Vergate vs OWASP ZAP: which should you use?
#TL;DR
- OWASP ZAP: Free, open-source DAST scanner. 100+ active rules (SQLi, XSS, etc.). Powerful but requires manual setup, configuration, and result interpretation.
- Vergate: Runs ZAP inside automated containers, adds passive checks, performance analysis, SEO, AEO, accessibility, monitoring, AI fix prompts, and health scoring. Free tier, paid from $20/mo.
- Key difference: ZAP is the engine. Vergate is the platform. You can use ZAP directly for free, or use Vergate to get ZAP results plus everything else without the setup overhead.
#Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Vergate | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Active DAST (SQLi/XSS) | Yes — ZAP in sandboxed containers | Yes — the original DAST engine |
| Passive security checks | 12 checks (headers, CORS, cookies, CSP, etc.) | Limited passive scanning |
| Setup required | None — paste a URL, get results | Manual: install, configure, run, interpret |
| Scheduling | Automated scans on a cron schedule | Manual or CI/CD pipeline setup |
| Performance | Lighthouse + 11 HTTP resource checks | Not included |
| SEO scanning | 20 checks (Playwright-rendered) | Not included |
| AEO (AI visibility) | 26 checks (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) | Not included |
| Accessibility (WCAG) | axe-core WCAG 2.1 AA | Not included |
| Uptime monitoring | 24/7 with configurable intervals + threat re-scans | Not included |
| Technology profiling | 50+ detectors + WhatWeb (1800+ plugins) | Not included |
| AI fix prompts | Every finding → copy-paste LLM prompt | Not included |
| Health score | Composite 6-pillar scoring | Not included |
| PDF reports | Tamper-evident signed PDFs | HTML/JSON export |
| MCP server | Yes (stdio + HTTP transport) | Not included |
| Cost | Free tier · $20/mo · $39/mo · $56/mo | Free (open source) |
| Learning curve | Low — paste URL, get results | High — proxy config, context setup, alert interpretation |
#Choose Vergate if...
- You want ZAP's power without the setup overhead — paste a URL, get results in seconds.
- You want passive checks plus active DAST in one scan (headers, CORS, cookies, CSP, SQLi, XSS).
- You want scheduling, AI fix prompts, health scoring, and PDF reports out of the box.
- You need performance, SEO, AEO, accessibility, and monitoring alongside security.
- You want a MCP server for LLM integration.
#Choose ZAP if...
- You want full control over scanning configuration (custom policies, context files, auth scripts).
- You need to scan internal/localhost targets behind a firewall.
- You want to integrate DAST into a CI/CD pipeline with custom scripting.
- Budget is the primary constraint — ZAP is free forever.
- You need the deepest possible DAST customization (custom scan policies, forced user modes, ASN tracking).
#The honest take
ZAP is one of the most important open-source security tools ever built. It's maintained by OWASP, battle-tested in enterprise environments, and has a massive rule set. If you need full control over your DAST configuration or you're building a custom security pipeline, ZAP is the right choice.
Vergate runs ZAP internally — it's not a replacement for ZAP, it's a platform that makes ZAP's power accessible to developers who don't want to spend hours configuring a security tool. You get the same active scanning rules, plus passive checks, performance analysis, SEO/AEO, accessibility, monitoring, and AI fix prompts. It's the difference between building your own car and buying one that already has the engine installed.
#Sources
Every claim on this page was verified against these resources on August 18, 2026.
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