Top 10 Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Tools for DevSecOps in 2025

Securing modern applications requires more than just surface-level scans. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools have evolved to meet the demands of today’s stacks - scanning APIs, GraphQL, and SPAs in real time to detect deep vulnerabilities like broken authentication and business logic flaws.

Legacy DAST tools struggle in fast-moving DevSecOps environments. They generate false positives, lack API awareness, and don’t integrate smoothly with CI/CD pipelines slowing teams down instead of helping them scale security.In 2025, modern DAST tools are purpose-built for developers. They offer automated runtime analysis, native support for modern architectures, and actionable remediation that fits directly into developer workflows.

This article breaks down the top 10 DAST tools for 2025, helping you evaluate which solutions truly meet today’s security challenges and which are still stuck in the past.

"DAST is not dead, legacy DASTs are. Modern DASTs are changing the industry." - Swan Beaujard, Security Engineer at Escape, at the Elephant in AppSec Conference

Overview of the Top 5 DAST Tools

Most explored in demos for replacing legacy DAST or integrating new DAST into your AppSec program:

What Is a DAST Tool & Why It Matters in 2025

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is a black-box testing method that finds vulnerabilities in running applications without needing source code. It simulates real-world attacks to uncover flaws in APIs, GraphQL, SPAs, and web apps from an external attacker’s view.

In 2025, this approach is essential. Modern apps move fast with CI/CD pipelines and rely on complex APIs, making legacy DAST tools ineffective. They miss key threats, overwhelm teams with false positives, and don’t support developer-first workflows.Modern DAST tools are built for today’s security needs. They detect deeper issues like business logic flaws and broken authentication, integrate into developer pipelines, and offer automation to keep security scalable.DAST isn’t outdated legacy DAST is. To secure modern applications in 2025, a modern DAST tool is no longer optional it’s foundational

Why should you have a DAST tool?

DAST tools are crucial to a proactive security strategy in identifying application weakness from a front-end "outside-in" perspective. They are most often combined with static testing (SAST) as well as Software Composition Analysis (SCA) to ensure comprehensive security monitoring across all stages of the SDLC. Having a DAST means that vulnerabilities can be remediated before an application goes live to the public - and to cybercriminals, lowering the risk of a breach but also making vulnerabilities cheaper to mend. Equally, DASTs can also help developers uncover general problems with the end-user experience, and crucially facilitate regulatory compliance.

Why legacy DAST tools don't work for DevSecOps

Legacy DAST tools weren’t built for today’s software stacks. As modern teams shift toward APIs, GraphQL, SPAs, and CI/CD workflows, traditional Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools quickly fall behind.

These legacy tools generate excessive false positives, require manual setup, and lack the deep integration needed for fast-moving DevSecOps pipelines. Their limited API visibility and outdated scanning logic often miss critical runtime threats like Insecure Direct Object References (IDORs), SSRFs, and broken access control vulnerabilities that require context-aware testing.

They also frustrate developers with generic remediation advice and poor CI/CD compatibility, slowing down release cycles instead of securing them. Modern DAST solutions fix these gaps. With native CI/CD integration, advanced business logic testing, and developer-first workflows, they offer the speed and depth needed to secure modern applications at scale.

Escape

Overview:

Escape DAST - Best for Modern AppSec Teams Securing APIs, SPAs & GraphQL. Escape DAST is one of the most advanced Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools in 2025, built specifically for modern development workflows. It’s ideal for security and AppSec teams looking to scale vulnerability detection with minimal effort and high accuracy.

What sets Escape apart from traditional DAST tools is its ability to go beyond basic scanning. It combines agentless API discovery, trafficless detection, and automated API documentation all without requiring manual uploads or instrumentation. Escape analyzes source code to automatically generate API schemas and starts scanning from your live API inventory, eliminating the need for OpenAPI or Swagger files.

Escape is built natively for Single Page Applications (SPAs), GraphQL APIs, and CI/CD pipelines, with special attention to real-world vulnerabilities like Insecure Direct Object References (IDORs), Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF), and access control flaws.

It’s also one of the few DAST solutions that uses a feedback riven Business Logic Security Testing (BLST) engine. This enables deeper testing tailored to your unique app context, identifying vulnerabilities other scanners often miss.

🔍 Features

● Agentless API Discovery & Schema Generation: Escape automatically detects internal and third party APIs by scanning source code no traffic capture or agents required. It also generates and maintains up-to-date API schemas without manual uploads.

● GraphQL-Native Security Testing: Escape is purpose-built for GraphQL, sending context-aware queries that reflect real application logic, uncovering vulnerabilities legacy DAST tools miss.

● Runtime Detection for Business Logic Flaws: Escape’s proprietary BLST engine identifies deep runtime threats like IDORs, SSRFs, and broken access controls that require real interaction to expose.

● CI/CD-Ready Custom Tests: Define security rules that evolve with your APIs and run automatically in your CI/CD pipelines with no manual upkeep. See Escape Rules.

● Risk-Based Vulnerability Prioritization: Escape ranks findings by business impact and exploitability, enabling focused remediation. Explore Prioritization Funnel.

● Developer-Centric Remediation: Escape auto-generates Jira tickets with remediation code tailored to your stack, helping developers fix vulnerabilities faster and reduce MTTR with less back and forth.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros

📉 Cons

✅ Agentless API discovery added to DAST scanning for easier, faster identification of exposed endpoints. ✅ Very low false positive rate, improving accuracy and reducing noise for security teams. ✅ Actionable remediation code snippets, accelerating patching and improving developer efficiency. ✅ Prioritizes critical applications by business context, data sensitivity, and external exposure risk. ✅ Highly accurate request generation, enhanced by generative AI for smarter vulnerability detection. ✅ Seamless integration with modern DevSecOps tools and CI/CD pipelines for scalable security workflows.

❌ Advanced features may require security expertise or training for optimal use. ❌ Integration coverage for some operational tools is still being expanded.

Invicti DAST (formerly Netsparker DAST)

Overview:

Second in our list of the best DAST tools for 2025 is Invicti DAST, a security solution built for scalable and automated vulnerability detection. Invicti combines Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) with Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST), making it capable of identifying a wide range of threats including SQL injection, XSS, misconfigurations, exposed databases, and out-of-band vulnerabilities.

Its automated crawler is designed to scan modern web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript-heavy applications, and Single Page Applications (SPAs). Invicti streamlines the process for development teams by automating crawling and vulnerability detection across complex web environments. While this DAST tool is best suited for large scale enterprises, Invicti also offers Acunetix a simplified version geared toward smaller organizations.

🔍 Features

● Fast vulnerability scans with live access to reports even before completion

● Highlights specific lines of code that require remediation

● Seamless integration with CI/CD pipelines, issue trackers, and Web Application Firewalls (WAFs)

● Basic scans can be completed within minutes for quick feedback cycles

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Supports REST, SOAP, and GraphQL APIs (limited GraphQL coverage) along with traditional web applications. ✅ Generates detailed vulnerability reports for faster triage. ✅ Offers customizable security check templates to tailor DAST scans. ✅ Part of a broader security platform that includes IAST and Software Composition Analysis (SCA).	❌ GraphQL testing is limited to basic vulnerability types. ❌ Primarily focused on web applications, with less coverage for modern cloud-native environments. ❌ Does not support automatic API specification generation, requiring manual uploads. ❌ Higher entry-level cost compared to other DAST tools in the market.

StackHawk

Overview:

StackHawk is a modern Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tool built with developers in mind. It emphasizes catching security vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle before code hits production. Designed for technical teams, StackHawk helps developers integrate security testing into continuous delivery pipelines with minimal disruption.

Its vulnerability prioritization follows the OWASP Risk Rating Methodology, focusing on impact and exploitability. StackHawk supports a wide range of API formats, including REST, GraphQL, SOAP, and gRPC, making it a solid DAST option for microservices-driven environments.

🔍 Features

● Enables developers to write custom test scripts for security scenarios not covered by default scans (built on the ZAP library)

● Supports parallel scanning across environments local dev, CI/CD pipelines, Kubernetes, or remote servers

● Offers automated and authenticated scans to detect vulnerabilities that appear only after login or session handling

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Built for developers, with strong CI/CD integration ✅ Customizable attack templates to tailor security tests to business logic ✅ Flexible pricing tiers, ideal for startups and fast-growing teams	❌ Built on ZAP, with limited support for detecting business logic vulnerabilities ❌ API schema uploads and configuration may require manual setup in complex apps ❌ Lacks deep remediation guidance for developers ❌ May not meet the scalability or feature depth needed by large enterprise teams

Bright Security

Overview:

Bright Security stands out among modern DAST tools by embedding security testing directly into developer workflows. Its early stage testing capability starting within the IDE helps teams catch vulnerabilities before code ever reaches staging or production. This proactive approach enables faster, more secure releases without adding friction to development.

As one of the few developer first DAST tools, Bright integrates natively with popular CI/CD platforms like GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, CircleCI, and JFrog. It detects critical web application vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), CSRF, and XXE, offering efficient, automated testing during every stage of delivery. While its coverage of business logic flaws is limited, Bright provides strong foundational testing with minimal configuration.

🔍 Features

● IDE-Based Security Testing: Run real-time attack simulations directly in the IDE to validate code and catch vulnerabilities early.

● CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Supports automated security testing across GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, CircleCI, and TravisCI.

● Interactive Vulnerability Detection: Detects SQLi, CSRF, XSS, and XXE with limited business logic flaw coverage.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Quick setup and easy onboarding for engineering teams ✅ Developer-focused, with IDE-level security simulations ✅ Seamless CI/CD integration across major platforms	❌ Requires manual API schema uploads before scans ❌ Remediation advice lacks depth across varied tech stacks ❌ Limited reporting capabilities for business-critical vulnerability prioritization

Snyk(Probely)

Overview:

Snyk DAST (formerly Probely) is a cloud-based DAST tool geared toward straightforward application discovery and vulnerability scanning. It suits teams needing basic support for publicly accessible web apps without complex setup or deep security testing.

Snyk DAST performs standard DAST scans to identify common web vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, and misconfigurations. Discovery relies on domain and DNS connectors (AWS Route 53, Cloudflare), but lacks source‑code or API schema automation. Testing APIs requires manual uploads, with no support for business logic flaws or internal assets. While the tool integrates with ticketing systems (e.g., DefectDojo), and offers remediation guidance, it doesn’t include framework‑specific fixes, code‑level remediation, or advanced findings.

(Compare technical strengths of Escape vs Snyk DAST) 🔗 see comparison

🔍 Features

● Automated DAST Scanning: Performs classic dynamic application security testing (DAST) to identify common vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, and misconfigurations in web applications.

● External Asset Discovery: Supports limited asset discovery via domain connections and DNS providers like AWS Route53 and Cloudflare, but lacks deep discovery from source code or internal environments.

● Manual API Testing Setup: Requires manual upload of API specifications to initiate scans, with no support for automated API discovery or modern API testing workflows.

● Basic DevSecOps Integration: Includes integration with popular CI/CD and ticketing tools, but lacks features like custom security rules, internal API scanning, or developer-focused remediation guidance.

● Backed by Snyk Ecosystem: Benefits from the broader Snyk platform, integrating DAST tools into a more comprehensive developer security solution.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Simple DAST setup for standard web app vulnerabilities ✅ Quickly integrates with ticketing and CI/CD systems ✅ Backed by Snyk’s wider security ecosystem	❌ No native API discovery or automated schema generation ❌ Unable to test internal or VPN‑protected assets ❌ Does not detect business logic flaws or custom rules ❌ Requires manual API uploads for scanning ❌ Remediation lacks code‑level specificity and framework focus

Burp Suite

Overview:

Burp Suite DAST is one of the more widely used DAST tools designed to test the security of modern web applications through both automated and manual methods. Known for its deep customization and flexibility, it enables technical teams to identify vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF in dynamic environments.

Unlike simpler tools, Burp Suite DAST offers manual testing components alongside automated scans, making it a strong option for users with security expertise. While setup may be more involved, it remains a well-established dynamic application security testing (DAST) solution for teams needing both extensibility and precision.

🔍 Features

● Performs automated DAST scans to detect common web vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF.

● Allows manual security testing for complex scenarios, ideal for experienced security professionals.

● Supports advanced authentication workflows, including Basic Auth, JWT, session cookies, and login recording.

● Offers a flexible plugin system with both free and premium extensions for enhanced vulnerability detection and reporting.

● Includes manual testing tools like Burp Intruder, Repeater, and Sequencer for deep dynamic analysis and edge case testing.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Highly customizable, ideal for advanced users needing fine-tuned DAST testing capabilities ✅ Supports a wide range of authentication methods for complex login workflows ✅ Part of the Burp Suite ecosystem with a large user and plugin community	❌ Requires manual testing expertise and tuning to deliver optimal results ❌ Lacks built-in support for automated GraphQL or modern API scanning ❌ Limited detection of business logic vulnerabilities ❌ Can be resource-heavy during extensive scans

Intruder

Overview:

Intruder is a cloud-based DAST tool designed for simplicity and wide-ranging coverage across web applications, APIs, and infrastructure. It excels in identifying exposed systems, misconfigurations, and known vulnerabilities with minimal configuration, making it a strong fit for SMBs and security aware development teams.

Unlike traditional enterprise tools, Intruder provides fast, automated security testing for both internal and external assets. It also includes manual black-box testing capabilities to support deeper assessments when needed.

🔍 Features

● Cyber Hygiene Score: Reflects an organization’s security posture by scoring how effectively vulnerabilities are managed useful for compliance and risk tracking.

● Extensive Integration Options: Supports tools like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Cloudflare, Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Teams, and Vanta, streamlining workflows across DevOps pipelines.

● Real-Time Vulnerability Alerts: Provides instant alerts when critical issues are detected, enabling fast response and reduced exposure.

● Audit-Ready Reports: Delivers compliance friendly reports for internal reviews, audits, and regulatory requirements.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Easy integration into CI/CD pipelines to align with DevOps practices ✅ Cost-effective DAST solution for individual users or growing teams ✅ Offers continuous vulnerability scanning and cloud security insights	❌ Manual testing features may require expert involvement for full value ❌ Does not extend scanning to Kubernetes or advanced code-level analysis ❌ Lack of scan customization may reduce efficiency in complex environments

Checkmarx

Overview:

Checkmarx is a security platform that combines Static and Dynamic Application Security Testing (SAST and DAST), offering a holistic solution for identifying vulnerabilities across the software development lifecycle. It performs DAST scans against live applications to uncover runtime risks, while also using SAST to detect issues in source code before deployment. This combined approach helps larger enterprises manage security at scale.Learn more about SAST vs DAST.

It supports the analysis of APIs, including REST, SOAP, and gRPC, making it suitable for complex applications with diverse architectures. While it’s powerful, Checkmarx requires a deeper investment in setup and resources, which aligns it more with larger organizations.

🔍 Features

● Performs SAST and DAST together for complete visibility across development and runtime environments.

● Integrates into CI/CD pipelines to automate testing before deployment stages.

● Supports automated testing of APIs and endpoints in live production environments.

● Correlates security findings across multiple layers: source code, APIs, open-source components, and infrastructure as code.

● Provides educational resources to help developers write secure code.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Combines multiple security testing methods (SAST, DAST, and SCA) into one platform ✅ Scalable architecture and flexible configurations for large enterprise environments ✅ Supports integration with common CI/CD tools and developer workflows	❌ Requires considerable expertise and setup time for effective implementation ❌ Limited support for GraphQL API security testing ❌ Complex user interface may pose challenges for usability ❌ Higher potential for false positives compared to specialized DAST tools ❌ Custom rule configuration can be difficult to manage

Fortify

Overview:

Fortify WebInspect by OpenText is a dynamic application security testing (DAST) tool designed to detect vulnerabilities that traditional IAST tools might miss. It leverages functional security testing to enhance web application protection and supports horizontal scaling using Kubernetes to boost JavaScript scanning speeds.

The platform offers flexible deployment models, including on-premise, SaaS, and AppSec-as-a-Service, making it suitable for various enterprise environments. With built-in compliance templates and integrations, WebInspect is ideal for security teams needing robust, customizable application security assessments.

🔍 Features

● Detects redundant and duplicate pages to optimize scanning workflows

● Automatically generates macros to streamline test coverage

● Offers containerized delivery for modern infrastructure compatibility

● Scans multiple API protocols including REST, SOAP, OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman, GraphQL, and gRPC

● Integrates with OpenText tools such as Application Lifecycle Management and Quality Center for centralized control

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Simultaneous crawling and auditing for faster vulnerability detection ✅ Customizable reporting for compliance and executive visibility ✅ Flexible deployment across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem environments	❌ Requires technical expertise for effective configuration and use ❌ Steep learning curve to maximize platform efficiency ❌ Limited CI/CD integration may slow adoption in fast-paced DevOps environments

Detectify

Overview:

Detectify is a cloud-based DAST tool designed to uncover vulnerabilities in publicly exposed web applications. It combines Surface Monitoring to detect changes and risks across subdomains and DNS assets with Application Scanning, which uses fuzzing techniques to find known web security flaws like SQL injection, XSS, and misconfigurations.

As one of the more lightweight DAST tools, Detectify is easy to set up and geared towards monitoring external-facing assets. However, it lacks native support for internal application scanning, complex authentication, and API security testing—making it less suitable for organizations with broader or more modern security requirements. To explore a more advanced approach to dynamic application security, see this detailed comparison of Detectify and modern DAST alternatives.

🔍 Features

● Continuously monitors domains and subdomains via DNS integrations such as AWS Route53, Azure, Cloudflare, and Google Cloud DNS.

● Uses fuzzing-based DAST scanning to identify common vulnerabilities like XSS, SQL injection, and insecure headers.

● Supports basic authentication and session cookies, but lacks advanced login handling or multi-factor workflows.

● Focused on external attack surface monitoring; does not support internal app or behind-the-firewall scanning.

● No native support for API security testing, GraphQL scanning, or automatic API schema handling.

📊 Pros & Cons

📈 Pros	📉 Cons
✅ Simple setup and fast onboarding for external web application scanning ✅ Continuous monitoring of public-facing domains for exposure ✅ Detects widely known vulnerabilities using automated DAST scanning	❌ No native API testing or support for scanning internal applications ❌ Limited handling of complex authentication flows ❌ Generic remediation advice, not tailored to specific development frameworks ❌ Minimal reporting capabilities, lacking detailed compliance views ❌ Not ideal for scaling in larger or more complex security environments

Examples of the legacy DAST tools

Qualys

Qualys' Web Application Scanning (WAS) is a cloud-based service with integrated API testing, focusing on identifying the OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities. Its test suite spans legacy systems and cloud applications, and natively, Qualys only handles REST and SOAP APIs. The platform mostly addresses common issues such as authorization and authentication flaws, rate limiting, and injection vulnerabilities.

💡Explore a comprehensive comparison of Escape vs Qualys here.

Features

• Can integrate with CI/CD pipelines and ITSM tools like Jira
• Has its own TruRisk scoring system to prioritize risks for your organization
• Can consolidate manual third-party pen testing data within the platform's automated scans

Qualys API inventory

Rapid7 InsightAppSec

Rapid7's InsightAppSec is a legacy DAST scanner that scans applications hosted on a closed network with an optional on-premise engine that scans applications cloud engines cannot reach. Its "Universal Translator" technology means the tool can handle a range of protocols and application formats, and identifies vulnerabilities including SQL injections, XSS and CRSF. Rapid7 tests both applications and APIs, but it treats them the same, not considering the unique needs of API security.

💡Find a complete comparison between Escape and Rapid7 here

Features

• Has crawl maps and scan logs, which detect authentication or access failures early in the scan
• Offers advanced scan settings
• Attack Replay allows teams to validate vulnerabilities
• Comes with pre-built default attack templates and custom attack templates
• Can leverage both cloud and on-prem scanning engines

Rapid7 InsightAppSec Dashboard

Veracode

Veracode is a cloud-native platform that encompasses SAST, DAST, SCA and manual penetration testing, focusing on targeting web applications and APIs. Veracode automates security tasks and workflows throughout the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and is a platform targeted toward teams who are looking to scan multiple applications simultaneously in their DAST.

Features

• Combines crawling and auditing
• Can integrate the platform with popular ticketing systems
• Veracode provides remediation guidance to interpret scan results
• Can schedule and automate scans, and the platform supports browser limitation and authentication

Veracode scanner status page

What makes a DAST Tool stand out? Key features to look for

1. Continuous automated scanning: A DAST should be continuously scanning all exposed applications in order to uncover all vulnerabilities that may arise
2. Real-time alerts and insights: As the DAST uncovers weaknesses, security teams should be immediately informed and provided with recommended remediations in order to optimize risk mitigation
3. Be comprehensive and prioritized: DAST tools should uncover those vulnerabilities security teams may not even be aware of, and be tailored to a business's specific needs with limited to no false positives and prioritized testing and alerts
4. Integration into workflow pipelines: As a security tool, a DAST should integrate seamlessly into a DevSecOps pipeline to streamline security testing

Choosing the Right DAST Tool for 2025

If you’re evaluating DAST tools for modern stacks especially APIs, SPAs, and CI/CD-native workflows, your priorities are clear: low false positives, real coverage of business logic flaws, and seamless integration into developer pipelines.

Legacy scanners fall short. Tools like Escape are built from the ground up for today’s AppSec challenges - offering advanced detection, instant feedback in CI/CD, and real-world testing that matches how attackers operate.

💡 Want to discover more about DAST? Check out the following links:

• DAST is dead, why Business Logic Security Testing takes center stage
• We benchmarked DAST products, and this is what we learned
• The Elephant in AppSec Podcast⎥ Lack of effective DAST tools⎥ Aleksandr Krasnov (Meta, Thinkific, Dropbox)
• Reinventing API security: Why Escape is better than traditional DAST tools
• Escape DAST - Your Detectify Alternative