Snyk vs Wiz: 3 Key Differences, Pros & Cons, and How to Choose the Best Solution

Cloud-native architectures have propelled the convergence of Application Security Testing (AST) and cloud security. When considering solutions to secure cloud-native applications, Snyk and Wiz are two prominent options. Both platforms bring unique features to the table for security-conscious DevOps teams. However, they focus on different aspects of the security lifecycle. This comparison will highlight their key differences, strengths, and weaknesses to guide your decision-making process.

For enterprises requiring a complete solution that combines superior AST scanning capabilities (including SAST, SCA, Secrets, and cloud-native infrastructure) with integrations and platform extensibility to secure cloud-native applications in runtime, read on to the end to learn why Cydode’s Complete Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) platform may be the best Snyk and Wiz alternative or complement for your needs.

What is Wiz?

Wiz is a cloud-native security platform designed to help organizations secure their cloud environments at scale. It identifies vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and risks across cloud workloads, networks, and services. Wiz supports major cloud platforms, including AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Wiz’s agentless architecture and risk-based approach simplify cloud security and make it valuable for enterprises that need to secure complex, multi-cloud infrastructures.

Key Features of Snyk

Snyk’s strength lies in its developer-first approach. It integrates well with IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and repositories to provide fast feedback to developers. This makes it well-suited for organizations looking for an agile security solution with a good developer experience.

• Dependency scanning: Identifies vulnerabilities in open-source libraries and dependencies, helping teams proactively address risks.
• Developer-friendly integrations: Embeds security seamlessly into developer workflows, ensuring minimal disruption and maximum adoption.
• Fast feedback: Delivers actionable insights in real-time, enabling developers to fix vulnerabilities faster and more efficiently.
• Container and IaC security: Analyzes container images and infrastructure configurations to secure the entire development environment.

Key Features of Wiz

Wiz’s strength lies in scalability across multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP. This makes it well-suited for enterprises looking to secure complex cloud setups efficiently.

• Agentless Cloud Security: Scans cloud environments without the need for agents, ensuring low overhead.
• Cloud Security Visibility: Identifies vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and secrets across cloud resources.
• Multi-Cloud Support: Works seamlessly across major cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
• IaC and Container Security: Detects misconfigurations in infrastructure as code (IaC) and containers for earlier detection and remediation of insecure cloud assets.

Snyk vs Wiz: 3 Key Differences

1. Security Focus:
   • Snyk: Primarily focuses on securing applications, including open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure as code (IaC). It integrates deeply into developer workflows, helping teams detect and fix vulnerabilities early in the development process.
   • Wiz: Specializes in cloud security, providing visibility into cloud infrastructure, workloads, and misconfigurations. It prioritizes cloud-specific risks across multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
2. Platform Integrations:
   • Snyk: Integrates into developer tools such as IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and version control systems, making it ideal for development teams focused on application security.
   • Wiz: Integrates with cloud environments, offering a comprehensive view of infrastructure security and risk management, but it is less integrated into the developer pipeline. It uses an agentless approach to scan cloud environments, ensuring minimal performance impact.
3. Scope of coverage:
   • Snyk: Covers application security best suited for teams looking to secure applications and codebases during development.
   • Wiz: Offers broad cloud security coverage best for teams focusing on infrastructure, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities within the cloud environment.

Snyk Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Integration with Developer Tools: Snyk embeds security checks directly into developers’ existing workflows, such as IDEs and CI/CD pipelines, enabling seamless adoption and minimal disruption.
• Vulnerability Detection: Provides immediate feedback and actionable solutions, empowering developers to identify and fix vulnerabilities early in the software development lifecycle.
• Ease of Use: Snyk’s intuitive interface and straightforward setup allow teams to onboard quickly, focusing on core development tasks without steep learning curves.
• Strong Support for Open-Source Security: Specializes in dependency analysis, ensuring teams can proactively manage risks in their software supply chain.

Cons:

• Limited Cloud Security Features: Snyk’s focus on application security means it lacks the comprehensive cloud security capabilities that Wiz offers.
• Less Effective for Cloud-Native Environments: While excellent for code and container security, Snyk doesn’t provide the same level of visibility into cloud configurations and workloads as Wiz.
• Limited extensibility and visibility: Snyk’s lack of certain scan types and limited integrations with third-party scanners require additional tools to unify visibility and cover gaps in vulnerability detection.

Wiz Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Agentless Architecture: Wiz scans cloud environments without requiring agents, reducing performance impact and simplifying deployment.
• Comprehensive Cloud Security: Identifies risks across workloads, configurations, and applications, ensuring broad protection for cloud environments.
• Contextual Risk Prioritization: Combines vulnerability and configuration data to prioritize issues based on their potential impact.
• Multi-Cloud Support: Supports all major cloud providers, making it suitable for organizations with diverse cloud infrastructures.

Cons:

• Limited Application Security Features: Wiz excels in cloud security but lacks the developer-focused application security capabilities that Snyk provides.
• Not Developer-Centric: Designed primarily for security and operations teams, Wiz may not integrate as deeply into developer workflows as Snyk.
• Higher Cost for Small Teams: Wiz’s enterprise-grade features and pricing may not align with the budgets of smaller organizations or teams.

Cycode: The Best Alternative to Snyk and Wiz

Both Snyk and Wiz provide valuable security capabilities, but they come with limitations. Snyk excels at developer-friendly application security but lacks comprehensive cloud security. Wiz offers robust cloud-native security but is less effective for application development workflows.

Cycode’s Complete Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) solution bridges the gaps between application and cloud security by combining superior AST scanners and developer experience with an enterprise-grade and extensible platform that integrates with cloud security tools including Wiz. Highlights include:

• Comprehensive AST coverage: Stop code risk before it starts and deliver safe code faster. Cycode’s proprietary scanners – including SAST, SCA, Secrets, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Container, Source Code Leakage, and CI/CD posture – empower you to secure your code, software supply chain, and cloud-native infrastructure.
• Complete ASPM platform: Save developers time and fix what matters faster. Beyond its suite of proprietary scanners, Cycode unifies data from over 100 third-party security tools – including Wiz and other cloud security tools – and leverages its Risk Intelligence Graph (RIG) to distill millions of findings into the few most critical risks. Cycode maps those risks to root causes and owners and automates workflows to simplify AppSec complexity, power risk-based prioritization, and accelerate remediation.
• Lower total cost of ownership: Identify tool overlaps, consolidate, and build the foundation for your future-fit security program. Cycode delivers a complete solution that empowers enterprise customers to adapt and optimize their security ecosystems for today and tomorrow. 

Learn more about Cycode’s AST capabilities or get a demo to explore the full solution.