Semgrep vs GitGuardian
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Semgrep and GitGuardian.
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Verdict: GitGuardian wins
GitGuardian scores 4.2/5, edging out Semgrep at 4.1/5. Engineering and security teams of any size that want secrets detection before code merges — starting free for teams up to 25 developers and scaling to governed, self-hostable remediation on Enterprise.
Semgrep Static analysis engine for finding bugs, security issues, and anti-patterns | GitGuardian Detect and remediate secrets leaked in your git repositories | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.1 (1 review) | 4.2 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best For | Engineering teams that want security scanning inside the pull-request workflow, starting from a genuinely free open-source engine and scaling into paid cross-file analysis. | Engineering and security teams of any size that want secrets detection before code merges — starting free for teams up to 25 developers and scaling to governed, self-hostable remediation on Enterprise. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceapi access | free tierteam featuresopen source |
| Visit Semgrep → | Visit GitGuardian → |
Semgrep
Pros
- + Real free tier: the LGPL-2.1 engine and community rulesets run fully in CI — my pip install (v1.136.0) was scanning in minutes
- + Rule syntax reads like source code, so teams can write custom checks without learning a DSL; autofix suggestions (e.g. shell=True → False) are concrete
- + Broad language coverage (30+) with an honest per-language capability matrix instead of a blanket claim
- + Pro rules add cross-file dataflow, reachability, license and malicious-package detection beyond the single-file engine
- + Developer workflow is complete: PR comments, VS Code/JetBrains plugins, Slack/email, monorepo support, one-click CI
Cons
- - Community Edition is single-file analysis only — cross-file vulnerability chains require paid Pro rules
- - Rule-pack choice dominates recall: my four planted bugs — default `p/python` pack found 1, `p/security-audit` found 3 of 4
- - Per-contributor pricing stacks: Code ($30) plus Secrets ($15) is $45/contributor/month before Supply Chain, at list prices
- - Scans fetch rules from the Semgrep registry over the network; air-gapped CI needs vendored rules or a private setup
- - SAST, SCA and Secrets are three separate SKUs and the AI features are credit-metered (20/dev/month on Teams)
GitGuardian
Pros
- + The free tier is genuinely operational: 25 developers, unlimited real-time scanning, and 500 historical scan detections — I found committed test credentials in a small repo within minutes of setup
- + ggshield is open source and installs as pre-commit hook, GitHub Action, or CLI — wiring prevention into a pipeline took me under half an hour
- + Detection honesty: the docs openly describe the precision/recall trade-off instead of promising zero false positives
- + API quota is request-based and documented (10K/month free, 1M on business plans), so CI usage costs are calculable before you automate
- + AI IDE hooks (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot CLI, VS Code, Codex and others) push prevention to where agents now write code
Cons
- - It does not rotate or revoke credentials — remediation playbooks route incidents to humans; the catalog's 'automated rotation' claim is wrong
- - On the free tier, alert triage is manual: AI risk scoring and false-positive filtering are Growth-only
- - Custom regex detectors are Enterprise-only, so proprietary credential formats need the top tier
- - Pricing for Growth and Enterprise is quote-only with no published rates — hard to budget without a sales call
- - Historical scan caps on free (500 detections, 1 GB repo capacity) mean large legacy repos must pay before seeing their full backlog
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Semgrep or GitGuardian?▼
GitGuardian scores higher at 4.2/5 vs 4.1/5 for Semgrep, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Semgrep and GitGuardian?▼
Semgrep: Semgrep scans source code for security bugs, secrets and vulnerable dependencies using customisable rules, with AI assistance to filter findings. GitGuardian: GitGuardian scans code, repositories and developer tooling for leaked credentials and helps teams revoke and fix them. It also covers non-human identity governance, and runs as SaaS or self-hosted.
Is Semgrep or GitGuardian more affordable?▼
Semgrep starts at €0/mo, GitGuardian starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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