Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

BeyondTrust vs OWASP ZAP

BeyondTrust logo

BeyondTrust

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management, endpoint privilege management and secure remote access

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OWASP ZAP logo

OWASP ZAP

Cybersecurity

Free, open-source web application scanner and intercepting proxy, now governed by the Software Security Project.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OWASP ZAP has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BeyondTrust the product lines came from separate origins and still have separate consoles, so buying the suite does not deliver the single pane of glass the bundle implies.; OWASP ZAP authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
  • They diverge on capability: BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BeyondTrust and OWASP ZAP actually diverge.

Attributes where BeyondTrust and OWASP ZAP differ
AttributeBeyondTrustOWASP ZAP
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, WebDesktop, Cli, Api
FoundedUnknown2001

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BeyondTrust

  • Password Safe
  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • Remote Support
  • Discovery
  • Session recording

Only in OWASP ZAP

  • Intercepting proxy
  • Passive scanner
  • Active scanner
  • AJAX spider
  • Automation Framework
  • Headless daemon and REST API
  • Docker images
  • Add-on marketplace

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BeyondTrust

  • An organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of Windows endpoints without swamping the service desknot OWASP ZAP
  • A utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory auditnot OWASP ZAP
  • A firm giving external maintenance vendors access to specific servers without handing over credentialsnot OWASP ZAP
  • A helpdesk consolidating remote support and privileged access onto one audited path rather than an unmanaged remote toolnot OWASP ZAP

OWASP ZAP

  • Adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handfulnot BeyondTrust
  • Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot BeyondTrust
  • Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot BeyondTrust
  • Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot BeyondTrust

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BeyondTrust

  • The product lines came from separate origins and still have separate consoles, so buying the suite does not deliver the single pane of glass the bundle implies.
  • Licensing metrics differ between products, per managed account, per endpoint, per concurrent session, which makes multi-product quotes hard to compare with competitors and hard to forecast as you grow.
  • Self-hosted deployments carry real infrastructure and upgrade burden, and organisations without a dedicated PAM administrator find the system drifts out of maintenance.
  • Endpoint privilege management requires sustained rule authoring as applications change, so the first-year saving in helpdesk tickets erodes if nobody owns the policy afterwards.
  • Discovery finds far more privileged accounts than most organisations expect, which is valuable but converts a licence purchase into a longer remediation programme before the control is real.

OWASP ZAP

  • Authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
  • There is no support contract in the product, so when a scan breaks the day before a release the escalation path is a GitHub issue and a community chat, which is not an answer that satisfies a delivery manager or an auditor who wants a named responsible party.
  • Active scanning sends genuine attack traffic, so it can create records, trigger emails, exhaust rate limits or destabilise a fragile environment, and pointing it at production without prior agreement produces an incident rather than a test result.
  • Output needs triage: passive rules generate large volumes of low-severity informational findings about headers and cookie flags that bury the few results that matter, and a team without someone tuning the rule set stops reading the report within a few sprints.
  • As a dynamic scanner it can only test what it can reach, so authorisation flaws between accounts, business logic abuse and anything behind an undiscovered endpoint go unreported, and a passing ZAP scan is evidence of nothing more than the absence of the classes of bug it looks for.

Pricing, plan by plan

BeyondTrust

On request
  • BeyondTrust Platform$undefined/year
    • Password Safe priced by managed asset or account
    • Endpoint Privilege Management priced per endpoint
    • Remote access products priced per concurrent licence or endpoint

OWASP ZAP

Free
  • Free & Open SourceFree
    • Full functionality
    • Active & passive scanning
    • Spider

Which should you pick?

Choose BeyondTrust if

  • You need password safe.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web.
  • You also want endpoint privilege management.
BeyondTrust review

Choose OWASP ZAP if

  • You need intercepting proxy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Desktop, Cli, Api.
  • You also want passive scanner.
OWASP ZAP review

Questions people ask

Is BeyondTrust or OWASP ZAP better?
Neither clearly leads. BeyondTrust starts at On request and OWASP ZAP at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BeyondTrust or OWASP ZAP?
OWASP ZAP has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for BeyondTrust and Free for OWASP ZAP.
Does BeyondTrust or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
BeyondTrust runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web. OWASP ZAP runs on Desktop, Cli, Api.
Can I use OWASP ZAP for free?
Yes. OWASP ZAP has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BeyondTrust starts at On request.
What is BeyondTrust best used for?
BeyondTrust is most often used for an organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of windows endpoints without swamping the service desk, a utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory audit, a firm giving external maintenance vendors access to specific servers without handing over credentials, a helpdesk consolidating remote support and privileged access onto one audited path rather than an unmanaged remote tool. Of those, an organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of windows endpoints without swamping the service desk and a utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory audit are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
What can BeyondTrust do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, Endpoint Privilege Management, Privileged Remote Access, Remote Support. OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BeyondTrust: Is endpoint privilege management sold separately from the vault?

Yes. They are distinct products with distinct licensing metrics, and many customers buy only one.

OWASP ZAP: Is it still called OWASP ZAP?

The project left OWASP in August 2024 and is now governed by the Software Security Project, with core development sponsored by Checkmarx. The tool is now just ZAP, though most existing documentation, courses and search results still use the OWASP name.

BeyondTrust: Can it record vendor sessions?

Yes, with credential injection so the third party never learns the password, and full video and keystroke recording for audit.

OWASP ZAP: Is it free for commercial use?

Yes. It is Apache 2.0 licensed, with no per-application, per-scan or per-user cost, and it can be used and modified commercially without a licence agreement.

BeyondTrust: Is there a FedRAMP option?

BeyondTrust offers FedRAMP-authorised deployments for United States government buyers, which is often the deciding factor in that sector.

OWASP ZAP: Can it replace a penetration test?

No. It automates checks for known vulnerability classes against endpoints it can reach. It does not reason about business logic, chain findings into an attack, or test authorisation between accounts, which is most of what a tester actually does.

OWASP ZAP: Does it run in CI?

Yes, through the official Docker images and the Automation Framework, which defines scan jobs in YAML so configuration lives in the repository. A baseline passive scan is the usual starting point because it is fast and non-intrusive.

OWASP ZAP: How does it compare to Burp Suite?

Burp Suite Professional is the more polished manual testing tool and has a stronger scanner and extension ecosystem, but it is licensed per tester and Burp Suite Enterprise per target. ZAP is the better fit where cost per target is the binding constraint; many teams use both.

Share

Related pages

More on BeyondTrust

More on OWASP ZAP

Keep looking

Other head to heads