Cybersecurity · head to head
Idira vs OWASP ZAP
Idira
Cybersecurity
Built on CyberArk's legacy and powered by Palo Alto Networks
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
OWASP ZAP
Cybersecurity
Free, open-source web application scanner and intercepting proxy, now governed by the Software Security Project.
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only OWASP ZAP has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Idira no pricing is published anywhere on the product page; every call to action is Request a Demo or a sales contact form; 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.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Idira and OWASP ZAP actually diverge.
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 Idira
Nothing recorded that OWASP ZAP does not also cover.
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.
Idira
- Tracking all privileged account usage in manufacturing facilitiesnot OWASP ZAP
- Securing clinical resource access across distributed healthcare practicesnot OWASP ZAP
- Implementing managed privilege access management across government agenciesnot OWASP ZAP
- Consolidating human, machine, and AI agent activity monitoringnot OWASP ZAP
- Centralizing vault and secrets management across environmentsnot 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 Idira
- Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot Idira
- Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot Idira
- Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot Idira
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Idira
- No pricing is published anywhere on the product page; every call to action is Request a Demo or a sales contact form
- Endpoint privilege management and agentic AI identity governance are sold as separate solution categories rather than one bundled price, so evaluating total cost requires multiple sales conversations
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
Idira
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Idira review.
OWASP ZAP
Free- Free & Open SourceFree
- Full functionality
- Active & passive scanning
- Spider
Which should you pick?
Choose Idira if
Nothing in the data separates Idira from OWASP ZAP on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Idira or OWASP ZAP better?
- Neither clearly leads. Idira 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, Idira or OWASP ZAP?
- OWASP ZAP has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Idira and Free for OWASP ZAP.
- Does Idira or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
- Idira runs on 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. Idira starts at On request.
- What is Idira best used for?
- Idira is most often used for tracking all privileged account usage in manufacturing facilities, securing clinical resource access across distributed healthcare practices, implementing managed privilege access management across government agencies, consolidating human, machine, and ai agent activity monitoring. Of those, tracking all privileged account usage in manufacturing facilities and securing clinical resource access across distributed healthcare practices are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
- What can Idira do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
- OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Idira: How is Idira priced and what are the costs?
Idira pricing is not disclosed on the Palo Alto Networks website. The company directs interested organizations to request a demo or contact their sales team directly to discuss pricing and licensing options for this identity security platform.
SourceOWASP 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.
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.
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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