Black Duck
Software composition analysis tools
Generative AI software
DevSecOps software
AI APPSEC assistants
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Black Duck
Black Duck is a software composition analysis (SCA) and application security platform used to identify open source components, associated license obligations, and known vulnerabilities in software builds. It is typically used by application security teams, DevSecOps engineers, and development teams to manage open source risk across CI/CD pipelines and release processes. The product includes SBOM generation and policy enforcement workflows, and it is commonly deployed in regulated or large-enterprise environments where governance and auditability are required.
Strong open source governance
Black Duck provides detailed component identification, license detection, and policy controls that support compliance workflows. It supports producing artifacts such as SBOMs and reports that security and legal stakeholders can use for audits. These capabilities align well with organizations that need repeatable approval processes and evidence for releases.
Broad language and package coverage
The platform supports scanning across many ecosystems and build/package formats used in enterprise software development. This helps teams standardize SCA practices across heterogeneous portfolios rather than adopting separate tools per stack. It is particularly useful when applications include multiple languages and dependency managers.
Enterprise integrations and workflows
Black Duck integrates with common CI/CD tooling and developer workflows to automate scanning and enforce policies at build or merge time. It supports centralized administration for multiple teams and projects, which is important for larger organizations. The product is often used as a shared service by AppSec teams that need consistent controls across repositories.
Complex setup and administration
Deploying and tuning Black Duck can require dedicated security tooling expertise, especially in large environments with many repositories and build systems. Policy design, exception handling, and workflow alignment can take time to operationalize. Smaller teams may find the administrative overhead high relative to lighter-weight alternatives.
Developer experience can vary
SCA findings can be noisy without careful configuration, leading to triage burden for developers and AppSec teams. Remediation guidance may still require manual investigation to determine the best upgrade path and compatibility impact. Teams often need additional process work to keep findings actionable and prioritized.
AI AppSec features less central
While the product is positioned within broader DevSecOps and AppSec workflows, its core strength remains SCA and open source governance rather than being an AI-first assistant. Organizations looking primarily for generative AI-driven code/security assistance may need to validate how much of their workflow is covered by Black Duck’s AI capabilities versus traditional scanning and reporting. Fit and value depend on whether AI features are a primary requirement or a secondary enhancement.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Black Duck Software Composition Analysis (Black Duck SCA) | Contact sales / No public list price | Official site requires requesting a customized quote; pricing depends on deployment, scale and modules (no public tiers listed). |
| Code Sight (Standalone IDE plug-in) | $500 per developer (10 minimum; volume discount available) | Standalone IDE analysis for code + SCA; vendor page states a free trial is available and lists features included in the trial. |
Seller details
Synopsys, Inc.
Sunnyvale, California, USA
1986
Public
https://www.synopsys.com/
https://x.com/Synopsys
https://www.linkedin.com/company/synopsys/
