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Qodana

jetbrains.com

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Spec score 8.8 #1 of 25 in C and C++ Static Analysis Tools

What it is

Qodana analyzes code from the IDE through CI to find code smells, duplication, complexity, vulnerabilities, and license issues. Its baselines mark findings as new, unchanged, or resolved, and quality gates can block CI/CD pipelines based on issue counts, severity, coverage, or vulnerable and license-incompatible dependencies. Taint analysis identifies risks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, command injection, and path traversal. Qodana supports most JetBrains IDEs, along with VS Code, Visual Studio, and Cursor. Listed CI integrations include GitHub Actions, GitLab, TeamCity, Jenkins, and Azure Pipelines; Docker images can run in CI/CD pipelines. Self-Hosted runs within an organization’s infrastructure with Docker or Kubernetes deployment options. The Community plan is free and includes one team and 30 days of detailed history. Ultimate costs $5.00 per active contributor per month billed annually at $60.00; Ultimate Plus costs $15.00 per active contributor per month billed annually at $180.00. Licensing uses active contributors over the past 90 days, with a minimum of three.

Spec sheet

What it does
Qodana is JetBrains static-analysis software that checks code quality, security, dependencies and compliance from IDEs through CI/CD.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Purpose
Qodana runs static code analysis from the IDE through CI to detect code smells, duplicates, complexity, vulnerabilities, and license issues.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
API
The Qodana Cloud API can be used to create teams and projects in Qodana Cloud and Qodana Self-Hosted.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Support
The documentation directs users to the issue tracker or [email protected] for feature suggestions or unexpected behavior.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Headquarters
Amsterdam, NetherlandsRead 23 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Analysis coverage
JetBrains advertises more than 2,500 inspections across supported language linters.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
API licensing
Qodana Cloud API access is limited to the Ultimate Plus license and requires an Owner or Admin organization role to create tokens.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Baseline
Baseline categorizes existing findings so teams can focus on new, unchanged and resolved problems.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Baselines
Baseline functionality categorizes code issues as new, unchanged, or resolved relative to a baseline.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
CI integrations
Native integrations cover GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, TeamCity, Azure Pipelines and CircleCI; Docker supports other systems including Jenkins and Bitbucket Cloud.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
CLI license
The public qodana-cli repository is licensed under Apache License 2.0.Read 14 Oct 2026 · github.com
Code coverage
Coverage reports can be imported, viewed in IDEs and enforced as CI quality-gate thresholds.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Company founded
JetBrains was founded in 2000 and is privately held, according to its LinkedIn company profile.Read 14 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Company legal entity
Crunchbase identifies the maker as JetBrains s.r.o., a private for-profit company founded by Eugene Belyaev, Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipiatkov.Read 14 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
Company scale
JetBrains reports more than 2,600 employees across 13 offices in its 2026 annual highlights.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Contributor billing
Paid pricing counts people or bots committing to organization projects during the previous 90 days and applies a minimum of three contributors.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Gradle extensibility
The org.jetbrains.qodana Gradle plugin exposes qodanaScan and configurable project, results and cache paths.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
IDE support
Qodana integrates with JetBrains IDEs and also supports Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio and Cursor.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Languages
The paid editions support Groovy, Java, Kotlin, Python, C, C#, C++, VB.NET, Go, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Rust, and TypeScript.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
License audit
License audit checks dependency and project licenses and supports Maven, Gradle, Composer, npm, Yarn, pip, Go Modules and NuGet depending on the linter.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
License limit
The license cost is based on active contributors over the past 90 days, with a minimum of three contributors.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Limit: dashboard usability
The DEV reviewer found report navigation click-heavy and said circular chart text was difficult to read.Read 14 Oct 2026 · dev.to
Limit: Docker footprint
The DEV reviewer reported needing Docker Desktop because Rancher Desktop was unsupported and said Qodana images started around 4 GB.Read 14 Oct 2026 · dev.to
Limit: ecosystem gaps
G2 reviewers requested better C/C++ support and learning resources and reported that support for new .NET releases can lag.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: findings controls
A G2 reviewer said individual false positives could not be disabled, while others called some analyses basic and wanted stronger security review or AI optimization.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: license-audit export
The DEV reviewer said CSV SBOM exports omitted dependency type and package manager, creating ambiguity for identical package names.Read 14 Oct 2026 · dev.to
Limit: license-audit reliability
The DEV reviewer reported license auditing failed on an NGXS Yarn repository despite the documentation listing Yarn support.Read 14 Oct 2026 · dev.to
Limit: onboarding
G2 reviewers report that initial setup and configuration can feel overwhelming or clunky, and one said integration took substantial time even with support.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: pricing
G2 reviewers describe the cost as high or requiring a separate purchase and one requested a continuing freemium option.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Local deployment
The CLI can be installed with Homebrew, curl, Go, winget, Chocolatey or Scoop, and its default mode requires Docker or Podman.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Notable news: 2026.2
The July 2026 Qodana 2026.2 release added security inspections, custom security rules, post-quantum cryptography checks, coverage improvements and license-audit quality gates.Read 14 Oct 2026 · blog.jetbrains.com
Notable news: public API
JetBrains announced Qodana’s public API on October 9, 2025, including documentation, examples and OpenAPI specifications.Read 14 Oct 2026 · blog.jetbrains.com
Praise: automation
G2 reviewers repeatedly praise automated quality and security checks in CI/CD for reducing manual review work.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Praise: integrations
G2 reviewers repeatedly cite smooth GitHub, GitLab, JetBrains IDE, Rider and GitHub Actions integration.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Praise: interface
G2 reviewers describe the interface, severity categorization, graphs and reports as clear and useful.Read 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Praise: local analysis
An independent DEV reviewer found the baseline useful for deferring findings and the dashboard visually appealing.Read 14 Oct 2026 · dev.to
Product licensing
Qodana Community linters are proprietary JetBrains software under a Community Linters Agreement, although bundled third-party components may be open source.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Public API
The Cloud API uses an organization bearer token and can create teams and projects, list users and inspections, and query Insights; OpenAPI specifications and a sample client are provided.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Quality gates
Quality gates can fail pipelines based on issue counts, severity, coverage, vulnerable dependencies or license compliance.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Quick-fix
Quick-fix can generate pull requests or apply suggested fixes using CLEANUP or APPLY strategies.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Rating on G2
4.6 out of 5 from 10 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Trustpilot
2.6 out of 5 from 102 reviews for the JetBrains company profile; this profile is not specific to Qodana.Read 14 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Security analysis
Taint analysis helps identify risks including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, command injection, and path traversal.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Security controls
JetBrains documentation says Qodana data is encrypted in transit and at rest and that sensitive reports can be deleted.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Self-hosted deployment
Qodana Self-Hosted runs within an organization’s infrastructure and offers Kubernetes and Docker deployment options.Read 30 Sep 2026 · jetbrains.com
Self-hosted requirements
Recommended Kubernetes sizing ranges from 6–8 CPU cores, 8 GB RAM and 40–60 GB storage for a demo to 16+ cores, 32+ GB RAM and 200+ GB for medium-to-large production.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Self-hosting
Qodana Self-Hosted runs inside an organization using either a Kubernetes Helm deployment or a Linux Docker Engine and Docker Swarm installer.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Taint analysis
Taint analysis tracks untrusted data flows for issues such as SQL injection, XSS, command injection and path traversal.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Vulnerability checker
The vulnerability checker scans third-party packages for known vulnerabilities in CI.Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com

Plans and prices

Community Free JVM, Android, Python, .NET, C, C++ · 1 team · 30-day Cloud history · quality gates and baseline Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Ultimate $5 a month billed annually at $60.00; minimum 3 active contributors broader language coverage · unlimited projects, reports, LOC and tests · 180-day history · security analysis · code coverage · quick-fix Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Ultimate Plus $15 a month billed annually at $180.00; minimum 3 active contributors Ultimate features · unlimited historical data · global configuration · Insights · license audit · Cloud API · SSO · taint analysis · vulnerability checker Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com
Ultimate Plus Self-Hosted Priced on request custom pricing; volume discount available; minimum 5 active contributors on-premises deployment through CLI installer or Kubernetes Helm chart Read 14 Oct 2026 · jetbrains.com

Every Qodana plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Baselines distinguish new, unchanged, and resolved issues
  • Quality gates can block CI/CD pipelines
  • Taint analysis flags several classes of security risk
  • Supports major IDEs and listed CI integrations

Limits

  • Licensing has a three-contributor minimum
  • License cost depends on active contributors over 90 days
  • Community includes only 30 days of detailed history

Who it suits

Qodana suits development teams that want code analysis and configurable checks in CI/CD. Self-Hosted is an option for organizations deploying within their own infrastructure.

Qodana in depth

Read the full write-up

Qodana brings static code analysis into IDEs and CI pipelines, making it a strong fit for development teams that want findings to influence whether changes proceed. Its baseline tracking, configurable quality gates and cloud or self-hosted deployment cover a broad workflow, though the three-contributor license minimum can make it costly for small teams.

Overview

JetBrains’ Qodana scans code for smells, duplication and complexity, as well as vulnerabilities and license issues. Teams can use it while coding and then carry analysis into CI/CD, where quality gates can block a pipeline based on findings. That combination is more useful for teams seeking enforceable checks than for developers who only want a standalone analyzer.

Qodana supports more than 60 languages, including Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Kotlin, Python, Go, C#, C/C++, Ruby, Rust, Groovy, VB.NET and Android Java. The paid-edition language list names a broad set of common languages; teams should confirm that their particular language and workflow needs are covered before choosing a plan.

Key features

Prioritize changes with baselines

Qodana classifies issues as new, unchanged or resolved against a baseline. This helps teams focus on regressions without losing sight of existing debt, a practical advantage when introducing analysis to an established codebase.

Make analysis enforceable

Quality gates can block CI/CD pipelines based on issue counts, severity, coverage, or vulnerable and license-incompatible dependencies. That lets teams tie code quality and dependency risks to delivery controls rather than treating reports as advisory. Integrations include GitHub Actions, GitLab, TeamCity, Jenkins and Azure Pipelines; Docker images can run in virtually any CI/CD pipeline.

Check security risks

Taint analysis helps identify SQL injection, cross-site scripting, command injection and path traversal risks. This gives Qodana a security role alongside its checks for code quality and license issues.

Use it in existing environments

Qodana supports most JetBrains IDEs as well as VS Code, Visual Studio and Cursor. The Cloud API can create teams and projects in both Qodana Cloud and Qodana Self-Hosted, while self-hosted deployment keeps the service within an organization’s infrastructure.

Pricing

Qodana is freemium, with a free plan and a 30-day trial. Licensing is based on active contributors over the previous 90 days, with a minimum of three contributors. That minimum matters: even a small team may pay for more contributors than it has actively using the product.

PlanPriceWhat it includesCommunityfreeOne team; 30 days of detailed historical data; unlimited LOCs, projects and reports.Ultimate$5 a month$5.00 per active contributor/month, billed annually at $60.00; unlimited teams; 180 days of detailed historical data; unlimited LOCs, projects and reports.Ultimate Plus$15 a month$15.00 per active contributor/month, billed annually at $180.00; unlimited teams; unlimited historical data; unlimited LOCs, projects and reports.Community suits teams that can work within one team and a 30-day history window; its unlimited LOCs, projects and reports make those limits more consequential than codebase size. Ultimate is the paid step up for multiple teams or a longer, 180-day history, while Ultimate Plus is for organizations that need unlimited history. Both paid plans are billed annually, so the monthly rate is not a month-to-month commitment.

Platforms

Qodana is available through web and API, and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. Deployment can be cloud-based or self-hosted. Self-Hosted offers Kubernetes and Docker options; Docker deployment requires a Linux server with Docker Engine and Docker Swarm, so it is not simply a matter of running the service on any desktop machine.

Who it's for

Qodana is best suited to teams that want code analysis to span IDE work and CI, particularly when they need pipeline gates, baseline-aware issue tracking, or deployment inside their own infrastructure. Its language breadth and integrations support varied development environments. Solo developers and small projects should weigh the contributor minimum carefully; teams that need history beyond 30 days also have to move beyond Community.

Pros and cons

Pros: Baselines distinguish newly introduced findings from existing issues, helping teams adopt analysis without treating all accumulated debt as fresh work.

Pros: Quality gates cover issue counts, severity, coverage and dependency risks, making findings actionable in CI/CD.

Pros: Cloud and self-hosted deployment, including Kubernetes and Docker options, give organizations a choice about where Qodana runs.

Cons: Paid licenses have a three-contributor minimum based on active contributors over 90 days, which can be disproportionate for small teams.

Cons: Community limits detailed history to 30 days and one team; longer history or multiple teams require a paid plan.

Cons: Paid plans are billed annually, limiting flexibility for teams that want a monthly commitment.

Alternatives

Static Analysis Tools, C and C++ Static Analysis Tools and Code Quality Management Software provide broader categories for comparing tools.

Cppcheck is a free, freemium alternative with core static analysis functionality, a reasonable option when that is the priority. MATLAB Grader is free with a MATLAB license current under maintenance, and LMS integration requires a qualifying academic license. Squish is a paid alternative with a free trial. CodeScene offers a free Community Edition for open-source projects, including automated PR reviews, hotspots, knowledge distribution and PDF reports. Snyk Open Source has a free plan capped at five projects for access to its open-source software composition analysis. Gitar has a no-cost plan for public GitHub or GitLab repositories with an OSI-approved license, by application. Infer is a free static analyzer for supported programming languages, distributed as a binary, source build or Docker image. Semgrep Code has a free edition covering Code and Supply Chain for up to 10 repositories and 10 contributors.

Verdict

Choose Qodana if your team wants broad static analysis tied to CI pipeline controls and needs the choice of cloud or self-hosted deployment. Its strongest case is the combination of baseline tracking, quality gates and security analysis across development workflows. Look elsewhere if the contributor minimum or annual billing outweighs that breadth, or if your needs fit a narrower free tool.

Verdict

Qodana links code findings to pipeline controls, with both hosted and self-hosted deployment options. Teams should account for the contributor-based license minimum and plan-specific history limits.

Where Specifiction places it

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