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Cybersecurity · head to head

Socket vs Very Good Security

Socket logo

Socket

Cybersecurity

Supply chain security platform detecting and blocking malicious dependencies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Socket has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Socket team plan requires minimum 5-developer commitment, expensive for small teams; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Socket covers Malware detection, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Socket and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Socket and Very Good Security differ
AttributeSocketVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelPer-developer monthly subscription with tiered accessPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLI, GitHubWeb, API
Founded2021Unknown

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 Socket

  • Malware detection
  • Automatic blocking
  • AI behavior analysis
  • Reachability analysis
  • Slack integration
  • SBOM support
  • SAML SSO
  • GitHub Actions scanning

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

Socket

  • Blocking zero-day malware attacks in JavaScript dependenciesnot Very Good Security
  • Managing CVE false positives with precomputed reachability analysisnot Very Good Security
  • Securing Python and Go supply chains at scalenot Very Good Security
  • Automating compliance requirements for regulated industriesnot Very Good Security
  • Real-time threat notifications via Slack integrationnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Socket
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Socket
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Socket
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Socket

Where each one falls short

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

Socket

  • Team plan requires minimum 5-developer commitment, expensive for small teams
  • Business plan $50/dev/month becomes costly for teams exceeding 20 members
  • Enterprise pricing requires custom consultation with no transparent pricing
  • Free plan limited to individual developers without team collaboration
  • Reachability analysis improvement (90% false positive reduction) only on Enterprise

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Socket

Free
  • FreeFree
    • For individual developers
    • Detects 70+ risk types
    • Blocks malicious dependencies automatically
  • Team$25/month
    • Per developer on minimum 5 developers
    • Precomputed reachability analysis cuts 60% false positives
    • Slack alerts for threats
  • Business$50/month
    • Per developer on minimum 20 developers
    • All Team features
    • Compliance integrations with Vanta
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Function-level reachability eliminates up to 90% irrelevant CVEs
    • Multi-repository system support
    • Named account manager

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose Socket if

  • You need malware detection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI, GitHub.
  • You also want automatic blocking.
Socket review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Socket or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Socket starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Socket or Very Good Security?
Socket has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Socket and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does Socket or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Socket runs on Web, CLI, GitHub. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use Socket for free?
Yes. Socket has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is Socket best used for?
Socket is most often used for blocking zero-day malware attacks in javascript dependencies, managing cve false positives with precomputed reachability analysis, securing python and go supply chains at scale, automating compliance requirements for regulated industries. Of those, blocking zero-day malware attacks in javascript dependencies and managing cve false positives with precomputed reachability analysis are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Socket do that Very Good Security cannot?
Socket covers Malware detection, Automatic blocking, AI behavior analysis, Reachability analysis. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Socket: How many zero-day attacks does Socket detect?

Socket detects over 100 zero-day attacks weekly across JavaScript, Python, and Go ecosystems.

Source
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Socket: What is precomputed reachability analysis?

Socket's precomputed reachability analysis cuts CVE false positives by 60% automatically on Team plans, and up to 90% on Enterprise plans through function-level analysis.

Source
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Socket: Is there a discount for annual billing?

Yes. Socket offers a 20% discount for annual commitments across all subscription tiers.

Source
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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