Cairn vs OWASP ZAP
Cairn
cairnsecurity.comOWASP ZAP
zaproxy.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cairn | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $99/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Penetration Testing Software | 7.8 (#15) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Audience | Cairn describes its platform as built for offensive security teams and penetration testing firms. | ZAP says it is designed for developers, testers new to security testing, and security testing specialists. |
| Deployment | Cairn is offered as hosted multi-tenant SaaS or self-hosted using Docker, Kubernetes, or bare metal, with an air-gapped option. | ZAP publishes Docker images, including a bare image described as minimal and ideal for CI. |
| Purpose | Cairn combines pentest scoping, statements of work, reporting, and a client portal in one platform. | ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. |
Plans
Cairn
- Starter$99 a month
- Team$149 a month
- Business$249 a month
- On-prem & air-gapped$30,000 a year
In their own words
OWASP ZAP
OWASP ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. Its tools include active and passive scanning, a spider, alerts, and scan policies. ZAP’s Automation Framework uses YAML plans to coordinate jobs such as scanning, spidering, API imports, and report generation. It can import OpenAPI, GraphQL, SOAP, and Postman definitions through jobs or add-ons. GitHub Actions are available for baseline, full, and API scans via Docker-packaged scans, and the project publishes Docker images, including a minimal image for CI. Add-ons come from an online Marketplace and are generally installed or removed without restarting ZAP. The software is free and open source, with a free plan at free. It supports Linux, macOS, Windows, API use, and self-hosted deployment. Windows and Linux installers require Java 17 or later; the macOS installer includes Java 17. ZAP says it can support only its latest full release, and current releases are unsigned, though checksums are provided.