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Developer Tools · head to head

Sourcegraph vs Trivy

Sourcegraph logo

Sourcegraph

Developer Tools

Code search and intelligence platform for large codebases with Cody AI assistant

From
$16000/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Trivy logo

Trivy

Cybersecurity

Open-source vulnerability and misconfiguration scanner

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Trivy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Sourcegraph enterprise pricing starting at $16k annually creates significant barrier for small teams; Trivy reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sourcegraph and Trivy actually diverge.

Attributes where Sourcegraph and Trivy differ
AttributeSourcegraphTrivy
Starting price$16000/yearFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsCloud, Self-hostedLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Sourcegraph

Nothing recorded that Trivy does not also cover.

Only in Trivy

  • Multi-target scanning
  • Vulnerability detection
  • Misconfiguration checks
  • Secret detection

What people use each for

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

Sourcegraph

  • Large-scale code migrations across hundreds of repositoriesnot Trivy
  • Enterprise governance and code ownership trackingnot Trivy
  • AI-assisted bug hunting and security pattern detectionnot Trivy
  • Onboarding engineers into large unfamiliar codebasesnot Trivy
  • Regulatory compliance and code audit trailsnot Trivy

Trivy

  • Failing a pull request when a container image introduces a known CVEnot Sourcegraph
  • Scanning Terraform and Kubernetes manifests for misconfiguration before applynot Sourcegraph
  • Catching committed secrets as part of an existing CI stepnot Sourcegraph

Where each one falls short

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

Sourcegraph

  • Enterprise pricing starting at $16k annually creates significant barrier for small teams
  • No free tier or standard plan published; all options require custom sales engagement
  • Complex enterprise-only positioning limits adoption compared to GitHub Copilot's pervasiveness
  • Requires indexing entire codebase; not suitable for small or ephemeral projects

Trivy

  • Reports what public advisory databases know, so coverage varies by ecosystem and unfixed CVEs create noise
  • No built-in triage or exception workflow, so suppressing accepted risk is managed in config files
  • Findings are point-in-time from CI, with no continuous runtime monitoring unless you add the commercial platform

Pricing, plan by plan

Sourcegraph

$16000/year
  • Enterprise$16000/year
    • Scales with team size
    • Credits for AI features per user
    • Deep Search

Trivy

Free
  • TrivyFree
    • Full scanner
    • Unlimited scans
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Sourcegraph if

  • You work on Cloud, Self-hosted.
Sourcegraph review

Choose Trivy if

  • You need multi-target scanning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want vulnerability detection.
Trivy review

Questions people ask

Is Sourcegraph or Trivy better?
Neither clearly leads. Sourcegraph starts at $16000/year and Trivy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sourcegraph or Trivy?
Trivy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $16000/year for Sourcegraph and Free for Trivy.
Does Sourcegraph or Trivy run on more platforms?
Sourcegraph runs on Cloud, Self-hosted. Trivy runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use Trivy for free?
Yes. Trivy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sourcegraph starts at $16000/year.
What is Sourcegraph best used for?
Sourcegraph is most often used for large-scale code migrations across hundreds of repositories, enterprise governance and code ownership tracking, ai-assisted bug hunting and security pattern detection, onboarding engineers into large unfamiliar codebases. Of those, large-scale code migrations across hundreds of repositories and enterprise governance and code ownership tracking are not what Trivy is typically brought in for.
What can Sourcegraph do that Trivy cannot?
Trivy covers Multi-target scanning, Vulnerability detection, Misconfiguration checks, Secret detection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Trivy: Is Trivy free?

Yes, open source from Aqua Security with no licence fee. Aqua sells a commercial platform around it.

Trivy: What can Trivy scan?

Container images, filesystems, Git repositories, Kubernetes clusters and infrastructure-as-code, for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, secrets and licences.

Trivy: Does Trivy need a server?

No. It is a single binary, which is a large part of why it became a default in CI.

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