Skip to content
AI Tool

Semgrep Review

Semgrep is a static analysis tool that uses rule-based detection and multimodal AI reasoning to find and fix security issues and vulnerabilities in code.

shipped Jul 6, 2026paid
Domain rating76Monthly visits4K/mo
Semgrep — product screenshot

Why it matters

1Supports over 30 programming languages including Python, JavaScript, Go, and Java.
2Achieves over 95% accuracy in identifying false positives with AI-powered noise filtering.
3SOC 2 Type II certified and supports HIPAA compliance efforts.
4Offers a Community Edition (free) and a Pro Edition (paid).

About Semgrep

Business Model
Subscription SaaS
Headquarters
San Francisco, USA
Team Size
51-200
Funding
Series A
Total Raised
$50 million
Platforms
Web, API
Target Audience
Software developers, security teams, and CI/CD engineers

Pricing Plans

Community Edition
Free
  • Access to basic Semgrep features
  • Community support
  • No cost
Pro Edition
Paid / monthly
  • Advanced features
  • Priority support
  • Custom integrations

Leadership

Zac SmithCEOLinkedIn
Kate WalshCo-founderLinkedIn

Investors

Accel, Afore Capital, Uncork Capital

API DocsGitHubOpen Source

Specs

API Available

Yes, public API

overview

What is Semgrep?

Semgrep is a static analysis tool developed by Semgrep that enables security engineers, developers, and penetration testers to find and fix security issues and vulnerabilities in code. It combines static analysis with multimodal AI detection to uncover OWASP risks, business logic flaws, and IDORs that traditional scanners often miss. Semgrep, short for "semantic grep," parses source code into an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST), allowing it to detect complex coding patterns and security issues with high precision across over 30 languages. Its offerings include Semgrep Code (SAST), Semgrep Supply Chain (SCA), Semgrep Secrets, and Semgrep Assistant (AI). Recent developments include Semgrep Managed Scans (GA), Semgrep Guardian for AI-generated code, and Malicious Dependency Detection (GA) in Semgrep Supply Chain.

features

Key Features of Semgrep

Semgrep provides a comprehensive suite of features designed to enhance code security and quality throughout the software development lifecycle. These features leverage both rule-based detection and advanced AI reasoning to identify a wide range of vulnerabilities and enforce coding standards.

  • Rule-based detection for custom and predefined security patterns.
  • Multimodal AI reasoning to uncover complex OWASP risks, business logic flaws, and IDORs.
  • Semgrep Code (SAST) for identifying bugs and security vulnerabilities in source code across 30+ languages.
  • Semgrep Supply Chain (SCA) for detecting reachable vulnerabilities in third-party libraries and dependencies.
  • Semgrep Secrets for identifying hardcoded sensitive credentials using semantic and entropy analysis.
  • Semgrep Assistant (AI) for prioritizing, triaging, and remediating findings with GPT-4 explanations and autofix capabilities.
  • Semgrep Guardian for detecting vulnerabilities in AI-generated code from tools like Claude Code and Cursor.
  • Native Windows Support (GA) for CLI and IDEs.
  • Autofix (Public Beta) to streamline the remediation of SAST and SCA findings.
  • Unified Policies for granular control over rule mode, blocking vs. monitoring, and per-branch behavior.

use cases

Who Should Use Semgrep?

Semgrep is designed for various roles within software development and security, providing tools to ensure code quality and security from development to deployment. Its flexibility makes it suitable for both proactive security measures and reactive vulnerability assessments.

  • Security Engineers: For comprehensive Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Software Composition Analysis (SCA) to identify and manage vulnerabilities.
  • Developers: To enforce secure coding standards, receive real-time feedback on security issues during pull requests, and integrate security checks into CI/CD pipelines.
  • Penetration Testers & Security Auditors: For white-box penetration testing and pre-audit preparation, leveraging source code analysis to identify risky areas.
  • AppSec Engineers: To manage security backlogs, triage findings efficiently, and integrate automated security into the SDLC.
  • Consultants: For providing expert code review and security policy enforcement services to clients.

how to use

How to Use Semgrep

Getting started with Semgrep involves installing the tool and integrating it into your development workflow. It can be used via the command-line interface, integrated into IDEs, or deployed within CI/CD pipelines for automated scanning.

  • 1Install Semgrep: Install the Semgrep CLI using pip install semgrep or via other package managers.
  • 2Run a Scan: Execute semgrep scan --config auto . in your project directory to run a basic scan with automatically selected rules.
  • 3Write Custom Rules: Define custom security or code quality rules using Semgrep's intuitive pattern-matching syntax in YAML.
  • 4Integrate with CI/CD: Add Semgrep to your CI/CD pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) to automate security checks on every commit or pull request.
  • 5Utilize Semgrep Dashboard: Connect your scans to the Semgrep Dashboard for centralized vulnerability management, triage, and policy enforcement.
  • 6Leverage Semgrep Assistant: Use the AI-powered assistant for context-aware explanations, prioritization, and autofix suggestions for detected issues.

pricing

Semgrep Pricing & Plans

Semgrep offers a tiered pricing model, including a free Community Edition and a paid Pro Edition, to cater to different user needs from individual developers to large enterprises. The Community Edition provides core static analysis capabilities, while the Pro Edition unlocks advanced features, support, and enterprise-grade compliance.

  • Community Edition: Free. Includes core SAST, SCA, and Secrets scanning, with access to public rules and basic integrations.
  • Pro Edition: Paid. Offers advanced features such as Semgrep Managed Scans, Semgrep Guardian, AI-powered detection for business logic flaws, unified policies, enhanced dashboard workflows, and dedicated support. Specific pricing details are available on the Semgrep pricing page.

Pros

  • +Developer-friendly rule syntax, allowing custom rules that resemble source code.
  • +Multimodal AI reasoning for detecting complex vulnerabilities like business logic flaws and IDORs.
  • +High accuracy in vulnerability detection with a low false positive rate (over 95% accuracy reported for AI noise filtering).
  • +Fast and lightweight scans suitable for integration into CI/CD pipelines.
  • +Comprehensive coverage across over 30 programming languages.
  • +SOC 2 Type II certified and supports HIPAA compliance efforts.

Cons

  • Advanced AI features and enterprise-grade support are exclusive to the paid Pro Edition.
  • While supporting many languages, depth of analysis can vary by language and rule set.
  • Requires some initial configuration and rule tuning for optimal performance in specific codebases.
  • AI-powered detection for certain complex flaws (e.g., IDORs) is currently in closed beta.

Policies

Pricing Page

View Pricing

Similar Tools

Semgrep vs Competitors

Semgrep operates in a competitive landscape of static analysis and application security tools. Its key differentiators include its developer-friendly rule syntax, multimodal AI reasoning, and focus on high-signal vulnerability detection with low false positives.

1

Provides a comprehensive platform for continuous code quality and security analysis across many languages, with a strong focus on maintainability and technical debt alongside security.

While SonarQube offers broad code quality analysis, its security rules might be less specialized or as deeply integrated with AI reasoning for complex vulnerability patterns compared to Semgrep's dedicated security focus. It also requires more setup and infrastructure to run.

2

Focuses on developer-first security, integrating directly into IDEs and CI/CD pipelines to find and fix vulnerabilities in custom code, open-source dependencies, and infrastructure as code.

Snyk Code offers a similar developer-centric approach to SAST, often with good IDE integration. While it has a free tier, its advanced features and enterprise-level support are part of paid plans, and its AI capabilities might differ in scope from Semgrep's multimodal AI.

3
Bandit

Specifically designed to find common security issues in Python code by processing abstract syntax trees (ASTs).

Bandit is an excellent, free, open-source tool for Python, but it is language-specific, unlike Semgrep which supports many languages. It relies purely on predefined rules and lacks the advanced AI reasoning capabilities of Semgrep.

4
CodeQL

Uses a powerful, declarative query language to find vulnerabilities and errors in codebases, allowing users to write custom queries for specific patterns.

CodeQL offers extreme flexibility and power through its query language, allowing for very precise vulnerability detection. However, it has a steeper learning curve for writing custom queries compared to Semgrep's more accessible rule syntax, and while the engine is open source, its full integration and advanced features are often associated with GitHub Advanced Security.

More on Stork

Related AI Tools

Other tools in this category, matched by shared tags