GitHub CodeQL vs gosec
GitHub CodeQL
codeql.github.comgosec
github.comSide by side
| Figure | GitHub CodeQL | gosec |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $30/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Static Application Security Testing Software | 8.6 (#3) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Spec score · Static Application Security Testing Sast | 8.5 (#4) | 8.6 (#3) |
| Spec score · SAST Tools | 8.5 (#5) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Spec score · Static Analysis Tools | 8.5 (#8) | 8.6 (#7) |
| CI integration | The CodeQL bundle can be downloaded for an external CI system to generate code-scanning results and upload them to GitHub. | The project supplies an official GitHub Action for scanning repositories in workflows. |
| Purpose | CodeQL is a language and toolchain for code analysis that treats code as data. | gosec inspects Go source code for security problems by scanning its AST and SSA code representation. |
Plans
GitHub CodeQL
- Free for research and open sourceFree
- GitHub Code Security$30 a month
- CodeQL for open source and researchFree
- GitHub Code Security$30 a month
- GitHub Free with CodeQL code scanningPrice not published
In their own words
GitHub CodeQL
GitHub CodeQL has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
gosec
gosec is a free Go source-code security checker that analyzes abstract syntax trees and static single assignment representations. It applies pattern rules, SSA analyzers, and taint analysis to detect issues including injection, path traversal, SSRF, unsafe deserialization, cryptography and TLS problems, blocklisted imports, and Go-specific risks. Findings map to Common Weakness Enumeration entries. Users can select or exclude rules, define path-based exclusions, and change settings such as audit mode. Reports are available as text, JSON, YAML, CSV, JUnit XML, HTML, SonarQube, golint, and SARIF. The project documents GitHub Actions and SARIF uploads to GitHub code scanning; its goanalysis package supports tools such as Bazel nogo. Local installation requires Go 1.25 or newer, with dependencies loaded through Go modules. An optional AI feature suggests fixes through Atlas Cloud, Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, or custom OpenAI-compatible APIs. Automated detection can produce false positives, which annotations can suppress. It is licensed under Apache License 2.0.