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Cybersecurity · head to head

Syft vs Sysdig

Syft logo

Syft

Cybersecurity

Generates a software bill of materials from images, filesystems and archives

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sysdig logo

Sysdig

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native runtime security platform with real-time detection and response

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Syft has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Syft lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.; Sysdig custom pricing requires sales contact, difficult to compare costs
  • They diverge on capability: Syft covers Multi-format output, Sysdig covers Real-time threat detection and response.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Syft and Sysdig actually diverge.

Attributes where Syft and Sysdig differ
AttributeSyftSysdig
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeCustom pricing based on number of hosts, events processed, or time series data
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, DockerKubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native
FoundedUnknown2013

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 Syft

  • Multi-format output
  • Broad ecosystem coverage
  • Binary classifiers
  • In-toto attestations
  • Library and CLI
  • Pairs with Grype

Only in Sysdig

  • Real-time threat detection and response
  • Runtime intelligence
  • AI-powered security agents
  • Vulnerability management
  • Cloud Security Posture Management
  • Container and Kubernetes security
  • Infrastructure as Code security
  • Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management

What people use each for

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

Syft

  • Producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires onenot Sysdig
  • Feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directlynot Sysdig
  • Recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quicklynot Sysdig
  • Public sector work where an SBOM is a contractual deliverablenot Sysdig

Sysdig

  • Real-time threat detection in Kubernetes clustersnot Syft
  • Container workload vulnerability prioritizationnot Syft
  • Cloud security posture compliance monitoringnot Syft
  • Infrastructure entitlement and permission analysisnot Syft
  • AI workload security and threat remediationnot Syft

Where each one falls short

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

Syft

  • Lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
  • Fidelity varies sharply by ecosystem. Conan for C and C++, Haskell and Terraform get cataloguer support with no licence data, no dependency relationships and no file ownership, so a C and C++ shop gets the least from it.
  • Binary classification yields no licence or dependency metadata, and vendored or statically linked code is exactly where supply chain risk hides, so the blind spot and the risk overlap.
  • Incorrect CPE values and CPE collisions are recorded as open issues, and since Grype matches on CPE and PURL, an inventory error becomes a false negative in the security report downstream.
  • An inventory is not a risk assessment. Even a perfect bill of materials says a vulnerable version is present, never that the vulnerable function is called, and the triage burden lands entirely on the reader.

Sysdig

  • Custom pricing requires sales contact, difficult to compare costs
  • No published pricing tiers or calculator available
  • Primarily focused on cloud-native environments
  • Requires integration with existing SIEM or monitoring tools for full visibility
  • Steep learning curve for runtime security concepts

Pricing, plan by plan

Syft

Free
  • SyftFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • No usage limits
    • Community support
  • Anchore Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Policy enforcement and reporting
    • Federal and commercial tiers
    • Pricing not published, quoted on request

Sysdig

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Sysdig review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Syft if

  • You need multi-format output.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
  • You also want broad ecosystem coverage.
Syft review

Choose Sysdig if

  • You need real-time threat detection and response.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native.
  • You also want runtime intelligence.
Sysdig review

Questions people ask

Is Syft or Sysdig better?
Neither clearly leads. Syft starts at Free and Sysdig at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Syft or Sysdig?
Syft has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Syft and On request for Sysdig.
Does Syft or Sysdig run on more platforms?
Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. Sysdig runs on Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloud-native.
Can I use Syft for free?
Yes. Syft has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sysdig starts at On request.
What is Syft best used for?
Syft is most often used for producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires one, feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directly, recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quickly, public sector work where an sbom is a contractual deliverable. Of those, producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires one and feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directly are not what Sysdig is typically brought in for.
What can Syft do that Sysdig cannot?
Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations. Sysdig covers Real-time threat detection and response, Runtime intelligence, AI-powered security agents, Vulnerability management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Syft: Does Syft find vulnerabilities?

No. It produces an inventory. Grype, from the same company, matches that inventory against vulnerability feeds. They are separate tools and the distinction is frequently lost.

Sysdig: How does Sysdig achieve real-time threat detection?

Sysdig uses runtime intelligence with kernel-level system visibility, capturing live system calls to detect threats at machine speed, typically within 2 seconds.

Source
Syft: Does anything in the Anchore stack do reachability analysis?

No. Neither Syft, Grype nor the commercial Anchore platform performs call graph or reachability analysis, so none of them tells you whether a vulnerable code path is actually invoked.

Sysdig: What is runtime intelligence and how does it differ from configuration-based security?

Runtime intelligence reveals what is actually executing in cloud environments through kernel-level visibility, rather than relying on theoretical risks from configuration analysis alone.

Source
Syft: Is it a CNCF or OpenSSF project?

No. It is single-vendor open source owned by Anchore, with no foundation governance. That is a different licence risk profile from Sigstore.

Sysdig: What cloud platforms does Sysdig support?

Sysdig supports AWS, GCP, Azure, and IBM Cloud with multiple regional data centers across US, EU, and other regions.

Source
Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?

Not published. The pricing page is contact-sales only, with named but unpriced commercial and federal tiers.

Sysdig: Does Sysdig integrate with existing security tools?

Yes, Sysdig integrates with existing SIEM and monitoring tools to provide unified security visibility across cloud infrastructure.

Source
Syft: How do I know my SBOM is complete?

You largely cannot, which is the honest answer. Silent partial parsing is a known open defect, so a bill of materials used for compliance should be spot-checked against a known dependency list.

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