mycop vs Snyk — AI Code Security Scanner Comparison

Overview

mycop is an open-source, AI-powered code security scanner (SAST) written in Rust. It targets Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, and Java with 200 built-in security rules covering OWASP Top 10 and CWE Top 25. Its distinguishing feature is AI-powered auto-fix: it can automatically rewrite vulnerable code using Claude, GPT-4, Ollama, or other providers, then verify the fix by re-scanning. It also includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for integration with agentic coding tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.

Snyk is a developer-first application security platform founded in 2015. It provides four core products: Snyk Code (SAST), Snyk Open Source (SCA/dependency scanning), Snyk Container (container image scanning), and Snyk IaC (Infrastructure as Code scanning). Snyk is widely adopted in enterprise environments and integrates deeply with developer workflows through IDE plugins, CI/CD pipelines, and SCM integrations. It offers a free tier for individuals and paid plans starting at $25/developer/month.

Feature Comparison

mycop: Pros and Cons

Snyk: Pros and Cons

Deep Dive: Key Differences

Scope: Focused SAST vs Full AppSec Platform

This is the most fundamental difference between the two tools. mycop does one thing: it scans source code for security vulnerabilities. It does it well, with AI auto-fix on top, but it is intentionally limited to SAST for Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, and Java.

Snyk is a full application security platform. Beyond SAST (Snyk Code), it provides dependency vulnerability scanning (Snyk Open Source) that checks your package.json, requirements.txt, and other manifests against a curated vulnerability database. It scans Docker container images for OS-level and application-level vulnerabilities. It checks Terraform, CloudFormation, and Kubernetes manifests for security misconfigurations. If you need all of these capabilities under one roof, Snyk is hard to beat.

AI Auto-Fix vs Fix Suggestions

mycop's mycop fix command creates a complete automated remediation pipeline. It groups findings per file, sends them to an AI provider along with the full file context, receives corrected code, generates a diff for review, and optionally re-scans to confirm the vulnerability is resolved. The entire process can be run with --dry-run to preview changes before applying them.

Snyk Code provides fix suggestions — it shows you what kind of change to make — but the actual code modification is left to the developer. For dependency vulnerabilities, Snyk can automatically open fix PRs that bump a vulnerable package to a patched version, which is a genuinely useful workflow that mycop does not offer (since mycop does not do SCA).

Open Source vs Proprietary

mycop is fully open source under the MIT license. Every line of code, every rule, and every algorithm is available on GitHub. You can audit it, fork it, contribute to it, and deploy it anywhere without restrictions. There are no paid tiers or feature gates.

Snyk's CLI is open source (Apache 2.0), but the analysis engine, vulnerability database, and platform are proprietary. The free tier has usage limits (e.g., 200 Snyk Code tests per month for open source projects), and advanced features like custom rules, advanced reporting, and SSO require paid plans. This means your security scanning depends on Snyk's infrastructure and pricing decisions.

Pricing

mycop is free. All features, all rules, no limits. The only cost is an AI API key if you want to use the auto-fix feature with a cloud provider (and you can use Ollama for fully local, free auto-fix).

Snyk offers a free tier for individual developers and small open-source projects, but it comes with test limits and restricted features. The Team plan starts at $25/developer/month, and Enterprise pricing is custom. For a team of 20 developers, that is $500/month or $6,000/year — which may be justified by Snyk's breadth, but is a significant commitment.

MCP Server and Agentic Integration

mycop includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes scan, review, explain, and other tools to agentic coding assistants. Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI can invoke mycop directly within their conversation flow. The agent reads findings and applies fixes itself using the context from the scan.

Snyk does not currently offer MCP integration. It provides IDE extensions for VS Code and IntelliJ that show diagnostics inline, but there is no protocol for agentic tools to invoke Snyk's scanning programmatically within a conversation.

Setup Complexity

mycop is a single binary install. Run the install script, then mycop scan .. No account, no configuration file, no rule selection. It works immediately with 200 rules out of the box.

Snyk requires creating an account and authenticating (snyk auth) before you can run scans. For organizations, there is additional setup: connecting repositories, configuring integrations, setting up policies, and managing team access. The payoff is a more comprehensive and managed experience, but the initial setup investment is higher.

When to Use Which

Quick Start: mycop

# Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AbdumajidRashidov/mycop/main/install.sh | sh

# Scan your project
mycop scan .

# Auto-fix vulnerabilities with AI
mycop fix . --dry-run

# Use in Claude Code via MCP
# Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:
# {"mcpServers":{"mycop":{"command":"mycop","args":["mcp"]}}}

mycop is MIT licensed and open source. Scanning requires no AI key, no account, and no cloud connectivity. It runs offline on macOS, Linux, and Windows. AI auto-fix requires an API key for your chosen provider, or use Ollama for fully local operation.