Integrating application security testing tools into your software development lifecycle helps teams identify vulnerabilities early and reduce risks before reaching production. These tools span everything from code obfuscation and app hardening to static, dynamic, and runtime testing.
This post highlights 12 application security testing tools across the following six categories:
Application hardening and code obfuscation tools embed anti-tampering, code scrambling, and runtime shielding to protect your intellectual property and increase application resilience. This makes it difficult for attackers to reverse engineer, tamper with, or hijack your software.
Here are two top app hardening tools to consider.
PreEmptive is a comprehensive app-hardening platform—best known for Dotfuscator for .NET—that protects sensitive applications with advanced obfuscation, telemetry, and runtime defenses. It’s designed for teams that need strong IP protection and in-app threat mitigation without slowing development.
PreEmptive integrates seamlessly into enterprise CI/CD and DevSecOps workflows, adding protection with minimal impact on performance or developer productivity.
Users love how PreEmptive provides deeper visibility into adversary intent and attack surfaces, supports compliance with regulatory frameworks, and scales in hybrid cloud and IoT environments.
DoveRunner specializes in app hardening with a strong emphasis on mobile applications, particularly Android and iOS platforms. DoveRunner is ideal for teams distributing high-value mobile software across large user bases.
Users appreciate DoveRunner’s intuitive interface, adequate app protection, and responsive customer service.
SAST tools analyze source code or binaries to identify vulnerabilities early in development. They help developers detect security flaws in apps before they’re run to minimize post-deployment fixes.
Here are two notable SAST tools you should consider. Both are known for their scalability and ease of integration into developer workflows.
Kiuwan is an enterprise SAST tool that supports over 30 programming languages. It focuses on comprehensive security scanning and remediation while adhering to regulatory requirements such as PCI-DSS, OWASP, and CWE.
Kiuwan offers cloud and on-premises deployment options, integrates with development IDEs, build systems, and CI/CD pipelines, allowing developers to address vulnerabilities as they write code.
Kiuwan earns positive reviews for accuracy, detailed reporting, and enterprise readiness.
Aikido delivers fast, scalable, and developer-centric SAST focused on real-time code analysis. It is designed to integrate directly within popular IDEs, so developers get immediate feedback on security issues during coding, reducing the need for dedicated security testing phases.
Users highlight Aikido’s speed, developer-friendly approach, and integration support.
DAST tools help validate application security from an external attacker’s perspective and are highly complementary to SAST. They evaluate the security of running applications by simulating attacks to uncover runtime vulnerabilities in live environments and APIs. Here are two top DAST tools popular with security development teams.
InsightAppSec by Rapid7 automates dynamic scanning to detect vulnerabilities in running web applications and APIs by simulating realistic attack scenarios. It offers automated and manual testing features for teams needing continuous, scalable scanning of multiple applications and environments. It integrates into CI/CD DevSecOps workflows and supports frequent scans.
Recognized for ease of use, precise detection, and clear remediation prioritization
OWASP ZAP is an open-source DAST tool that provides both automated and manual vulnerability testing. It also includes a powerful intercepting proxy for inspecting HTTP/S traffic.
Users praise its flexibility, depth of features, and active community support.
IAST tools analyze applications internally during runtime, combining static and dynamic techniques to identify vulnerabilities during functional testing. IAST enhances visibility and can reduce false positives compared to SAST or DAST alone. Consider the following two IAST tools.
Black Duck Seeker is an advanced IAST tool that instruments applications during runtime, analyzing behavior and source code simultaneously during functional tests.
Seeker is valuable for teams implementing continuous security testing because it supports a wide range of platforms and programming languages.
Seeker receives praise for thorough analysis, accuracy, and seamless development pipeline integration.
Datadog Code Security provides an IAST solution for real-time detection and prevention of security issues. It identifies vulnerabilities during testing and production and is tailored for DevSecOps pipelines.
Users appreciate the unified security and performance monitoring, powerful observability, integration, and actionable vulnerability alerts.
Software composition analysis (SCA) tools detect your application’s open source and third-party components and assess the associated security vulnerabilities and licensing risks.
Here are two SCA tools known for developer-friendly features and cloud-native integration.
Wiz offers a cloud-native security platform with powerful SCA capabilities. It automatically scans open source components to identify vulnerabilities and licensing issues.
Wiz seamlessly integrates with container platforms, infrastructure as code, and CI/CD pipelines.
Wiz is highly rated for ease of deployment, helpful querying and security graphs, and strong customer support and documentation.
Jit is an innovative SCA tool designed to integrate security scanning directly into developer workflows. It continuously monitors open source dependencies and provides pull request alerts about new or existing vulnerabilities, enabling developers to address risks before code merges.
Jit is praised for its modern and configurable UI, developer focus, and proactive security scanning.
Runtime application self-protection (RASP) tools operate within the application, detecting and blocking attacks in real time by monitoring application behavior. They provide an active defense layer that complements other security testing.
Below are two leading RASP tools balancing protection and performance.
Liapp delivers a RASP solution to detect, analyze, and block runtime attacks with minimal performance overhead. Liapp is best for teams wanting to strengthen their application defenses without significant architectural changes.
Users note Liapp’s user-friendly monitoring, data leakage prevention, and reliable customer support.
Contrast Protect merges IAST and RASP capabilities, offering continuous vulnerability detection during testing alongside automated runtime attack prevention.
Contrast Protect is recognized for deep application context awareness and detailed attack forensics.
Selecting the right application security testing tools depends on your application architecture, development process, security goals, and your team’s expertise.
A combination of tools is recommended to achieve comprehensive security coverage. For example, pairing SAST with DAST for early and runtime vulnerability detection or complementing static tools with RASP for live protection.
When choosing an application security testing tool, consider its:
Once you’ve identified the right mix of tools, it’s equally important to ensure your apps are protected in the real world.
Even the strongest mix of application security testing tools leaves a gap once your app is in the hands of attackers. That’s where PreEmptive comes in. It adds runtime protection directly into your apps with:
PreEmptive integrates seamlessly into your CI/CD pipeline and supports all major mobile stacks, making security a built-in part of your release cycle.
Start your free trial today to see how PreEmptive strengthens your apps beyond testing.
Application security tools are specialized software designed to detect, prevent, and remediate vulnerabilities within applications during development and runtime. They include various technologies such as static and dynamic analysis, code obfuscation, runtime protection, and open source risk management.
Testing helps identify security weaknesses before attackers exploit them, reducing the risk of data breaches, financial loss, damaged reputation, and regulatory penalties. Early detection lowers remediation costs and enhances user trust.
SAST analyzes source code or compiled binaries before runtime to detect vulnerabilities early, while DAST tests running applications by simulating attacks to find vulnerabilities during execution.
RASP is a security technology embedded inside the application that monitors behavior and blocks attacks automatically during execution, providing real-time defense against exploitation.
Your choice depends on your application and development process, and many organizations use several types together for full coverage. For example:
By making your application code difficult to understand, modify, or debug, these techniques protect intellectual property and reduce attack surfaces, complicating reverse engineering and tampering efforts.
Some tools are designed with developer usability in mind, offering simple integrations and clear remediation advice. Enterprise-focused tools might require dedicated security staff for configuration and analysis. You’ll need to evaluate ease of use based on your team’s skills.