This is one of the reasons why many companies started using Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools. These tools can help teams clearly see which open-source components they use, understand any potential risks, and take care of issues before they actually reach production.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Best SCA Tools You Need to Start Using in 2026
In this article, we will cover three enterprise-ready SCA tools that will help you identify security risks, prioritize threats, and stay compliant with all the necessary requirements along the way.
1. Aikido
Aikido is an application security platform that helps companies reduce noise and ensure easier security handling for development teams. Its SCA features are designed to help teams focus on vulnerabilities and risks that can actually affect their applications, rather than spending time on long lists of lower-priority issues.
Aikido is used by companies of any size, from large organizations that need scalable security tools to smaller teams.
Key Features
– Reachability-Based Prioritization
Aikido checks whether vulnerable code paths are actually used in your application. This helps teams ignore issues that are unlikely to be exploitable and focus on real risks that might cause bigger issues later on.
– Early Threat Detection
This platform can detect malware and find any emerging supply-chain threats, including issues that may not yet be listed in public CVE databases. This can help teams detect risks earlier without adding any unnecessary noise.
– Automatic Fixes
Aikido can automatically create pull requests that fix vulnerable dependencies. It also warns about potential breaking changes, helping teams actually understand the impact of upgrades before merging any fixes.
– SBOMs and License Visibility
Aikido generates Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) that are continuously updated, and tracks things like license and lifecycle information. This makes it easier to meet compliance and reporting requirements.
– Easy Workflow Integration
The tool also integrates with IDEs, CI/CD pipelines, and common development tools, meaning security checks can fit naturally into existing workflows, which will reduce friction between security and engineering teams.
2. Snyk
Snyk is another widely known SCA tool in the market. It focuses on helping developers find and fix issues in open-source dependencies as part of their daily work. This platform is usually used by mid-size and large enterprises, and it supports a wide range of programming languages and package managers.
Key Features
– Dependency Scanning
Snyk scans open-source libraries for known vulnerabilities by using its vulnerability database, and then issues are linked directly to the affected packages and versions.
– Developer-Centric Fix Guidance
The platform also provides upgrade recommendations or patches and, in some cases, can even automatically open pull requests to help developers take care of the issues quickly.
– Developer Tool Integrations
Snyk also integrates with popular IDEs, Git repositories, and CI/CD systems, helping teams catch issues early in the development process.
– License Checks
This platform includes open-source license scanning to help identify any potential compliance risks present in its dependencies.
– Broad Ecosystem Support
Snyk supports scanning across many environments, including containers, infrastructure-as-code (IaC), and cloud services, making it useful beyond just dependency scanning.
3. Mend
Mend is another SCA tool that is designed for large organizations that have strict security and compliance needs. It is usually used by enterprises that want centralized control over open-source usage.
Key Features
– Full Dependency Visibility
Mend provides a detailed view of open-source components across projects and teams. This helps companies maintain and manage a complete inventory of dependencies.
– Security and License Policies
Organizations can set rules and policies for vulnerabilities and open-source licenses. Violations can be automatically blocked in CI/CD pipelines.
– SBOM and Compliance Reporting
Mend also supports SBOM generation and detailed reporting, which can be especially useful for audits and regulatory compliance.
– Scales Across Large Teams
Mend is built to support large codebases and many teams, with centralized dashboards and access controls, making it a good solution for large enterprises.
– Regulatory and Standards Support
Mend includes features that align with industry compliance frameworks and standards, making it helpful for enterprises in regulated sectors to demonstrate due diligence.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that enterprise SCA tools play an important role in modern software security. They help organizations understand their open-source risks and fix issues before they actually become serious problems that are harder to deal with.
This is where the tools we discussed can help, but all of them cater to slightly different needs. Aikido stands out for its reachability-driven approach and focus on reducing noise. Snyk remains a popular choice for developer-centric security workflows, while Mend offers strong governance and compliance capabilities for large enterprises.
Tools like these also support compliance with widely adopted security standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, where understanding and managing third-party software risk is an important part of maintaining a strong security posture.
But, at the end of the day, the best tool is the one that fits your team’s workflow and security goals, and that your developers are really willing to use.