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Government · head to head

NextRequest vs OWASP ZAP

NextRequest logo

NextRequest

Government

Public Records Request Management

From
$300/month
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: NextRequest now sold as part of the CivicPlus product line rather than standalone, and nextrequest.com redirects into the CivicPlus site; 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: NextRequest covers Request Intake, OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where NextRequest and OWASP ZAP differ
AttributeNextRequestOWASP ZAP
Starting price$300/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebDesktop, Cli, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded20152001

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

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 NextRequest

  • Request Intake
  • Workflow Management
  • Document Redaction
  • Public Portal
  • Reporting
  • Document Systems
  • Email
  • Payment Processors

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.

NextRequest

  • Receiving and routing public records and FOIA requestsnot OWASP ZAP
  • Tracking request status and statutory deadlines centrallynot OWASP ZAP
  • Redacting documents before release with RapidReviewnot OWASP ZAP
  • Invoicing and collecting payment for records requestsnot OWASP ZAP
  • Publishing a public-facing request portal for residentsnot 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 NextRequest
  • Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot NextRequest
  • Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot NextRequest
  • Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot NextRequest

Where each one falls short

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

NextRequest

  • Now sold as part of the CivicPlus product line rather than standalone, and nextrequest.com redirects into the CivicPlus site
  • Pricing is not published
  • Aimed at government agencies, so it is not a general purpose request or ticketing tool

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

NextRequest

$300/month
  • Standard$300/month
    • Request Management
    • Document Redaction
    • Public Portal

OWASP ZAP

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

Which should you pick?

Choose NextRequest if

  • You need request intake.
  • You also want workflow management.
NextRequest 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 NextRequest or OWASP ZAP better?
Neither clearly leads. NextRequest starts at $300/month and OWASP ZAP at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, NextRequest or OWASP ZAP?
OWASP ZAP has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $300/month for NextRequest and Free for OWASP ZAP.
Does NextRequest or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
NextRequest 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. NextRequest starts at $300/month.
What is NextRequest best used for?
NextRequest is most often used for receiving and routing public records and foia requests, tracking request status and statutory deadlines centrally, redacting documents before release with rapidreview, invoicing and collecting payment for records requests. Of those, receiving and routing public records and foia requests and tracking request status and statutory deadlines centrally are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
What can NextRequest do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
NextRequest covers Request Intake, Workflow Management, Document Redaction, Public Portal. OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NextRequest: What is the price of NextRequest FOIA management?

NextRequest pricing is not published on their website. Customers must request pricing directly through the website contact form or call the sales team at 888-228-2233.

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.

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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