Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Syft vs Vite

Syft logo

Syft

Cybersecurity

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Vite logo

Vite

Developer Tools

Next generation frontend tooling

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Vite does not support Node.js built-in polyfills, requiring manual configuration for CommonJS libraries
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Syft and Vite actually diverge.

Attributes where Syft and Vite differ
AttributeSyftVite
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeUnknown
PlatformsmacOS, Linux, Windows, DockerNode.js, Deno, Bun
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown2020

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 Syft

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

Only in Vite

Nothing recorded that Syft does not also cover.

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

Vite

  • Developers speeding up hot module replacement during React developmentnot Syft
  • Vue.js teams reducing rebuild times in large monorepo codebasesnot Syft
  • Teams building with TypeScript without additional tooling configurationnot Syft
  • Open-source contributors testing code changes in sub-second feedbacknot 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.

Vite

  • Does not support Node.js built-in polyfills, requiring manual configuration for CommonJS libraries
  • File watching fails on Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 in certain conditions
  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to webpack
  • Ampersands in Windows project paths cause module resolution failures

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

Vite

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Vite 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 Vite if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Node.js, Deno, Bun.
Vite review

Questions people ask

Is Syft or Vite better?
Neither clearly leads. Syft starts at Free and Vite at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Syft or Vite?
Syft starts at Free and Vite at Free.
Does Syft or Vite run on more platforms?
Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. Vite runs on Node.js, Deno, Bun.
Can I use Syft for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Vite is typically brought in for.
What can Syft do that Vite cannot?
Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations.

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.

Vite: Does Vite support CommonJS dependencies?

Vite automatically converts CommonJS dependencies to ES modules during pre-bundling using esbuild, but it does not support Node.js built-in polyfills. For projects requiring Node builtins, additional configuration may be needed.

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.

Vite: Can Vite work offline?

Vite requires internet for initial dependency pre-bundling with esbuild. Once dependencies are pre-bundled and cached, development can continue with local file serving, but full offline development is not supported.

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.

Vite: What are Vite's system requirements on Windows?

Vite can run on Windows, but WSL2 users may experience file watching issues where Vite cannot detect file changes in certain conditions. Windows users with project paths containing ampersands may encounter module resolution failures with npm.

Source
Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?

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

Vite: Does Vite support TypeScript, JSX, and CSS out of the box?

Yes. Vite natively supports TypeScript, JSX, CSS, and WebAssembly without additional configuration needed for basic use.

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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