There are many open-core projects that make buy or build a critical decision-point for organization adoption. Would the paid version deliver meaningful improvements over a free alternative? When is the free version a good fit and when is the premium worth the costs?
An independent research study by Doyensec, a security research firm, provides some concrete perspectives for teams evaluating Semgrep’s offerings along cost and completeness dimensions. From the report:
This analysis is based on independent research conducted by Doyensec, a security consultancy, comparing Semgrep Community Edition and Semgrep Code using standardized vulnerable applications. While Semgrep financially supported the research, Doyensec maintained complete editorial control over the methodology and findings.
Semgrep Community Edition provides solid value as a starting point for many organizations, but over time many serious companies choose to graduate to Semgrep Code and take advantage of better results on the AppSec Platform to justify the return on investment.
Setting Up Research for SAST Tools
Doyensec conducted a head-to-head comparison of Semgrep Community Edition and the commercial Semgrep Code. The test used two well-known vulnerable test applications: OWASP WebGoat (Java) and OWASP Juice Shop (Node). Both of these applications are often used in security research because they contain deliberately introduced security flaws, making them useful for benchmarking and measuring detection capabilities.
The researchers followed a methodical approach, scanning each identical code base with each version and then analyzing the results to evaluate accuracy in finding true vulnerabilities and reliability in eliminating false positives. The sensitivity of a tool is the likelihood of over-reporting with more false positives or under-reporting fewer issues but also lower false positives.
For Community Edition scans:
semgrep --config p/default --oss-only
semgrep login && semgrep --config p/default --pro
The full report includes additional replication steps.
Key Findings: Reviewing Scan Sensitivity
A summary of the results showing measurable improvements in detection capabilities with the Semgrep Code solution.
WebGoat (Java App):
True Positive Rate (Accuracy): Community Edition found 48% (16) and the Pro solution found 72% (24) for a 50% increase in true positive rate of detection.
False Positive Rate (Reliability): Both Community Edition and Semgrep Code both had one false positive.
Juice Shop (Node App):
True Positive Rate (Accuracy): Community Edition found 44% (21) and the Pro solution found 75% (36) for a 71% increase in true positive rate of detection.
False Positive Rate (Reliability): Both Community Edition and Pro did not produce any false positives on this project.
In summary, the number of true positives recognized by Semgrep Code is significantly higher than Community Edition without any consequences to false positives.
What Is Different Between Semgrep Community and Semgrep Code
A few factors contribute to the difference and identified in the report:
Inter-file Dataflow Analysis: The inter-file analysis capabilities can trace security issues across multiple files instead of analyzing one file at a time. Since the Community Edition analyzes files in isolation, it can miss vulnerabilities that span file boundaries as is common in real-world scenarios.
Inter-procedural Analysis: Dangerous data transformations across functions and files is a key ingredient to identifying vulnerabilities that require a more complex analysis. This comes from understanding of callbacks, framework-native analysis, taint analysis, and better understanding of constants and types.
Additional Rules: The Semgrep Pro Rules include over 1,500 additional security rules and are maintained and extended by a team of Security Researchers that go beyond the Community Rules, so get better coverage of vulnerability patterns and edge cases.
The research focused on test repositories, but the real-world implication is that you get what you pay for.
✅ Broader coverage including cross-file vulnerabilities.
✅ Higher detection rates mean fewer missed vulnerabilities reaching production.
✅ Developer efficiency from finding issues earlier and without the added cost of filtering through false positives.
Community Edition is Great in Specific Circumstances
The research found that teams that get value from Semgrep Community Edition would see meaningful improvements from upgrading to Semgrep AppSec Platform. The authors noted that if you don’t already have a SAST solution in place, Community Edition provides a low cost entry point for a solid security scanning foundation.
“If a developer has to convince their manager to spend a few million dollars on advanced security tools each time they change jobs, the future is bleak.”
–Isaac Evans, Founder and CEO Semgrep
Semgrep Community Edition is frequently the preferred solution for security researchers, pentesters, consultants, open-source developers, and hobbyists alike. The fact that the cost is free is what initially attracts people to start with it. What we hear a lot is that as needs evolve and grow within a project or organization, the switch to Semgrep Code is easy to see the value of an upgrade for the ease of use, improved accuracy, better reporting, and better coverage.
Resources
If you want to get started with Semgrep Community Edition, the README on GitHub is a great place to start.
With Semgrep Code, you can sign-up for the Semgrep Platform and follow the Quick Start with managed scans to see results with your own project in a few minutes.
