OWASP Security-C4PO vs OWASP ZAP
OWASP Security-C4PO
owasp.github.ioOWASP ZAP
zaproxy.orgSide by side
| Figure | OWASP Security-C4PO | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Penetration Testing Software | 7.4 (#24) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Deployment | The project provides Docker images and a script that pulls and starts the services from Docker Hub. | ZAP publishes Docker images, including a bare image described as minimal and ideal for CI. |
| Project status | OWASP lists Security-C4PO as an incubator project. | ZAP says it has not been an OWASP project since August 2023 and identifies its current name as ZAP or ZAP by Checkmarx. |
| Purpose | Security-C4PO is an open-source web application for managing and documenting penetration tests. | ZAP is a web application scanner and proxy for security testing. |
| Reporting | It helps pentesters report security vulnerabilities and other risk-related findings and automatically build actionable reports. | Official report formats include HTML, JSON, XML, Markdown, PDF and SARIF variants. |
Plans
In their own words
OWASP Security-C4PO
OWASP Security-C4PO has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.