Security Scanners arenaBuyer checklist
Every requirement we judge security scanners products against, as a ready-to-send RFP checklist — with each item's priority, why it matters, and how the top-ranked products score on it today.
55 requirements · 12 themes · verdicts for 6 products · updated 2026-09-16 · priorities mirror the story weights our scoring uses (methodology)
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# Security Scanners — buyer checklist (RFP) Derived from ProductArena's evidence-graded user-story taxonomy for Security Scanners: 55 judged requirements. Priorities mirror story weights (3 = must-have, 2 = should-have, 1 = nice-to-have). ## Agenticness - [ ] **[must-have]** Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools - [ ] **[must-have]** Connect an agent via an official MCP server - [ ] **[must-have]** Drive the product through a documented public API - [ ] **[must-have]** Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product - [ ] **[should-have]** Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs - [ ] **[should-have]** Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation - [ ] **[should-have]** Use an official CLI - [ ] **[should-have]** Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent - [ ] **[should-have]** Build against official SDKs - [ ] **[should-have]** Subscribe to events via webhooks - [ ] **[should-have]** Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product - [ ] **[should-have]** Set up automations that run autonomously in the background - [ ] **[should-have]** Operate the product with natural-language commands - [ ] **[should-have]** Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples - [ ] **[should-have]** Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent) - [ ] **[should-have]** Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy - [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data ## Automation depth - [ ] **[must-have]** Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events - [ ] **[should-have]** Perform bulk operations across many items at once - [ ] **[should-have]** Schedule recurring jobs or workflows - [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Version, review, and roll back my automations ## Ci precommit - [ ] **[must-have]** Have an agent run a scan headlessly via the CLI, parse machine-readable results, and file issues for real findings - [ ] **[must-have]** Run scans in CI on every pull request and fail the build on new findings via exit codes - [ ] **[must-have]** Run the scanner as a pre-commit hook so secrets and issues never enter my git history - [ ] **[should-have]** Wire the scanner into my coding agent so AI-generated code is scanned for issues before it lands - [ ] **[should-have]** See scan findings surfaced as pull-request comments or checks in GitHub or GitLab ## Container scanning - [ ] **[must-have]** Scan container images for OS-package and application-layer vulnerabilities before deploying them - [ ] **[should-have]** Scan Terraform, Kubernetes, and other IaC files for security misconfigurations ## Coverage accuracy - [ ] **[should-have]** Scan projects across all the major languages and package ecosystems my organization uses - [ ] **[should-have]** Emit scan results in machine-readable formats like JSON or SARIF for downstream tooling ## Dependency sca - [ ] **[must-have]** Scan my dependency manifests and lockfiles for packages with known vulnerabilities - [ ] **[should-have]** Get concrete upgrade paths or automated fix pull requests that remediate vulnerable dependencies - [ ] **[should-have]** Prioritize dependency alerts by whether the vulnerable code is actually reachable from my code ## Openness - [ ] **[must-have]** Export all of my data in open formats and leave - [ ] **[must-have]** Self-host the core product - [ ] **[should-have]** Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI - [ ] **[should-have]** Read the product's source under an open license ## Privacy posture - [ ] **[must-have]** Prevent my data from being used to train AI models - [ ] **[should-have]** Choose where my data is stored (region/residency) - [ ] **[should-have]** Control data retention and deletion - [ ] **[should-have]** Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking ## Sast rules - [ ] **[must-have]** Run static analysis that finds vulnerability classes like injection and XSS in my source code - [ ] **[should-have]** Have AI draft remediation pull requests for security findings that I review and merge - [ ] **[should-have]** Detect taint-style vulnerabilities that flow across files and function boundaries - [ ] **[should-have]** Write custom static-analysis rules in a simple syntax and share them across repositories - [ ] **[should-have]** Apply suggested or automatic code fixes for findings instead of only reading reports ## Secret detection - [ ] **[must-have]** Scan a repository and its full git history for hardcoded secrets and credentials - [ ] **[should-have]** Define custom detection rules for my organization's internal token and secret formats - [ ] **[should-have]** Scan non-git sources like S3 buckets, Docker images, and CI logs for leaked secrets - [ ] **[should-have]** Have detected secrets verified against the issuing service so I know which ones are live ## Supply chain sbom - [ ] **[should-have]** Generate a software bill of materials (SPDX or CycloneDX) for my project or image - [ ] **[nice-to-have]** Detect the licenses of my dependencies and enforce a license policy in scans ## Triage noise - [ ] **[must-have]** Use AI to triage findings — explaining them, deduplicating, and flagging likely false positives - [ ] **[must-have]** Baseline or ignore existing and false-positive findings so only new issues alert - [ ] **[should-have]** Filter and gate on findings by severity or confidence so low-value noise does not block builds --- Source: https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/arena/security-scanners (evidence-graded verdicts for 6 products) · methodology: https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/methodology
Chips show the top 5 ranked products' current verdict on each requirement — ✓ full · ~ partial · ! disputed · — none · n/a not applicable.
Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness· 17 items
How well agents can access and operate the product
- must-have
ai-native userPlug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- must-have
ai-native userConnect an agent via an official MCP server
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · all 4 products fully deliver this today
- must-have
ai-native userDrive the product through a documented public API
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- must-have
ai-native userDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userPoint an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userRun the product headlessly / in CI for automation
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · all 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userUse an official CLI
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 5 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userBuild against official SDKs
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userSubscribe to events via webhooks
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userGet AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userSet up automations that run autonomously in the background
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userOperate the product with natural-language commands
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examples
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- nice-to-have
ai-native userTest against a sandbox environment without touching production data
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth· 4 items
How much of the product can run unattended
- must-have
ai-native userDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on events
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userPerform bulk operations across many items at once
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userSchedule recurring jobs or workflows
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- nice-to-have
ai-native userVersion, review, and roll back my automations
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Ci precommit — stories about ci precommit in this arenaCi precommit· 5 items
Stories about ci precommit in this arena
- must-have
ai-native userHave an agent run a scan headlessly via the CLI, parse machine-readable results, and file issues for real findings
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- must-have
devops-leadRun scans in CI on every pull request and fail the build on new findings via exit codes
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 3 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- must-have
developerRun the scanner as a pre-commit hook so secrets and issues never enter my git history
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 3 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userWire the scanner into my coding agent so AI-generated code is scanned for issues before it lands
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
developerSee scan findings surfaced as pull-request comments or checks in GitHub or GitLab
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 3 of 6 products fully deliver this today
Container scanning — stories about container scanning in this arenaContainer scanning· 2 items
Stories about container scanning in this arena
- must-have
devops-leadScan container images for OS-package and application-layer vulnerabilities before deploying them
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
devops-leadScan Terraform, Kubernetes, and other IaC files for security misconfigurations
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
Coverage accuracy — stories about coverage accuracy in this arenaCoverage accuracy· 2 items
Stories about coverage accuracy in this arena
- should-have
developerScan projects across all the major languages and package ecosystems my organization uses
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
developerEmit scan results in machine-readable formats like JSON or SARIF for downstream tooling
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
Dependency sca — stories about dependency sca in this arenaDependency sca· 3 items
Stories about dependency sca in this arena
- must-have
developerScan my dependency manifests and lockfiles for packages with known vulnerabilities
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 3 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
developerGet concrete upgrade paths or automated fix pull requests that remediate vulnerable dependencies
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
security-engineerPrioritize dependency alerts by whether the vulnerable code is actually reachable from my code
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness· 4 items
Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories
- must-have
ai-native userExport all of my data in open formats and leave
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- must-have
ai-native userSelf-host the core product
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 4 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userDo everything through the API that I can do in the UI
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userRead the product's source under an open license
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 6 products fully deliver this today
Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture· 4 items
Data-handling and privacy stories
- must-have
ai-native userPrevent my data from being used to train AI models
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userChoose where my data is stored (region/residency)
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userControl data retention and deletion
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
ai-native userOpt out of telemetry and usage tracking
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Sast rules — stories about sast rules in this arenaSast rules· 5 items
Stories about sast rules in this arena
- must-have
developerRun static analysis that finds vulnerability classes like injection and XSS in my source code
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
ai-native userHave AI draft remediation pull requests for security findings that I review and merge
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
security-engineerDetect taint-style vulnerabilities that flow across files and function boundaries
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
security-engineerWrite custom static-analysis rules in a simple syntax and share them across repositories
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
developerApply suggested or automatic code fixes for findings instead of only reading reports
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
Secret detection — stories about secret detection in this arenaSecret detection· 4 items
Stories about secret detection in this arena
- must-have
developerScan a repository and its full git history for hardcoded secrets and credentials
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 2 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
security-engineerDefine custom detection rules for my organization's internal token and secret formats
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
security-engineerScan non-git sources like S3 buckets, Docker images, and CI logs for leaked secrets
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- should-have
security-engineerHave detected secrets verified against the issuing service so I know which ones are live
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 2 of 5 products fully deliver this today
Supply chain sbom — stories about supply chain sbom in this arenaSupply chain sbom· 2 items
Stories about supply chain sbom in this arena
- should-have
security-engineerGenerate a software bill of materials (SPDX or CycloneDX) for my project or image
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · 1 of 4 products fully deliver this today
- nice-to-have
devops-leadDetect the licenses of my dependencies and enforce a license policy in scans
Differentiator, not a dealbreaker — weighs 1× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Triage noise — stories about triage noise in this arenaTriage noise· 3 items
Stories about triage noise in this arena
- must-have
ai-native userUse AI to triage findings — explaining them, deduplicating, and flagging likely false positives
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
- must-have
security-engineerBaseline or ignore existing and false-positive findings so only new issues alert
Core requirement — weighs 3× in arena scoring · 1 of 6 products fully deliver this today
- should-have
developerFilter and gate on findings by severity or confidence so low-value noise does not block builds
Important, not disqualifying — weighs 2× in arena scoring · no product fully delivers this yet
Full evidence behind every verdict lives on the arena page and each product page — chips above deep-link straight to the judged story.