27 Best DAST Tools (2026)

What is DAST?

Now, we plug in our washing machine! DAST tools crawl applications in a running state (no language dependency) and attack all possible ways.

It is pretty much simulating what a hacker does.

DAST takes longer to scan and it is not guaranteed all pages will be covered.

For Single-Page Applications, you need to confirm the tool can simulate all DOM activities.

I have been working in the DAST industry for almost 5 years and I keep in touch with all the vendors.

There is a lot that happened during that time: mergers (Acunetix + Netsparker became Invicti), acquisitions (IBM AppScan became HCL AppScan), and the market moved from developing single-instance tools for pentesters to integration into CI/CD and DevSecOps practices.

Unlike SAST tools that scan source code, DAST does not need access to your codebase.

It tests the application as a black box, from the outside, the same way an attacker would.

The DAST market has grown significantly as organizations prioritize runtime security. According to Mordor Intelligence, the global DAST market reached $3.61 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $8.52 billion by 2030 at an 18.74% CAGR. Over 68% of organizations worldwide now use DAST tools to secure applications during the execution phase.

That means it catches runtime and configuration issues that static analysis misses.

The trade-off is that DAST cannot point to the exact file and line number where the problem lives.

It tells you what is wrong, not where in the code to fix it.

That is why many teams run both SAST and DAST together.

How DAST Works

A DAST tool interacts with your application the same way a browser or an attacker would.

It crawls the site, discovers endpoints, and sends malicious payloads to test for vulnerabilities.

Here are the main stages:

Quick Comparison

All 28 active DAST tools side by side, grouped by license type.

One tool (Sentinel Dynamic) has been discontinued and is listed separately.

DAST vs SAST vs IAST

DAST is one of three main approaches to application security testing.

Here is how they compare.

No single method catches everything.

In practice, teams run SAST in CI for fast feedback and DAST against staging for runtime issues.

Some also add IAST during QA for deeper, lower-false-positive coverage.

DAST in Your CI/CD Pipeline

The market moved from developing single-instance tools for pentesters to integration into CI/CD and DevSecOps practices.

Running a DAST scan manually is fine for a quarterly audit, but catching issues on every release is where the real value is.

Here is how most teams set it up:

1. Deploy to staging — DAST needs a running application. Most pipelines deploy to a staging or QA environment first, then trigger the scan.
2. Run a quick scan on every PR — Tools like Dastardly (10-min cap), ZAP, Nuclei, and StackHawk support CLI/Docker modes that can run targeted scans in minutes.
3. Run a full crawl on nightly or weekly builds — Full DAST scans take hours. Schedule them outside of the PR workflow so they do not block developers.
4. Quality gates — Block deployments to production when critical or high-severity findings appear. Tools like Invicti, StackHawk, and HCL AppScan have built-in CI/CD integration for this.
5. API-first scanning — If you have APIs, import your OpenAPI spec and scan those endpoints separately. Escape, StackHawk, and Tenable WAS have strong API scanning capabilities.

Market Changes to Know

The DAST market has gone through some changes in the past few years.

Here is what to be aware of when comparing tools:

• ZAP joined forces with Checkmarx (September 2024) — ZAP is now “ZAP by Checkmarx” with all three project leaders employed by Checkmarx. Still free, still open source under Apache v2 license.
• Veracode acquired Crashtest Security (2022) — Enhanced developer-oriented DAST in the Veracode platform. Named Gartner Leader in 2025.
• HCL AppScan 360° v2.0 released — HCL AppScan unified platform with AI-enabled testing, FIPS 140-3 compliance. Gartner Leader 2025.
• Acunetix + Netsparker merged into Invicti — Invicti is the enterprise platform, Acunetix continues as the standalone product.
• Synopsys Web Scanner became Black Duck Web Scanner — Synopsys sold its Software Integrity Group (2024), now operating as Black Duck Software.
• Fortify WebInspect moved to OpenText — OpenText acquired Micro Focus, which had acquired Fortify from HP.
• Sentinel Dynamic / WhiteHat Security discontinued — NTT Application Security shut down. Sentinel Dynamic is no longer maintained.

How to Choose a DAST Tool

Picking the right DAST tool depends on your application type, your budget, and how you plan to use it.

Here is what I would look at:

1. Application type — A traditional multi-page web app is easy for any DAST tool. SPAs, mobile backends, and API-heavy apps need a tool that handles JavaScript rendering and API specs well. Escape specializes in API and business logic testing, while Invicti and Burp Suite handle complex web apps well.
2. Manual vs automated — Burp Suite is unmatched for manual pentesting. If you need fully automated CI/CD scanning, look at ZAP, Nuclei, StackHawk, or Dastardly instead.
3. API support — If your application has a REST or GraphQL API, make sure the tool can import OpenAPI specs and test API endpoints. Escape, StackHawk, and Tenable WAS handle modern APIs well.
4. False positive handling — Tools with proof-based scanning (Invicti) or crowdsource verification (Detectify) reduce noise. For open-source, Nuclei templates tend to be precise because they target specific vulnerabilities.
5. Budget — ZAP, Nuclei, Dastardly, Wapiti, and Nikto are free. StackHawk has a free tier. Burp Suite Community is free for manual use. Enterprise tools require paid licenses.
6. Scale — If you need to scan hundreds of applications, you need enterprise tools like Invicti, Veracode, or HCL AppScan that handle multi-target management.

Frequently Asked Questions

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DAST covers one aspect of application security. Browse other categories in our complete tools directory.

Written by

Suphi Cankurt

Suphi Cankurt is an application security enthusiast based in Helsinki, Finland. He reviews and compares 129 AppSec tools across 10 categories on AppSec Santa. Learn more.