ScopeWise vs Semgrep, side by side
Semgrep is a scanner developers run in CI, with fixes suggested inline in a pull request. ScopeWise's Code Security Review is a different kind of product: a consultant-facing deliverable layer built on top of an open-source agentic scanner, producing the plain-language register, exploit chains and office-format exports a client engagement needs.
Built on Visa's open-source Vulnerability Agentic Harness (Apache-2.0). ScopeWise is not affiliated with or endorsed by Visa, Inc.
Every Semgrep claim below is quoted or paraphrased from semgrep.dev and semgrep.dev/pricing as they read on 2026-09-12. Where its site does not state something publicly, such as whether it produces a plain-language register for a non-technical stakeholder, the cell says so rather than assuming it either does or doesn't.
The comparison
| Criterion | Semgrep | ScopeWise |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An application security platform combining static analysis (SAST), software composition analysis and secrets detection, described as pairing "deterministic static analysis with AI reasoning." | A deliverable layer on top of an open-source agentic scanner, turning its raw output into a client-ready register. |
| Where it runs | Developer tooling: CLI, CI/CD and IDEs (VS Code, JetBrains), with PR checks in GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure — built to sit "where developers work." | The scanner (Visa’s open-source Vulnerability Agentic Harness) runs on the consultant’s own machine against their own OpenRouter key. Only the resulting findings.json is uploaded — the client’s code never leaves their network. |
| Fixing findings | Generates "tailored remediation and upgrade guidance directly in PRs and IDEs," aimed at a developer acting inline as they code. | No auto-fix. Findings are grouped into exploit chains, and the deliverable highlights the fewest fixes that break every chain, for a person to action. |
| Deliverable format | Findings delivered through PR comments and IDE integrations; a plain-language register or office-format (XLSX/PPTX) export for a non-technical stakeholder is not stated publicly. | A plain-language findings register, exploit chains, an XLSX tracker and a PPTX deck — built for handing to a client who did not run the scan. |
| Pricing (as of 2026-09-12) | Free edition for up to 10 contributors; Teams "starting at $30/month per contributor" for Code (Supply Chain and Secrets priced separately); Enterprise is custom, "contact us." | Quote-based, sized to the engagement; a small repository scan through the open-source harness itself typically costs a few dollars in model spend. |
Where Semgrep still wins
Semgrep runs on every commit, in the pipeline a development team already has, and can block a pull request the moment a rule fires. ScopeWise's Code Security Review does not do continuous CI scanning or PR blocking — it is a review produced for a point in time, typically a client engagement, not a gate in a team's own build.
Its remediation guidance lands directly in the IDE and the PR, in the same place a developer is already working. ScopeWise produces no auto-fix; the register and exploit chains are meant for a person to work from, not a bot to apply.
Findings are LLM-driven static analysis without a published precision or recall figure; they are triage candidates for a reviewer to confirm, not a substitute for dynamic testing (DAST) or a manual penetration test.
Where the scan is measured
On the NodeGoat reference application, a full scan-to-deliverable run went from 88 raw findings to 29 verified findings across 6 exploit chains, for roughly $4 in model spend and about 103 minutes end to end (ScopeWise engineering measurement). The product page has the full pipeline and its stated caveats.
How to decide
If the job is catching issues on every commit, in the pipeline a team already runs, with a fix suggested right where a developer is working, that is squarely what Semgrep is built for and it has years of rule coverage behind it. If the job is a discrete engagement — an external code security review a consultancy delivers to a client who is not going to read a PR comment — the deliverable has to look different: a register in plain language, exploit chains showing how findings compound, and an XLSX or PPTX the client can act on without installing anything. The two are not mutually exclusive: a team can run Semgrep in its own CI and still commission a ScopeWise review as an independent, point-in-time deliverable for a client or auditor.
FAQ
Is ScopeWise a replacement for Semgrep?
Not for continuous scanning. Semgrep runs in CI on every commit and blocks or comments on pull requests. ScopeWise’s Code Security Review is a point-in-time deliverable a consultant produces for a client, from a scan the consultant runs themselves.
Does ScopeWise scan code on its own servers?
No. Scanning happens on the Apache-2.0 open-source Vulnerability Agentic Harness, run locally by whoever is doing the review. ScopeWise only ever receives the findings.json output, not the source code.
What is the Vulnerability Agentic Harness?
Built on Visa’s open-source Vulnerability Agentic Harness (Apache-2.0). ScopeWise is not affiliated with or endorsed by Visa, Inc.
Does the register include exploit chains, not just a findings list?
Yes. Findings are linked into exploit chains where one leads to another, and the deliverable highlights the smallest set of fixes that breaks every chain rather than a flat list ranked only by severity.
Semgrep is a trademark of its owner. ScopeWise is not affiliated with Semgrep.