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Cybersecurity · head to head

Syft vs Vigilant Solutions

Syft logo

Syft

Cybersecurity

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Vigilant Solutions logo

Vigilant Solutions

Government

License Plate Recognition Analytics

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
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.; Vigilant Solutions vigilant Solutions' product line, as captured before its Motorola Solutions acquisition (Internet Archive capture, 8 January 2020), was named Vigilant PlateSearch, FaceSearch, BallisticSearch and CrimeSearch, sold to law enforcement with no published pricing
  • They diverge on capability: Syft covers Multi-format output, Vigilant Solutions covers License Plate Recognition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Syft and Vigilant Solutions actually diverge.

Attributes where Syft and Vigilant Solutions differ
AttributeSyftVigilant Solutions
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, DockerWeb, Desktop, Mobile
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
FoundedUnknown1928

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 Syft

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

Only in Vigilant Solutions

  • License Plate Recognition
  • Vehicle Database
  • Real-time Alerts
  • Analytics
  • Mobile LPR
  • CAD Systems
  • RMS
  • Federal Databases

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 Vigilant Solutions
  • Feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directlynot Vigilant Solutions
  • Recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quicklynot Vigilant Solutions
  • Public sector work where an SBOM is a contractual deliverablenot Vigilant Solutions

Vigilant Solutions

  • Citizen Servicesnot Syft
  • Records Managementnot Syft
  • Public Safetynot Syft
  • Civic Engagementnot 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.

Vigilant Solutions

  • Vigilant Solutions' product line, as captured before its Motorola Solutions acquisition (Internet Archive capture, 8 January 2020), was named Vigilant PlateSearch, FaceSearch, BallisticSearch and CrimeSearch, sold to law enforcement with no published pricing

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

Vigilant Solutions

$1000/month
  • LPR Analytics$1000/month
    • LPR Cameras
    • Database Access
    • Analytics

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 Vigilant Solutions if

  • You need license plate recognition.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
  • You also want vehicle database.
Vigilant Solutions review

Questions people ask

Is Syft or Vigilant Solutions better?
Neither clearly leads. Syft starts at Free and Vigilant Solutions at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Syft or Vigilant Solutions?
Syft has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Syft and $1000/month for Vigilant Solutions.
Does Syft or Vigilant Solutions run on more platforms?
Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. Vigilant Solutions runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
Can I use Syft for free?
Yes. Syft has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Vigilant Solutions starts at $1000/month.
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 Vigilant Solutions is typically brought in for.
What can Syft do that Vigilant Solutions cannot?
Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations. Vigilant Solutions covers License Plate Recognition, Vehicle Database, Real-time Alerts, Analytics.

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.

Vigilant Solutions: How do I get pricing information for Vigilant Solutions?

Vigilant Solutions does not publish pricing on their website. Customers must contact Motorola Solutions' sales team directly to request a pricing estimate or discuss their specific requirements.

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.

Vigilant Solutions: Is there a free demo or trial available?

Yes, Motorola Solutions (which now owns Vigilant Solutions) offers a free customized demo conducted by security experts. Users can request a demo on the product page without obligation.

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.

Vigilant Solutions: Can I get a pricing estimate without committing?

Yes, customers can provide details about their requirements through the website to receive a no-obligation pricing estimate from Motorola Solutions. This allows evaluation of potential costs before making any commitment.

Source
Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?

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

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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