GitHub Advanced Security vs Snyk for AI code security

ANSWER FIRST

GitHub Advanced Security scores 2.9 and Snyk 4.1 on our AI code security criteria, so Snyk ranks higher on the published weights. GHAS leads on pricing and buying clarity; Snyk leads on AI code and assistant coverage, endpoint deployment and tamper resistance, governance and policy control and remediation and ASPM depth; they tie on developer experience. The widest gap is AI code and assistant coverage, where Snyk scores 5.0 against 3.0.

Editorial assessment · Compiled from vendor product, docs, pricing and marketplace pages · Rated October 2026

How do GitHub Advanced Security and Snyk score side by side?

GitHub Advanced Security and Snyk: editorial assessment, 0-5. Last reviewed October 2026.
Criterion	Weight	GitHub Advanced Security	Snyk	Edge
Coverage of AI-generated code and AI coding assistants	25%	3.0	5.0	Snyk
Endpoint deployment and tamper resistance	20%	1.5	3.0	Snyk
Governance and policy control for the CISO	20%	2.0	4.0	Snyk
Developer experience and low friction	15%	4.5	4.5	Tie
Pricing and buying clarity	10%	4.5	3.5	GHAS
Remediation and ASPM depth	10%	3.5	4.0	Snyk
Weighted total		2.9	4.1

GitHub Advanced Security leads on 1 criteria, Snyk leads on 4, and 1 is tied.

GitHub Advanced Security

diff --verdict github-advanced-security · reviewed 2026-09

@@ strengths @@

Strength:Published prices: GitHub Secret Protection $19 and GitHub Code Security $30 per active committer per month. [source]
Strength:Copilot coding agent runs CodeQL, Advisory Database and secret scanning checks on its own changes, no GHAS license needed. [source]
Strength:Push protection blocks commits that contain secrets; AI-detected secrets included. [source]
Strength:Copilot Autofix suggests fixes for code scanning alerts. [source]

@@ limitations @@

Limitation:No controls for third-party assistants such as Cursor or Claude Code on the pages reviewed. [source]
Limitation:For repositories on GitHub, on GitHub Team or GitHub Enterprise Cloud plans. [source]

Snyk

diff --verdict snyk · reviewed 2026-09

@@ strengths @@

Strength:Free plan with SCA, SAST, IaC and container scanning and IDE, CLI and SCM integrations. [source]
Strength:Team plan published at a starting price of $25 a month for up to 10 developers. [source]
Strength:Evo Agentic Development Security names Claude, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, Antigravity, Kiro and Qodo. [source]
Strength:Evo can evaluate, steer or block risky agent activity before it executes. [source]

@@ limitations @@

Limitation:Coding agent security requires an Enterprise Platform Subscription. [source]
Limitation:Secrets scanning and prioritization method not described on the pages reviewed. [source]

How do GitHub Advanced Security and Snyk cover AI code and coding assistants?

GitHub Advanced Security: CodeQL scans every pull request whoever wrote it, and the Copilot coding agent checks its own changes; Copilot is the only assistant named, and there is no discovery of other agents or MCP servers.

Snyk: Evo Agentic Development Security names Claude, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, Antigravity, Kiro and Qodo, discovers MCP servers, skills and tools, and secures code inside the agent. Snyk Studio's MCP server lists Copilot among supported AI tools.

Assistants named on their public pages: GitHub Advanced Security: GitHub Copilot; Snyk: Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, OpenAI Codex and Kiro.

Where do their controls run on the developer machine?

GitHub Advanced Security: Runs on GitHub at push and pull request; no endpoint agent is described.

Snyk: Evo coding agent security is metered per active machine per day and can evaluate, steer or block agent activity; an endpoint application and tamper resistance are not described on the pages reviewed.

How much control does the security team get?

GitHub Advanced Security: Organization-level security overview, campaigns and push protection; agent checks cover GitHub's own Copilot coding agent, not third-party assistants.

Snyk: Evo can evaluate, steer or block risky agent activity across discovered MCP servers, skills and tools. It requires an Enterprise subscription, and audit reporting on agent activity is not described on the pages reviewed.

How do they fit the developer's workflow?

GitHub Advanced Security: Native to pull requests on GitHub.

Snyk: The Free plan includes IDE, CLI and source control integrations, and Snyk Studio brings scanning into AI tools through an MCP server.

How do they fix and prioritize findings?

GitHub Advanced Security: Copilot Autofix suggests fixes and security campaigns organize remediation; no reachability or business-context scoring is described.

Snyk: Risk Score weighs reachability, exploit maturity, business impact, EPSS and CVSS, and AI remediation uses an agentic retry loop. Ingestion of third-party scanner findings is not confirmed on the pages reviewed.

How do they compare on price?

Snyk: free tier: Yes: Free, $0; lowest published paid option: Team from $25 a month (up to 10 developers); pricing unit: Enterprise credits (1 credit = $1).

Source: GitHub Advanced Security pricing · Reviewed Sep 2026

Source: Snyk pricing · Reviewed Sep 2026

Which should you choose?

Choose GitHub Advanced Security if pricing and buying clarity and developer experience matter most: GHAS scores 4.5 and 4.5 there, against 3.5 and 4.5 for Snyk. Choose Snyk if AI code and assistant coverage and governance and policy control matter most: Snyk scores 5.0 and 4.0 there, against 3.0 and 2.0 for GHAS.

Frequently asked questions

Is GitHub Advanced Security or Snyk better for AI code security?

GitHub Advanced Security scores 2.9 and Snyk 4.1 on our AI code security criteria, so Snyk ranks higher on the published weights. GHAS leads on 1 of 6 criteria and Snyk on 4; 1 is tied. Which is better depends on which criteria matter most to you; the calculator on this site re-weights them.

How do GitHub Advanced Security and Snyk price their plans?

GitHub Advanced Security: free tier: Free for public repositories (code scanning, secret scanning, Dependabot alerts); lowest published paid option: $19 (Secret Protection) or $30 (Code Security) per active committer per month. Snyk: free tier: Yes: Free, $0; lowest published paid option: Team from $25 a month (up to 10 developers). Prices as published on vendor pages and marketplace listings, reviewed 2026-10-11.

Which AI coding assistants do GitHub Advanced Security and Snyk name?

On the pages we reviewed, GitHub Advanced Security names GitHub Copilot and Snyk names Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, OpenAI Codex and Kiro. 'Not named' means we did not find the assistant on the vendor's pages; it does not prove the tool cannot work with it.

Read the full reviews

Where next?

More head-to-heads

Sources reviewed

GitHub Advanced Security

Snyk

Last reviewed October 2026. Editorial assessment from public vendor material; no hands-on testing.