Is OpsLevel or Semgrep better?

Neither clearly leads. OpsLevel starts at On request and Semgrep at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, OpsLevel or Semgrep?

Semgrep has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for OpsLevel and Free for Semgrep.

Does OpsLevel or Semgrep run on more platforms?

OpsLevel runs on Web. Semgrep runs on web, api, linux, mac, windows.

Can I use Semgrep for free?

Yes. Semgrep has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpsLevel starts at On request.

What is OpsLevel best used for?

OpsLevel is most often used for a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit, driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress, giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform team, an organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning team. Of those, a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit and driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress are not what Semgrep is typically brought in for.

What can OpsLevel do that Semgrep cannot?

OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Scorecards and rubric, Checks, Campaigns. Semgrep covers Static code scanning, Supply chain scanning, Secrets detection, Cross-file analysis.

Developer Tools · head to head

OpsLevel vs Semgrep

OpsLevel

Developer Tools

Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and production readiness

From: On request
Free plan: No

Full review Website

Semgrep

Cybersecurity

Open-source static analysis tool for finding security bugs and enforcing code standards.

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Full review Website

The short version

Only Semgrep has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: OpsLevel opsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.; Semgrep free tier caps out at 10 contributors and 10 repositories.
They diverge on capability: OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Semgrep covers Static code scanning.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpsLevel and Semgrep actually diverge.

Attributes where OpsLevel and Semgrep differ
Attribute	OpsLevel	Semgrep
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	web, api, linux, mac, windows
Category	Developer Tools	Cybersecurity

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 OpsLevel

Service catalogue
Scorecards and rubric
Checks
Campaigns
Self-service actions
Slack and Teams integration
Catalogue auto-enrichment
Deployment on request

Only in Semgrep

Static code scanning
Supply chain scanning
Secrets detection
Cross-file analysis
AI-powered triage and remediation
CI/CD integration

What people use each for

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

OpsLevel

A platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an auditnot Semgrep
Driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progressnot Semgrep
Giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform teamnot Semgrep
An organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning teamnot Semgrep

Semgrep

Scanning code for security vulnerabilities in CI/CDnot OpsLevel
Detecting vulnerable open-source dependenciesnot OpsLevel
Finding hardcoded secrets before code shipsnot OpsLevel
Enforcing custom code standards with rule setsnot OpsLevel
Prioritizing findings with AI-assisted triagenot OpsLevel

Where each one falls short

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

OpsLevel

OpsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.
The Standard plan caps at 50 users, which is below the size at which service ownership becomes a real problem, so most genuine buyers land on Enterprise and its unpublished pricing.
Scores are only as honest as the metadata teams maintain; where ownership records go stale the rubric produces confident numbers about a catalogue that no longer reflects reality, and leadership acts on them.
It reports on quality rather than producing it, so it can generate friction between platform teams who set the rubric and product teams who see it as a scoreboard imposed on them without extra headcount to fix the findings.
As a hosted product it needs read access to source control, cloud accounts and observability tooling, which is a meaningful vendor review in regulated environments; on-premises exists but only on the Enterprise tier.

Semgrep

Free tier caps out at 10 contributors and 10 repositories.
Secrets scanning is priced as a separate module ($15/contributor) from Code and Supply Chain.
Self-managed repositories and custom CI/CD require the Enterprise tier.
AI credits are limited per tier and additional usage requires upgrading.

Pricing, plan by plan

OpsLevel

On request

Standard$undefined/year
- Up to 50 users
- Unlimited catalogued components
- Scorecards, campaigns and the global rubric
Enterprise$undefined/year
- Unlimited users
- Custom integrations
- Customisable dashboards

Semgrep

Free

FreeFree
- Up to 10 contributors
- Code and Supply Chain scanning
- 60 AI credits total
Teams$30/month
- Code, Supply Chain, or Secrets scanning per contributor
- Pro rules
- AI-powered triage and remediation
Enterprise$undefined/month
- On-prem support
- Custom CI/CD
- 50 AI credits per developer/month

Which should you pick?

Choose OpsLevel if

You need service catalogue.
You also want scorecards and rubric.

OpsLevel review

Choose Semgrep if

You need static code scanning.
You want to start without paying.
You work on web, api, linux, mac, windows.
You also want supply chain scanning.

Semgrep review

Questions people ask

Is OpsLevel or Semgrep better?: Neither clearly leads. OpsLevel starts at On request and Semgrep at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpsLevel or Semgrep?: Semgrep has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for OpsLevel and Free for Semgrep.
Does OpsLevel or Semgrep run on more platforms?: OpsLevel runs on Web. Semgrep runs on web, api, linux, mac, windows.
Can I use Semgrep for free?: Yes. Semgrep has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpsLevel starts at On request.
What is OpsLevel best used for?: OpsLevel is most often used for a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit, driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress, giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform team, an organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning team. Of those, a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit and driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress are not what Semgrep is typically brought in for.
What can OpsLevel do that Semgrep cannot?: OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Scorecards and rubric, Checks, Campaigns. Semgrep covers Static code scanning, Supply chain scanning, Secrets detection, Cross-file analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpsLevel: How much does OpsLevel cost?

It does not publish pricing. Billing is per developer using the portal, with volume discounts, and a quote requires a sales conversation.

Semgrep: What does Semgrep cost?

The Free edition covers up to 10 contributors; Teams starts at $30/contributor/month for Code scanning (Supply Chain also $30, Secrets $15); Enterprise is custom-priced.

Source

OpsLevel: How does it compare with Backstage?

Backstage has no licence fee but you staff a team to build and run it. OpsLevel is hosted with checks, campaigns and scorecards out of the box, and you pay per developer instead.

Semgrep: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Yes, the Free edition supports up to 10 contributors and 10 repositories with Code and Supply Chain scanning plus 60 AI credits total.

Source

OpsLevel: Does it require writing catalogue YAML by hand?

No. It auto-discovers and enriches entries from connected systems, though teams still curate ownership and metadata.

Semgrep: How is usage metered?

Pricing is per contributor, defined as someone who made at least one commit to a scanned private repository in the past 90 days.

Source

OpsLevel: Can it run on premises?

Yes, but only on the Enterprise plan.

Semgrep: Is there special pricing for startups?

Yes, Semgrep offers special startup pricing upon request for early-stage companies.

Source

OpsLevel vs Semgrep

OpsLevel

Semgrep

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in OpsLevel

Only in Semgrep

What people use each for

OpsLevel

Semgrep

Where each one falls short

OpsLevel

Semgrep

Pricing, plan by plan

OpsLevel

Semgrep

Which should you pick?

Choose OpsLevel if

Choose Semgrep if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on OpsLevel

More on Semgrep

Keep looking

Other head to heads