Cybersecurity · head to head
OWASP ZAP vs Penpot
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
- Each has a real cost: 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.; Penpot smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
- They diverge on capability: OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Penpot covers Vector editing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which OWASP ZAP and Penpot actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 OWASP ZAP
- Intercepting proxy
- Passive scanner
- Active scanner
- AJAX spider
- Automation Framework
- Headless daemon and REST API
- Docker images
- Add-on marketplace
Only in Penpot
- Vector editing
- Interactive prototyping
- Design systems
- Components & libraries
- Real-time collaboration
- SVG support
- CSS Grid & Flexbox
- Code export
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
OWASP ZAP
- Adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handfulnot Penpot
- Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot Penpot
- Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot Penpot
- Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot Penpot
Penpot
- UI/UX designnot OWASP ZAP
- Prototypingnot OWASP ZAP
- Design systemsnot OWASP ZAP
- Developer handoffnot OWASP ZAP
- Open source projectsnot OWASP ZAP
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Penpot
- Smaller user base and community compared to Figma means fewer templates and resources
- Self-hosting requires Linux server and Docker knowledge for technical setup
- Real-time collaboration features may have performance issues with very large design files
Pricing, plan by plan
OWASP ZAP
Free- Free & Open SourceFree
- Full functionality
- Active & passive scanning
- Spider
Penpot
Free- FreeFree
- Cloud-based design
- Real-time collaboration
- Components and variants
- Unlimited$7/month
- All free features
- Priority support
- Advanced cloud features
- Enterprise$950/month
- Custom enterprise features
- Dedicated support
- Advanced security
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Penpot if
- You need vector editing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
- You also want interactive prototyping.
Questions people ask
- Is OWASP ZAP or Penpot better?
- Neither clearly leads. OWASP ZAP starts at Free and Penpot at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, OWASP ZAP or Penpot?
- OWASP ZAP starts at Free and Penpot at Free.
- Does OWASP ZAP or Penpot run on more platforms?
- OWASP ZAP runs on Desktop, Cli, Api. Penpot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
- Can I use OWASP ZAP for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is OWASP ZAP best used for?
- OWASP ZAP is most often used for adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handful, manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per tester, teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselves, pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial dast subscription. Of those, adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handful and manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per tester are not what Penpot is typically brought in for.
- What can OWASP ZAP do that Penpot cannot?
- OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider. Penpot covers Vector editing, Interactive prototyping, Design systems, Components & libraries.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
Penpot: Is Penpot really free?
Yes. Penpot is completely free with no feature gates. The open-source version can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure for zero cost beyond server expenses.
SourceOWASP 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.
Penpot: Can I self-host Penpot?
Yes. Penpot can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure with no licensing costs. Organizations with specific privacy or governance needs can run Penpot on their own servers.
SourceOWASP 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.
Penpot: What are the paid plans if I use Penpot cloud?
Penpot's cloud service offers a free tier, Unlimited plan at $7 per user per month for professionals and medium teams, and Enterprise starting at $950 per month for larger organizations.
SourceOWASP 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.
Penpot: What platforms does Penpot support?
Penpot runs in the browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and any OS with a web browser. No platform-specific downloads required.
SourceOWASP 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.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- OWASP ZAP vs 1Password
- OWASP ZAP vs Bitdefender Total Security
- OWASP ZAP vs Norton 360
- OWASP ZAP vs LastPass
- OWASP ZAP vs Bitwarden
- OWASP ZAP vs Burp Suite
- OWASP ZAP vs Metasploit
- OWASP ZAP vs Wireshark
- OWASP ZAP vs authentik
- OWASP ZAP vs Authelia
- OWASP ZAP vs Infisical
- OWASP ZAP vs Trivy
- OWASP ZAP vs Feedzai
- OWASP ZAP vs Frontegg
- OWASP ZAP vs HashiCorp Boundary
- OWASP ZAP vs JumpCloud
- OWASP ZAP vs McAfee Total Protection
- OWASP ZAP vs Keycloak
- OWASP ZAP vs Visual Studio Code
- OWASP ZAP vs Soketi
- OWASP ZAP vs Ansible
- OWASP ZAP vs Helix
- OWASP ZAP vs GNU Emacs
- OWASP ZAP vs Bazel
- OWASP ZAP vs Eclipse IDE
- OWASP ZAP vs Pants Build
- OWASP ZAP vs Swagger UI
- OWASP ZAP vs Atlantis
- OWASP ZAP vs Coder
- OWASP ZAP vs StackBlitz
- OWASP ZAP vs Steampipe
- OWASP ZAP vs Tilt
- OWASP ZAP vs WarpBuild
- OWASP ZAP vs Webpack
- OWASP ZAP vs Avo
- Penpot vs 1Password
- Penpot vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Penpot vs Norton 360
- Penpot vs LastPass
- Penpot vs Bitwarden
- Penpot vs Burp Suite
- Penpot vs Metasploit
- Penpot vs Wireshark
- Penpot vs authentik
- Penpot vs Authelia
- Penpot vs Infisical
- Penpot vs Trivy
- Penpot vs Feedzai
- Penpot vs Frontegg
- Penpot vs HashiCorp Boundary
- Penpot vs JumpCloud
- Penpot vs McAfee Total Protection
- Penpot vs Keycloak
- Penpot vs Visual Studio Code
- Penpot vs Soketi
- Penpot vs Ansible
- Penpot vs Helix
- Penpot vs GNU Emacs
- Penpot vs Bazel
- Penpot vs Eclipse IDE
- Penpot vs Pants Build
- Penpot vs Swagger UI
- Penpot vs Atlantis
- Penpot vs Coder
- Penpot vs StackBlitz
- Penpot vs Steampipe
- Penpot vs Tilt
- Penpot vs WarpBuild
- Penpot vs Webpack
- Penpot vs Avo