teams looking to automate security scans within their development workflows.
NightVision
OpenText Fortify WebInspect
Fortify WebInspect is a dynamic application security testing (DAST) solution that identifies vulnerabilities and configuration issues in applications by simulating external security attacks. It is designed to integrate seamlessly into the development lifecycle, offering flexible deployment options.
Why We Picked Fortify WebInspect: We appreciate its flexible deployment options, including on-prem, SaaS, and AppSec-as-a-Service, and its comprehensive security scanning capabilities.
Fortify WebInspect Best Features: Key features include functional Application Security Testing (FAST) for continuous crawling, API scanning for SOAP, Rest, Swagger, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL, and gRPC, pre-configured policies and reports for compliance with regulations like PCI DSS, STIG, NIST 800-53, OWASP, ISO 27K, and HIPAA, and horizontal scaling using Kubernetes for parallel JavaScript processing. Integrations include OpenText Application Lifecycle Management, Quality Center, and other security systems via REST APIs.
What’s great:
- Offers flexible deployment options to suit various organizational needs
- Comprehensive security scanning, including API and FAST capabilities
- Pre-configured policies and reports for regulatory compliance
- Increases scanning speed through horizontal scaling
- Seamless integration with other security systems
Pricing: For pricing details, contact OpenText directly.
Who it’s for: Fortify WebInspect is ideal for development teams needing to quickly identify vulnerabilities during the development lifecycle, especially those seeking to enhance productivity through powerful automation.
OpenText Fortify WebInspect
Rapid7 InsightAppSec
Rapid7 InsightAppSec is a dynamic application security testing (DAST) solution that employs black-box security testing to identify, triage, and mitigate application vulnerabilities. It is designed to provide teams with accurate, in-depth scanning capabilities that are easy to manage.
Why We Picked Rapid7 InsightAppSec: We appreciate its comprehensive attack framework and library, which automatically delivers accurate insights, reducing false positives and covering often-overlooked vulnerabilities.
Rapid7 InsightAppSec Best Features: Key features include black-box security testing, DAST, and automatic vulnerability identification and triage. It offers flexible scanning for modern web applications and APIs, with the Universal Translator analyzing various formats, protocols, and development technologies. Additional features include Attack Replay for vulnerability validation, comprehensive reporting on vulnerabilities and compliance risks, and the option for both cloud and on-prem scanning engines.
What’s great:
- Comprehensive attack framework reduces false positives
- Flexible scanning for modern web applications and APIs
- Universal Translator supports diverse development technologies
- Attack Replay streamlines vulnerability remediation
- Detailed reporting on compliance risks and vulnerabilities
Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Rapid7’s website directly.
Who it’s for: Rapid7 InsightAppSec is ideal for teams seeking accurate, in-depth scanning that is easy to manage, particularly those focused on securing modern web applications and APIs.
Rapid7 InsightAppSec
Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic
Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic is a cloud-based DAST solution that enables development teams to conduct effective vulnerability assessments on web applications in both QA and production environments. It combines machine-led security testing with human-led remediation guidance to help organizations quickly identify and fix vulnerabilities.
Why We Picked Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic: We like its continuous scanning that adapts to code changes, providing an “always on” security appraisal. The platform also uses AI-enabled verification to minimize false positives and triage time.
Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic Best Features: Features include continuous scanning, AI-enabled verification, the WhiteHat Security Index for overall security status, instant identification of code changes and vulnerabilities, actionable reports, and benign injections for secure production assessments. Integrations include compatibility with various web applications.
What’s great:
- Continuous scanning adapts to code changes
- AI-enabled verification reduces false positives
- Provides a single score for overall security status
- Offers actionable reports for faster remediation
- Ensures data security during production assessments
Pricing: Contact Synopsys directly for pricing information.
Who it’s for: Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic is a strong solution for organizations prioritizing speed and accuracy in their vulnerability assessments, and those that may benefit from personalized remediation guidance from Synopsys’ web application security consultants.
Synopsys WhiteHat Dynamic
Veracode
Veracode is a dynamic application security testing (DAST) tool that efficiently identifies vulnerabilities in web applications and APIs, particularly in runtime environments. It is designed to scan multiple applications simultaneously, even those in pre-production or staging environments behind firewalls.
Why We Picked Veracode: We appreciate Veracode’s ability to scan multiple applications at once and its unified crawl and audit feature that delivers near-instant results with a less than 5% false positive rate.
Veracode Best Features: Key features include scanning applications in pre-production and staging environments, unified crawl and audit capabilities, granular scan controls with scheduling and automation options, integration with popular ticketing systems, and detailed remediation guidance from Veracode experts.
What’s great:
- Scans multiple applications simultaneously
- Near-instant results with low false positives
- Granular control over scan configurations
- Integrates with ticketing systems for vulnerability management
- Provides expert remediation guidance
Pricing: For detailed pricing, contact Veracode directly.
Who it’s for: Veracode is best suited for development and security teams seeking a fast, scalable DAST solution that can efficiently scan multiple applications and provide actionable remediation guidance.
Veracode
The Best DAST Solutions For Business: Shortlist FAQs
Why should you trust this Shortlist?
This article was written by the Deputy Head of Content at Expert Insights, who has been covering cybersecurity, including privileged access management, for over 5 years. This article has been technically reviewed by our technical researcher, Laura Iannini, who has experience with a range of cybersecurity platforms and conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.
Research for this guide included:
- Interviewing executives in the DAST space, as well as the wider application security industry, for first-hand insight into the challenges and strengths of different solutions
- Researching and demoing solutions in the DAST space and wider application security categories over several years
- Speaking to several organizations of all sizes about their DAST challenges and the features that are most useful to them
- Reading third-party and customer reviews from multiple outlets, including paid industry reports
This guide is updated at least every 3 months to review the vendors included and ensure that the features listed are up to date.
Who is this Shortlist for?
We recommend that all software development teams use some form of application security to ensure the accuracy, integrity, and security of their code. This list has therefore been written with a broad audience in mind.
How was the Shortlist picked?
When considering DAST solutions, we evaluated providers based on the following criterion:
Features: Based on conversations with vendors, end customers, and our own testing, we selected the following key features:
- Support for multiple languages: The best DAST tools use domain data and SSL certificates to identify all of your web apps, then scan each of those assets for vulnerabilities—no matter what programming languages have been used to develop them.
- Comprehensive testing: DAST tools should offer comprehensive crawling and analysis functionality that enable them to scan newer technologies powered by JavaScript and AJAX—not just HTML. Many apps also include features or functions that are only accessible after a user has logged in.
- Automatic, continuous testing: Users should be able to schedule frequent, ongoing scans to help reduce the period between a vulnerability appearing within their app, and it being identified and remediated.
- API scanning: Lots of modern web applications are built using a combination of custom code and open-source or third-party code that’s accessed via web APIs. DAST tools should be able to scan those APIs, with support for common API formats, including WADL and OpenAPI.
- Remediation support: The best DAST tools offer in-depth, actionable vulnerability reports that help developers to quickly identify and remediate security issues. These should be generated automatically and include details on the severity of the issue. Some DAST tools also offer root cause analysis; others offer “attack replay” features that give proof the exploit exists; others still offer recommended remediation actions.
- Compliance reporting: DAST tools should help automate compliance reporting by providing out-of-the-box reporting templates for users’ specific requirements, or enabling users to build custom reports. These can help identify issues that need addressing, as well as prove to compliance bodies that the user is regularly testing their application’s security.
- Integrations: A DAST solution should integrate seamlessly with the user’s existing development environment, including issue-tracking tools, continuous integration solutions, SAST or IAST tools, and development and testing workflows.
Market perception: We reviewed each vendor included on the Shortlist to ensure they are reliable, trusted providers in the market. We reviewed their documentation, third-party analyst reports, and—where possible—we have interviewed executives directly.
Customer usage: We use market share as a metric when comparing vendors and aim to represent both high market share vendors and challenger brands with innovative capabilities. We have spoken to end customers and reviewed customer case studies, testimonials, and end user reviews.
Product heritage: Finally, we have looked at where a product has come from in the market, including when companies were founded, their leadership team, their mission statements, and their successes. We have also considered product updates and how regularly new features are added. We have ensured all vendors are credible leaders with a solution we would be happy to use ourselves.
Based on our experience in the AppSec and broader cybersecurity market, we have also considered several other factors, such as the benefit of consolidating multiple features into a single platform, the quality of the admin interface, the customer support on offer, and other use cases.
This list is designed to be a selection of the best DAST providers. Many leading solutions have not been included in this list, with no criticism intended.
FAQs
Everything You Need To Know About Dynamic Application Security Testing Tools (FAQs)
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is the process of simulating attacks (also called “penetration tests”) against a web application while it’s still in production, in order to find potential vulnerabilities.
These attacks are carried out through the front end of the app, enabling the DAST scanner to analyze the app just as an external threat actor would.
As web apps evolve during production, Dynamic Application Security Testing tools continue to scan them frequently to ensure that risks are picked up and resolved quickly and efficiently.
Web and mobile applications are integral to many business processes, both public-facing (such as eCommerce stores) and internal-facing (such as financial, HR, sales, content management, and marketing systems). If an application is rolled out with vulnerabilities, an attacker could exploit those vulnerabilities via an attack such as an SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS), and steal the data stored not only in that app, but anywhere on the victim’s network. This can greatly harm the organization that bought and deployed the app, as well as lead to the financial and reputational damage of the company that developed it.
By building DAST into the software development lifecycle early on, developers can identify and remediate vulnerabilities in their applications before they’re made available to the public—and to cybercriminals. Not only does this improve the app’s security posture and reduce the chance of a data breach down the line, but it also makes the vulnerability cheaper to fix.
Dev teams can also use DAST solutions to identify misconfigurations within their applications, highlight any problems with the end user experience, and streamline regulatory compliance. Some development companies use the OWASP Top 10 list of vulnerabilities as a compliance benchmark for application security, and the continuous scanning carried out by a DAST tool can provide evidence that a development company is proactively reducing their overall business risk by evaluating their apps’ security.
DAST tools continuously scan the front end of running applications for runtime vulnerabilities that a cybercriminal could try to exploit. These scans usually involve checking access points via HTTP, carrying out simulated attacks using various known vulnerabilities and risk user actions, and testing the app’s API service by sending verification requests and incorrect data.
Most DAST scanners are made up of two components that carry out these checks—a crawler and an analyzer:
- The crawler goes through every link on every page within the application, examines the contents of files, and presses buttons. This gives the dev team insight into the different ways that an attacker could interact with the app.
- The analyzer both passively studies the information provided by the crawler, and actively sends requests with incorrect data to the application. It then uses the app’s responses to those incorrect requests to identify vulnerabilities.
When they find vulnerabilities, DAST tools automatically alert the dev team and create a report of how an attacker could remotely exploit that vulnerability. Some DAST solutions also offer an “attack replay” feature that guides dev teams through the discovery and potential exploitation of the vulnerability, so it’s easier for them to locate and remediate it.
DAST tools aren’t the only form of web application security out there. Many development teams combine DAST tools with Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools, which analyze the application’s source code for potential vulnerabilities.
Using both dynamic and static analysis enables dev teams to gain a comprehensive view of their application’s attack surface, from the outside in (DAST) and the inside out (SAST).
You can read our guide to the Top SAST Tools here.
Written By
Caitlin Harris is Deputy Head of Content at Expert Insights. Caitlin is an experienced writer and journalist, with years of experience producing award-winning technical training materials and journalistic content. Caitlin holds a First Class BA in English Literature and German, and provides our content team with strategic editorial guidance as well as carrying out detailed research to create articles that are accurate, engaging and relevant. Caitlin co-hosts the Expert Insights Podcast, where she interviews world-leading B2B tech experts.
Technical Review
Laura Iannini is an Information Security Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of West Florida. Laura has experience with a variety of cybersecurity platforms and leads technical reviews of leading solutions. She conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.