Comparison
Kolega vs Aikido
Both Kolega and Aikido are developer-first security platforms aimed at teams shipping fast. The difference is what each tool was built to catch.
Aikido is broad. It does SAST, SCA, container scanning, IaC scanning, cloud posture, and runtime protection. One platform for code-to-cloud security across the lifecycle.
Kolega is deep. It does semantic analysis of application code at a level pattern-matching SAST can't reach. We score 92.4% on RealVuln, the open benchmark of 676 real vulnerabilities, where most SAST tools score below 20%.
This page explains how to decide between the two, and when you might want both.
View the full RealVuln benchmarkThe headline numbers
| Metric | Kolega | Aikido |
|---|---|---|
| RealVuln F3 score | 92.4% | Not yet tested |
| Approach | Deep semantic analysis | Aggregated open-source scanners + AutoTriage |
| Built specifically for AI-generated code | Yes | No |
| Starting paid price | $39/mo | $314/mo |
| Time to first scan | Under 3 minutes | Under 5 minutes |
Aikido isn't on the RealVuln leaderboard yet. The benchmark is open source and any vendor can run it. We'd welcome the data.
Where the two tools differ
Aikido is a security platform. It aggregates and orchestrates a stack of open-source scanners (Semgrep, Trivy, Gitleaks and others), wraps them in a single dashboard, adds AutoTriage to cut noise, and bundles cloud and container scanning. If you want one tool that covers the whole AppSec surface area, this is a strong case for Aikido.
Kolega is a detection engine. It's built around one thing: catching the vulnerabilities that pattern-matching SAST tools (including the ones Aikido aggregates) miss. Logic flaws. BOLA. Race conditions. Cross-boundary injection. The bugs that look like working code until something breaks.
Both tools generate automated fix PRs. Both connect via OAuth. Both ship without config files or CI changes. The product surface looks similar; the engines underneath are doing very different work.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Kolega | Aikido |
|---|---|---|
| SAST (pattern matching) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deep semantic analysis | ✓ | Limited |
| BOLA detection | ✓ | Limited |
| Race condition detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Logic flaw detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Built for AI-generated code | ✓ | ✗ |
| Autofix PRs with tests | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dependency scanning (SCA) | Coming soon | ✓ |
| Container scanning | Coming soon | ✓ |
| Cloud posture (CSPM) | ✗ | ✓ |
| IaC scanning | Coming soon | ✓ |
| Runtime protection | ✗ | ✓ |
| Secrets detection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Noise reduction / triage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compliance reports (SOC 2, ISO) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ephemeral scanning (no code stored) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free tier | 1 app, 250k LOC | 2 users, 10 repos |
| Starting paid price | $39/mo | $314/mo |
When to pick Aikido
If you need one tool that covers code, containers, cloud, and runtime under a single contract — and you don't want to manage four different vendors to get there — Aikido is built for that. The breadth is genuinely useful for security teams that want a unified pane of glass.
If your priority is dependency scanning and known-CVE management at scale, Aikido's stack (which includes battle-tested open-source scanners like Trivy and Semgrep) is mature and well-tuned.
If you've got the budget for a $300-700/mo platform and you'd rather pay once for everything than assemble it yourself, Aikido is the easier procurement story.
When to pick Kolega
If your codebase is increasingly AI-generated and you've noticed your current scanner is finding noise but missing the bugs that actually matter, Kolega was built for exactly that. The RealVuln benchmark exists because we wanted to prove this isn't marketing.
If your security pain isn't “we need more tools” but “the tools we have aren't catching the bugs that ship,” Kolega's semantic analysis catches a different category of defect entirely.
If you're a smaller team or solo developer and $314/mo for the entry tier is more than you can justify, Kolega's $39/mo Starter plan covers most teams shipping production code.
If you care about the depth of detection more than the breadth of coverage, this is what we built Kolega for.
When to run both
Some teams use Aikido for the SCA, container, and cloud layers, and run Kolega alongside it for application code analysis. We integrate with the same Git providers and don't conflict with anything Aikido does. If you can afford both, that's a reasonable stack.
FAQ
Has Aikido been tested on RealVuln?
Not yet. RealVuln is open source (github.com/kolega-ai/Real-Vuln-Benchmark). We'd welcome Aikido's results and would publish them whatever they showed. The benchmark exists to make detection quality verifiable, not to prove a foregone conclusion.
Is Kolega trying to replace Aikido?
No. Kolega replaces the SAST layer with something deeper. If you need cloud posture management, container scanning, and runtime protection, you need those separately. We're a detection engine, not a platform.
Why is Kolega so much cheaper than Aikido?
We do one thing — code analysis — and price accordingly. Aikido bundles multiple security disciplines into one product, which is genuinely valuable but expensive to operate. Different product, different price.
Both tools say they reduce false positives. How are they different?
Aikido's AutoTriage uses LLMs to filter noisy alerts from the open-source scanners it aggregates. Kolega's noise reduction comes from the engine itself understanding code context, so fewer false positives are generated in the first place. Different problems, both valid approaches.
Does Kolega store my code?
Code is cloned into ephemeral containers for the scan and deleted immediately after. Aikido does this too. Both are GDPR-compliant and SOC 2-ready.
See the benchmark yourself
The RealVuln results are the pitch. If detection depth matters more than platform breadth, scan a repo with both tools and compare what each one finds.
Scan a repo freeNo credit card required. 7-day Pro trial. Drops to a free tier afterwards.