StackHawk made DAST developer-friendly. NightVision makes it complete — scanning the undocumented APIs StackHawk can't see, because it doesn't need an OpenAPI spec to start.
These are two different tools built for two different worlds. The question isn't which one is better — it's which one fits where you actually are.
StackHawk deserves credit for pioneering developer-first DAST. It's genuinely CI/CD-native, configuration lives in code, and its OpenAPI-driven scanning is fast and well-documented. If your APIs are fully documented with accurate, current OpenAPI specs, StackHawk does its job well.
StackHawk's scanning is driven by the OpenAPI spec you give it. No spec, no coverage — and 70–90% of REST APIs are undocumented. Every shadow endpoint, every legacy route, every API a team shipped without updating Swagger is invisible to StackHawk. NightVision generates the spec from your source code, so your real attack surface gets tested, not just the documented one.
A direct comparison across the dimensions that matter most for modern application security programs.
| Capability | NightVision | StackHawk |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD-native integration | ✅ Native — GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins, Azure DevOps | ✅ Native — strong CI/CD story |
| Requires OpenAPI spec to scan APIs | ✅ No — API eNVy™ generates specs from source in <20 seconds | ❌ Yes — spec-driven; undocumented APIs aren't tested |
| Undocumented / shadow API discovery | ✅ Automatic, from source code | ❌ Not available |
| Average scan time | ✅ 3–10 minutes per app or API | ✅ Fast for spec-defined scope |
| Findings pinpointed to code line | ✅ Exact file path and line number (static + dynamic) | ⚠️ Request-level findings; manual code tracing |
| Private network scanning | ✅ Smart proxy — zero infrastructure changes | ⚠️ Runs in your pipeline; scanner placement is on you |
| Web app (browser) scanning | ✅ Full web app + API scanning | ⚠️ API-centric; browser-based app coverage is limited |
| AI-assisted remediation | ✅ Contextual AI explanations per finding | ❌ Not included |
| False positive approach | ✅ Evidence-based — validated findings only | ⚠️ Tunable, but validation is manual |
| SOC 2 certified | ✅ AICPA SOC 2 | ✅ Yes |
| Free tier | ✅ Free 3-day trial, no card required | ✅ Free tier available |
| Pricing | ✅ From $100/month (individual) — transparent | ⚠️ Per-app pricing; grows quickly with app count |
These aren't feature checkboxes. They're the reasons security teams running CI/CD at scale are making the switch.
StackHawk needs an OpenAPI spec to know what to scan. API eNVy™ builds the spec from your source code in under 20 seconds — including the 70–90% of endpoints that were never documented.
Shadow APIs, legacy routes, endpoints shipped without Swagger updates — NightVision discovers and tests them all automatically.
Findings are tied to the exact file and line, not just the request that triggered them. Developers fix issues without detective work.
NightVision scans browser-based web applications and APIs in one platform — no separate tooling for each.
The smart proxy reaches private-network apps without agents or routing changes.
Every finding ships with contextual AI explanation — what it is, why it matters, where to fix it.
"We won an award at our company's internal hackathon for demonstrating developer teams executing a DAST scan on a web app in eight minutes from start to finish during build time, with tickets opened automatically with Engineering."Steve McKinnon · Senior Application Security Engineer, BeyondTrust
This is the key difference. StackHawk's scanning is driven by an OpenAPI spec you provide — no spec, no coverage. NightVision's API eNVy™ generates the OpenAPI spec directly from your source code in under 20 seconds, so undocumented and shadow APIs get discovered and tested automatically.
Yes. Both tools are CI/CD-native. NightVision integrates with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and Azure DevOps, with scans completing in 3–10 minutes and findings posted to the pull request.
NightVision goes further: combined static + dynamic analysis pinpoints each validated finding to the exact file path and line number, not just the HTTP request that triggered it.
Yes — NightVision's smart proxy scans private-network applications with zero infrastructure changes. No agents, no routing configuration.
NightVision starts at $100/month for individuals with a free 3-day trial, no credit card required. Enterprise plans are available for teams.
Yes. Because NightVision generates its own API specs from source, migration usually means connecting your repo and pipeline — most teams run their first scan in under 10 minutes.
Run a free scan on one of your apps. No credit card. No sales call. Results in under 10 minutes.