AI code security FAQ

AI code security is the set of controls that keep code written by AI assistants and agents from introducing vulnerabilities, leaked secrets or malicious dependencies. It covers the agent while it works (instructions, permissions, an inventory of assistants and MCP servers) and the code after it is written (SAST, SCA and secrets checks at commit and pull request).

Read more: How to secure code written by Copilot, Cursor and Claude Code

An assistant suggests or writes code from prompts. A coding agent can also act on its own: it edits files, runs commands, installs packages and calls tools through MCP servers, with the developer's permissions. Each of those actions is part of the attack surface.

Read more: Coding agent attack surface

Yes. Guardrails reduce what the agent can do wrong while it works, but they do not see every change. The pull request is the one point every change passes through, so SAST, SCA and secrets checks still belong there.

Read more: SAST, SCA and secrets scanning for AI-generated code

Security for prompt-driven development, where little code is reviewed line by line. It uses the same two layers as any AI-generated code: controls on the agent while it works, and scans on every pull request.

Read more: What is vibe coding security

An inventory of the AI components in your software and development environment: models, AI packages, assistant rule files, MCP servers and AI API keys. It does for AI what an SBOM does for open source dependencies.

Read more: What is an AI-BOM

An MCP server exposes tools an agent can call, with whatever access the server has. Without review, a server can read data, run actions or receive secrets included in a tool call, so teams inventory servers, approve a short list and keep secrets out of tool calls.

Read more: MCP server security: inventory, approval and policy

Aikido Security, Semgrep, Snyk (Free and Team) and GitHub Advanced Security publish prices. Legit Security, Wiz Code and Backslash Security list annual contracts on AWS Marketplace. Endor Labs, Cycode and OX Security publish a pricing unit or tier names without prices. Apiiro publishes neither.

Read more: Cost and score calculator

Aikido Security, Snyk, Semgrep, Endor Labs and OX Security publish free tiers. Aikido's Developer plan is $0 for 2 users; Semgrep's covers up to 10 contributors and 10 private repositories; Snyk's includes 100 Snyk Code tests a month; Endor Labs' Developer tier runs locally without an account; OX's terms allow free use up to 9 developer contributions.

Read more: Full comparison and pricing table

Semgrep prices per contributor, GitHub per active committer and Aikido Security per flat plan with users included. OX Security publishes units per AI user, contributing developer, cloud asset and agent hour; Cycode says pricing depends on active developers and AI usage; Snyk's Enterprise plan is credit based.

Read more: AI code security pricing: units, tiers and what to ask

At published prices, 25 developers on Semgrep Teams (Code) is $750 a month, and on GitHub Code Security $750 a month. Aikido Security's Basic plan is $350 a month with 10 users included; a price for more users is not published. Legit Security, Wiz Code and Backslash Security list fixed annual bundles on AWS Marketplace. The other tools do not publish prices that can be multiplied out.

Read more: Cost and score calculator

Which of your assistants they name as supported, which controls act on the agent itself, where each control is enforced, where a secret is caught before it reaches a model, whether packages are checked at install time, how findings are ranked, and which plan includes the agent controls.

Read more: A buyer's checklist

Pick two or three tools, one repository where agents write a lot of code and a fixed list of checks. Run each tool for the same period, then compare what it found, what it blocked and what it missed.

Read more: How to run a proof of concept

VibeGuard is Legit Security's product for securing AI-generated code and AI coding assistants. It runs SAST and SCA in the IDE, keeps secrets out of AI prompts, attaches security instructions to assistants, and in version 2.0 (August 2026) discovers coding agents on the developer endpoint and enforces command and MCP policy. Legit Security scores 4.4 and ranks 1 of 10.

Read more: Legit Security review

AURI is Endor Labs' layer for coding agents: it inventories agents, models, MCP servers and skills and applies policy at the moment of action. Endor Labs scores 3.9 and ranks T-3 of 10, and leads or ties the lead on AI code and assistant coverage.

Read more: Endor Labs review

No. Snyk's Free plan covers SCA, SAST, IaC and container scanning with IDE and CLI integrations; the coding agent security features in Snyk Evo require an Enterprise subscription. Snyk scores 4.1 and ranks 2 of 10.

Read more: Snyk review

Assistant rule files such as .cursorrules and .windsurfrules, MCP servers and AI API keys, with provenance: who committed each item, in which repository and branch, and when. Cycode scores 3.7 and ranks 6 of 10.

Read more: Cycode review

A plugin for AI coding agents with an MCP server, hooks that run on every file write and skills. It blocks malicious dependencies, hardcoded credentials and vulnerable patterns in Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf. Semgrep scores 3.5 and ranks 7 of 10.

Read more: Semgrep review

OX VibeSec works before code exists: it analyzes the developer's prompt and sends security guidance to the agent before code is generated. It supports Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro and VS Code with Copilot. OX Security scores 3.8 and ranks 5 of 10.

Read more: OX Security review

The pages we reviewed show no agent inventory, MCP governance or agent policy controls; Aikido's IDE plugin scans the code in VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf. It scores 1.5 on governance and 3.0 overall (also reviewed, outside the lead ranking), and leads or ties the lead on developer experience and pricing and buying clarity.

Read more: Aikido Security review

Apiiro's agent for AI coding: it adds secure prompt enrichment and works with Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Claude Code. Apiiro's MCP server needs an Apiiro account with API access. Apiiro scores 3.4 and ranks 8 of 10.

Read more: Apiiro review

For teams whose code is all on GitHub and whose main agent is Copilot, it covers CodeQL code scanning, Copilot Autofix and secret scanning with push protection at published per-committer prices. The pages we reviewed show no controls for third-party assistants. GitHub Advanced Security scores 2.9 and ranks 10 of 10.

Read more: GitHub Advanced Security review

It discovers AI agents, MCP servers, skills and plug-ins on enterprise endpoints, applies scoped policies, blocks risky actions before they run and keeps audit evidence. Backslash Security scores 3.9 and ranks T-3 of 10.

Read more: Backslash Security review

Yes. Wiz announced Wiz Code plugins for AI native IDEs such as Claude Code and Cursor during Wiz Code Week in April 2026. Wiz Code is sold as an add-on for Wiz Cloud. It scores 3.3 and ranks 9 of 10.

Read more: Wiz Code review

Each tool gets a 0-5 score on six criteria. The total is the weighted average: each score times its weight, summed and divided by 100. Coverage of AI-generated code and AI coding assistants carries the most weight, at 25%.

Read more: How we rate

No. Scores come from desk research on public vendor pages, documentation and pricing pages, last reviewed October 2026. We did not install or run the tools and did not interview vendors.

Read more: How we rate: limitations

On our scores, Legit Security trails on governance and policy control (4.5; leader Backslash Security 5.0), developer experience (3.5; leader Snyk, Semgrep, GitHub Advanced Security and Aikido Security 4.5) and pricing and buying clarity (2.5; leader Aikido Security 5.0).

Read more: Where Legit Security trails

Yes. The calculator lets you set the importance of each criterion from 0 to 10 and re-ranks all eleven tools, and the comparison page has a simpler re-weighting table.

Read more: Cost and score calculator

We re-check prices and headline features every quarter and when a vendor ships a major release. This edition was last reviewed in October 2026, and the news page summarizes new announcements monthly.

Read more: AI code security news