Looking for a GitHub Advanced Security alternative?
GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) — now sold as GitHub Code Security and GitHub Secret Protection — is a strong suite for GitHub Team and Enterprise orgs. Per-committer pricing can be a poor fit if you're a solo dev or small team, or if your code isn't on GitHub. Here's the comparison.
The pricing problem with GHAS for small teams
GitHub now sells Advanced Security as GitHub Code Security ($30 per active committer/month, as of October 2026) and GitHub Secret Protection ($19 per active committer/month), available on the GitHub Team and Enterprise plans (code scanning is free on public repos). If all five people on a team commit, that's $150/month for Code Security alone, or $245/month with Secret Protection, on top of the GitHub seats.
XploitScan is a flat Free $0 / Pro $19/mo / Team $99/mo, runs on any Git host (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted), and doesn't bill per committer.
When each one fits
GHAS is great when
- → Your organization is already on GitHub Team or Enterprise
- → You need native Security tab + Dependabot + secret scanning integrated
- → You have a security team that can tune CodeQL custom queries
- → Per-committer pricing is within budget
- → Deep SAML/SSO/audit integration into your GitHub Enterprise tenant matters
XploitScan is great when
- → You'd rather not pay per active committer, or your private repos are on GitHub Free or Pro (where Code Security isn't sold)
- → You use GitLab, Bitbucket, or self-hosted Git
- → You're shipping AI-generated code and want rules targeted at those patterns
- → Flat pricing ($19/mo Pro; Team $99/mo self-serve) fits the budget
- → You want every finding to come with a plain-English fix
Side-by-side
| Dimension | GHAS | XploitScan |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub plan required | GitHub Team or Enterprise (code scanning free on public repos) | None — works on any Git host |
| Pricing model | $30 (Code Security) and/or $19 (Secret Protection) per active committer/mo, on top of GitHub Team or Enterprise seats (as of October 2026) | Free $0 / Pro $19/mo / Team $99/mo |
| Detection engine | CodeQL (semantic query engine) | 223 rules (regex + AST + taint) |
| Public, rerunnable benchmark | Not that we could find | Live, reproducible |
| CI integration | Native (GitHub Actions) | GitHub Action, GitLab CI, Bitbucket, any CI |
| CLI | CodeQL CLI (build a database, then run queries) | npx xploitscan@latest scan . |
| SARIF output | Yes | Yes — --format sarif |
| AI editor integration (MCP) | GitHub's official MCP server exposes code scanning alerts (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, VS Code) | Official MCP server for Cursor / Claude Desktop / Windsurf |
| Fix explanation | CodeQL query help + Copilot Autofix suggested code fixes | Plain-English fix guidance |
Where GHAS legitimately wins
- Native GitHub integration. Findings land directly in the Security tab. PR blocking, code owners, branch protection — all integrated without plumbing. If you're deep in GitHub and want tool output inside GitHub's native surfaces, GHAS is the path of least resistance.
- CodeQL custom queries. For organizations with security engineers authoring bespoke semantic queries, CodeQL is a uniquely powerful platform. XploitScan doesn't try to compete on custom query authoring.
- Dependabot + secret scanning bundle. If you want code scanning and secret scanning with push protection built into GitHub, alongside GitHub's free Dependabot alerts, the combined offering is valuable in ways a pure code scanner doesn't replace.
Try XploitScan on your code
Free: 3 demo scans a day with no account, or 5 a day with a free account. Works with any Git host. SARIF output is built in (showing it in GitHub's Security tab on a private repo requires GitHub Code Security).