CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Apiiro vs Checkmarx

Apiiro offers Guardian Agent, which protects coding agents, prevents risk and AutoFixes backlogs, powered by the Apiiro Context Graph. Checkmarx sells Checkmarx Developer Assist, which delivers context-aware security guidance directly within a developer's IDE. CISO Tribune files both under Application security posture management and Software composition analysis. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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Up to four companies side by side.

  • Apiiro
  • Checkmarx
Apiiro vs Checkmarx: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ApiiroApiiro offers Guardian Agent, which protects coding agents, prevents risk and AutoFixes backlogs, powered by the Apiiro Context Graph.apiiro.comCheckmarxCheckmarx sells Checkmarx Developer Assist, which delivers context-aware security guidance directly within a developer's IDE.checkmarx.com
What it sells
  • AI-SAST[9]Static analysis that uses context from the customer's software graph and business risk to detect vulnerabilities.
  • AI-SCA[10]Open source security that moves from CVE matching to risk validation and fix.
  • Checkmarx Developer Assist[5]Delivers context-aware security guidance within the IDE. It combines realtime scanning with agentic AI remediation.
  • Checkmarx MCP Server[5]A secure gateway that bridges AI-powered development assistants with the Checkmarx security platform.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2006[2]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by Hellman & Friedman since 2020[2][4][5]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • July 28, 2026Checkmarx announced Checkmarx Fusion, a hybrid scanning approach now available in early access to its customers.[6]
  • April 27, 2026Checkmarx disclosed that its investigation into a supply chain security incident found a cybercriminal group had published company-related data on the dark web.[3]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[15]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[4]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Apiiro presents Guardian Agent as delivering outcomes for CISOs and CTOs. In our reading, the Apiiro Context Graph is aimed at application security, development and compliance teams working alongside coding agents. Apiiro gives maintainers free AutoFix.From its own pages, Checkmarx sells mainly to developers who write code in IDEs and with AI coding agents. Its documentation describes plugins for several IDEs and for AI coding agents. Checkmarx offers Developer Assist in distinct licensing models, each serving a distinct segment of its customers, including SAST on-premises accounts.
Last verified
November 3, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Apiiro and Checkmarx are both filed under Application security posture management and Software composition analysis.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Apiiro's primary category is Application security posture management; Checkmarx's is Static application security testing.
  • Apiiro is also filed under Software supply chain security and AI model and agent security. Checkmarx is also filed under Dynamic application security testing.
  • Apiiro lists AI-SAST and AI-SCA. Checkmarx lists Checkmarx Developer Assist and Checkmarx MCP Server.
  • Checkmarx was founded in 2006.
  • Checkmarx is owned by Hellman & Friedman, since 2020.

What it sells: Apiiro

What AI-SAST does[9]
AI-SAST shifts static analysis from a detection problem to a risk validation and fix problem. AI-powered SAST uses context from the customer's software graph and business risk to detect vulnerabilities, validate true positives and identify false positives. Deep Code Analysis builds the Software Graph across files, code modules, repositories and code owners, updated on every commit.
What AI-SCA does[10]
AI-SCA shifts open source security from CVE matching to risk validation and fix. Contextual analysis decides whether a vulnerability is used in code, internet exposed and exploitable. Malicious packages, license conflicts and AI components are covered beyond CVEs. Dependency scanning reaches the leaf node, covering direct, transitive and custom-built internal dependencies.

What it sells: Checkmarx

What Checkmarx Developer Assist does[5]
Checkmarx Developer Assist provides real-time detection, remediation and actionable insights as developers write or refine AI-generated and existing code. It comprises two main elements, Realtime Scanning and Agentic-AI Remediation. Plugins exist for IDEs and for AI coding agents.
What Checkmarx MCP Server does[5]
The Checkmarx MCP Server defines the tools and APIs that allow AI agents to interact with Checkmarx cloud services from within the IDE. The MCP Service is installed automatically once the developer authenticates in the IDE.

Questions about Apiiro and Checkmarx

What do Apiiro and Checkmarx sell?
Apiiro sells AI-SAST and AI-SCA. Checkmarx sells Checkmarx Developer Assist and Checkmarx MCP Server.
Are Apiiro and Checkmarx in the same category?
They share Application security posture management and Software composition analysis. Apiiro's primary category is Application security posture management and Checkmarx's is Static application security testing.
When were Apiiro and Checkmarx founded?
Checkmarx was founded in 2006.
Who owns Apiiro and Checkmarx?
Checkmarx is owned by Hellman & Friedman, since 2020.
Who are Apiiro and Checkmarx sold to?
From its own pages, Apiiro presents Guardian Agent as delivering outcomes for CISOs and CTOs. From its own pages, Checkmarx sells mainly to developers who write code in IDEs and with AI coding agents.
What have Apiiro and Checkmarx announced recently?
July 28, 2026: Checkmarx announced Checkmarx Fusion, a hybrid scanning approach now available in early access to its customers.

About Apiiro

Apiiro offers Guardian Agent, which protects coding agents, prevents risk and AutoFixes backlogs, powered by the Apiiro Context Graph. Apiiro describes agentic development as a setting where code is written by agents, risk appears at machine speed, and offensive agents exploit vulnerabilities in seconds. Guardian Agent delivers three outcomes for CISOs and CTOs by executing actions and measuring success. On compliance, Apiiro provides automated evidence collection and policy enforcement for every feature and code change.[1][3][4][5]

Guardian Agent actions run on the AppSec Context Graph, made up of a Software Graph and a Risk Graph, which gives every action the context of policies and software architecture from prompt to code to runtime. Patented Deep Code Analysis (DCA) and code-to-runtime matching continuously map each customer's evolving software architecture, including APIs, AI assets, PII, OSS, internal packages and their material changes. Apiiro correlates code to runtime to trace exposure paths and reachability. Apiiro governs every tool and change, human or agent, with one policy and risk engine.[2][3][4]

Apiiro discovers, inventories and catalogs AI models, agents, MCP servers, AI datasets, 3rd-party services and everything inside codebases. Apiiro discovers and inventories the AI tools that developers and coding agents use, including IDEs, extensions, skills, plugins and MCP servers. Apiiro discovers, inventories and tracks open-source dependencies, licenses, end-of-life status, versions and vulnerabilities, and where they are used across the software architecture graph. Apiiro discovers, inventories and assesses cryptographic usage in code, including encryption, hashing, keys, secrets, certificates, algorithms and KMS implementation. Apiiro discovers, inventories and maps CI/CD pipelines, build systems, artifacts, registries, deployment flows and the software delivery paths from code to runtime. Apiiro's policy and risk engine is an open, graph-based risk engine that correlates findings from 1st/3rd-party tools, maps them to the software graph, detects toxic combinations and blast radius, and prioritizes business-specific risk. Apiiro assesses AI usage risks across code and the software supply chain, including dependencies, models, coding agents, MCP servers, skills and extensions. Apiiro continuously ingests, assesses, manages and tracks Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) across codebases, the software supply chain (OSS) and 3rd-party applications.[1][7]

Autonomous monitoring detects new feature tickets in Jira, GitHub and Azure DevOps and triggers threat analysis with no human in the loop.[8]

AI-SAST shifts static analysis from a detection problem to a risk validation and fix problem. Deep Code Analysis (DCA) continuously builds a Software Graph of the software architecture across files, code modules, repositories and code owners, updated on every commit and material change. AI-SCA shifts open source security from CVE matching to risk validation and fix. Apiiro continuously detects vulnerable and malicious OSS components and risky licenses using AI-powered context from the customer's software graph and business risk. Dependency scanning runs to the leaf node, covering direct, transitive and custom-built internal dependencies. Open source coverage extends beyond CVEs to malicious packages, license conflicts and AI components.[5][6][7][9][10][12]

Apiiro detects secrets in code, history, documentation and pipelines. Apiiro surfaces secrets deleted from the codebase that remain in every branch and revision of Git history. Apiiro checks every detected secret against the issuing platform, marking it valid, invalid or revoked. Guardrails block valid secrets at the pull request, before deployment. Apiiro inventories AI agents, MCP servers, GenAI frameworks, models, datasets and AI-related secrets from code on every commit. Apiiro blocks unapproved frameworks and models at the pull request. Apiiro generates audit-ready evidence for the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 from code.[11][12]

Apiiro maps packages, skills and plugins to their repositories, coding agents, pipelines and running containers. Apiiro's Dependency Firewall scans open-source code using Deep Code Analysis to detect and block malicious packages before installation. Apiiro inspects packages downloaded by coding agents, locally and in the cloud, across operating systems. Package policies control installations based on malware, backdoors, vulnerabilities and application risk.[13]

AutoFix takes findings from Apiiro's own scanners, 3rd-party scanners and frontier model scans, and fixes them across the attack surface. Apiiro generates each fix in the context of the software architecture graph and organizational policies, and runs tests to prove nothing breaks. Apiiro reflects Chainguard's remediation state directly in Risk Graph, so findings Chainguard has already fixed stop showing as open. Apiiro AutoFixes OSS in first-party code based on risk and gives maintainers free AutoFix to accelerate community fixes.[1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9][10][14]

Apiiro on the record

Sources

Apiiro full record

  1. [1]apiiro.comApiiro · apiiro.com · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Apiiro named the most innovative aspm provider worldwide byfrostsullivansApiiro · apiiro.com · published December 9, 2025 · Tier A
  3. [3]Apiiro Context Graph: How it Works, Benefits, Use Cases | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Guardian Agent: Application Security Posture Management to action | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Guardian Agent: Secure agentic development | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Free AutoFix for open source maintainers | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Apiiro: Secure your agentic developmentApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Guardian Agent: AI Threat Modeling, Secure by Design | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI-SAST: Static scanning reimagined | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]AI-SCA: Open source security reimagined | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Secrets Security: Detect, validate, fix | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]AI-SPM: Discover & govern every AI asset | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Guardian Agent: Protect from Software Supply Chain Attacks | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Guardian Agent: AutoFix SAST, SCA, Secrets, API, Containers | ApiiroApiiro · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Apiiro Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Checkmarx full record

  1. [1]checkmarx.comCheckmarx · checkmarx.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Hellman friedman completes acquisition of checkmarxCheckmarx · checkmarx.com · published April 16, 2020 · Tier A
  3. [3]Checkmarx Confirms GitHub Repository Data Posted on Dark Web After March 23 AttackThe Hacker News · published April 27, 2026 · Tier B
  4. [4]Checkmarx Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  5. [5]About Checkmarx Developer AssistCheckmarx · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Checkmarx Fusion: Hybrid Scanning Delivers the Most Complete Vulnerability Detection AvailableGlobeNewswire · published July 28, 2026 · Tier A

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