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Government · head to head

CivicPlus vs OWASP ZAP

CivicPlus logo

CivicPlus

Government

Civic Engagement Technology

From
On request
Free plan
No
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
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OWASP ZAP has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CivicPlus no public pricing tiers, rates, or cost information available; 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: CivicPlus covers Government Websites, OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where CivicPlus and OWASP ZAP differ
AttributeCivicPlusOWASP ZAP
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidDesktop, Cli, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2001).

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 CivicPlus

  • Government Websites
  • Agenda Management
  • Mass Notifications
  • Online Forms
  • Social Media Management
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • GovDelivery

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.

CivicPlus

  • Municipal government softwarenot OWASP ZAP
  • City website managementnot OWASP ZAP
  • Recreation management for local governmentnot 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 CivicPlus
  • Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot CivicPlus
  • Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot CivicPlus
  • Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot CivicPlus

Where each one falls short

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

CivicPlus

  • No public pricing tiers, rates, or cost information available
  • Requires direct contact with sales team for pricing estimates
  • No free trial or freemium tier option listed

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

CivicPlus

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the CivicPlus review.

OWASP ZAP

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

Which should you pick?

Choose CivicPlus if

  • You need government websites.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want agenda management.
CivicPlus 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 CivicPlus or OWASP ZAP better?
Neither clearly leads. CivicPlus 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, CivicPlus or OWASP ZAP?
OWASP ZAP has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for CivicPlus and Free for OWASP ZAP.
Does CivicPlus or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
CivicPlus runs on Web, Ios, Android. 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. CivicPlus starts at On request.
What is CivicPlus best used for?
CivicPlus is most often used for municipal government software, city website management, recreation management for local government. Of those, municipal government software and city website management are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
What can CivicPlus do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
CivicPlus covers Government Websites, Agenda Management, Mass Notifications, Online Forms. OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CivicPlus: What does CivicPlus cost?

CivicPlus uses a custom pricing model with no published rates. Interested organizations must fill out a form and speak with a technology strategist to receive a pricing estimate based on specific needs.

Source
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.

CivicPlus: Does CivicPlus offer different pricing for different sized municipalities?

Yes, CivicPlus pricing is customized based on organization size and the specific products selected from their portfolio (websites, recreation management, utility billing, etc.).

Source
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.

CivicPlus: How do I request pricing from CivicPlus?

Visit civicplus.com/pricing to fill out a form or call 888-228-2233 to speak with a technology strategist about your municipality's requirements and receive a custom estimate.

Source
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.

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