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Keygraph vs GitHub Advanced Security

Keygraph: the AI-native
GitHub Advanced Security replacement

GHAS is built directly into GitHub, which is both its greatest strength and its main constraint. Because it lives inside the platform, turning it on covers your GitHub repositories with essentially no integration work. The tradeoff is scope: anything outside GitHub's platforms, including the running application itself, falls outside what GHAS can see. Security shouldn't depend on which platform your code happens to live on, and a finding shouldn't ship as a hypothesis. Keygraph brings that same depth of detection to any source host and any environment, then goes further: it proves each real vulnerability by running a working exploit against it, and once a fix is in place, runs that exploit again to confirm the issue is genuinely closed.

Rather than predicting whether a vulnerability is exploitable, Keygraph proves it by running a working exploit against the application, whether the code lives on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or your own infrastructure.
Where it reaches

Security that lives where your code lives, until it lives elsewhere.

Coverage that ships with the platform stops at the platform. Most companies' code doesn't: there are other source hosts, repos that arrive with an acquisition, and the application your customers actually run. Here is what each side can reach.

GHAS
GitHub-native

Inside GitHub's walls

+GitHub repos +PR checks +CodeQL +Copilot Autofix GitLab Bitbucket other self-hosted SCMs the running app
Excellent within its own platform (a separate product covers Azure DevOps). Code on any other host is out of reach, and so is risk that only appears at runtime.
Keygraph
org-wide

Across everything you run

+GitHub +GitLab +Bitbucket +self-hosted SCMs +the running app +proof of exploit
Any source host, any environment, plus the live system itself. One platform covers all of it, inside your own network.

CodeQL and Copilot Autofix are excellent. They still don't run the attack.

CodeQL is genuinely strong: it reasons about data flow and catches taint and cross-procedure issues simpler scanners miss. Copilot Autofix suggests a patch right in the pull request. That is a fast, polished detect-and-suggest loop, and GitHub keeps extending it.

But none of it ever touches the running application. An alert is a strong lead, and a suggested patch is a plausible one; both still leave a human to establish what an attacker could actually do. Keygraph supplies that step as evidence: a working exploit that demonstrates the finding, and a re-run of the same exploit that demonstrates the fix.

Who covers what

Both find. Only one proves and closes the loop.

GHAS and Keygraph both find vulnerabilities through static analysis. The difference is everything after detection: proving the finding is really exploitable, driving the fix, and re-running the exploit to prove the fix held.

1Find
2Prove
3Fix
4Verify
GHAS2 of 4
Keygraph4 of 4

GHAS finds and can draft a fix PR; proving the vulnerability and verifying the fix held stay with your team. Keygraph runs all four stages end to end.

1 · Find · both

Static detection of likely vulnerabilities. GHAS scans GitHub repos with CodeQL, Dependabot, and secret scanning; Keygraph runs the same class of detection on any source host, plus IaC and container analysis.

2 · Prove · Keygraph

Keygraph exploits the vulnerability against the running app and ships a reproducible PoC. A GHAS alert is a well-informed prediction about code that was never run, not a verified exploit.

3 · Fix · both

Both can open a fix PR: Copilot Autofix drafts a contextual patch, and Keygraph writes one too. The difference is what comes next, and only Keygraph drives it to a verified close rather than leaving the check to you.

4 · Verify · Keygraph

Keygraph re-runs the original exploit after the fix to confirm the vulnerability itself is gone, not just that the alert stopped firing, then rolls it into the system of record.

Spec sheet

How Keygraph compares to GHAS

Capability comparison: Keygraph versus GitHub Advanced Security
Capability Keygraph GitHub Advanced Security
Static analysis
AI-native SASTReasoning at every node CPG plus LLM reasoning at every node PartialCodeQL dataflow analysis; not LLM-based
SCA + reachabilityAdvisory to executable call chain proven-executable call chains; cuts 70 to 90% of noise PartialDependabot alerts by version; reachability only in a Python beta
Secret scanningCatch leaked credentials 40+ types + LLM context pass scanning + push protection (blocks the commit)
IaC / container scanningConfig-layer coverage included Partialvia CodeQL / third-party Actions
Dynamic testing & exploitation
Pentest of the running appAttacks at machine scale autonomous agents, real browser DAST needs a third-party tool
Black-box testingExternal attacker view, zero knowledge zero-knowledge agents attack from outside, no code access static analysis only
Gray-box testingBlack-box plus provided context and steerability optional credentials, focus areas, business context, and OpenAPI specs steer the agents
Exploit validation / PoCProof, not theory every finding proven, reproducible alerts to triage
Business-logic testingIDOR, authz, tenant isolation IDOR, authz, tenant isolation only shallow static queries; no runtime exploit validation
Correlation & remediation
Static-dynamic correlationSource map directs the attack attacks with source knowledge
Verified-patch remediationFix, prove, labeled PR fix → dynamic re-test → labeled PR PartialCopilot can open a draft fix; you verify it resolved the alert
Findings system of recordOne deduplicated record one canonical, deduplicated findings list with SLA tracking, bidirectional Jira Partialsecurity overview and Jira sync; no cross-vendor dedup
Deployment & trust
Runs air-gappedEngine runs in your perimeter on-prem or self-hosted in your own infrastructure; source, scan results, and AI inference never leave your network PartialEnterprise Server self-hosts, but AI features call GitHub's managed cloud (third-party models)
BYOK: model traffic stays yoursYour key, your gateway your own key, model, or AI gateway (Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or an Anthropic-compatible endpoint), including a self-hosted LiteLLM gateway, with usage tracking AI runs on GitHub's managed cloud; no BYO key or model
SSO / SCIM / RBAC / auditEnterprise access controls
Compliance evidenceAudit-ready reporting PCI, DORA, FedRAMP, …; SOC 2 Type II Partialoverview + exportable alerts
Open source & pricing
Open sourceRead it before you buy Shannon, AGPL-3.0, 44k+ stars PartialCodeQL queries are MIT; the CLI and engine are proprietary, and private or closed-source use needs a paid GitHub Code Security license
Pricing (public, sourced)What you actually pay from $50 / developer / mo; Shannon free $19 + $30 / active committer / mo

Swipe to compare →

Full Partial limited or adjacent Not offered

Compare security budgets, not seat prices.

A per-committer scanner license next to a platform seat is the wrong comparison. The real one is a single platform against a scanner plus the periodic pentest it still needs, plus the 364-day gap between them. GHAS is $19 per committer for Secret Protection and $30 for Code Security.

GHAS + annual pentest
GHAS license, $19 + $30 per committer / month$29,400
One web-app pentest, one point in time$10,000 to $30,000
Per year$39,400 to $59,400
Scanning plus a single engagement; the other 364 days sit between pentests.
Keygraph · all-in
Platform floor, $50 per developer / month50 developers
Continuous pentesting, every buildincluded
Per yearfrom $30,000
The floor covers agentic SAST, secrets, and whitebox pentesting on your own model keys (BYOK). Blackbox pentesting is an add-on.
At 50 active committers, GHAS plus one annual pentest runs $39,400 to $59,400 a year. Keygraph starts from $30,000 a year with the pentesting already inside.

An "active committer" pushed to a GHAS-enabled repo in the last 90 days, deduplicated across the org. Pricing sources: GitHub Secret Protection $19 + Code Security $30 per active committer/month (github.com/security/plans, as of June 2026). A third-party web-application penetration test runs an industry range of $10,000 to $30,000 per engagement (TCM Security, Redfox Security, DeepStrike, 2026). Keygraph Pro from $50/developer/month, a floor price, computed here at the same headcount. Estimates for comparison only; actual costs vary by scope.

Why detection isn't the whole job

Four things a scanner leaves on the table

01 / Prediction vs proof

An alert is a hypothesis, not a verdict

GHAS output is an assessment of code that was never run: an alert means a vulnerability looks reachable, a fix means it might resolve it. Keygraph proves it with an exploit run against the live app and attaches the PoC, so a finding is a fact, not a prediction your team still has to triage.

02 / Detection, then closure

Finding it is the start, not the finish

Copilot Autofix can draft a patch and re-scan, but that only confirms the pattern no longer matches, and it leaves you to verify the fix. Keygraph writes the fix and re-runs the original exploit to prove the vulnerability is actually gone, find → prove → fix → verify in one place, so the finding that goes in is the closure that comes out.

03 / The running app

Risk that never shows up in static analysis

An IDOR, a broken authorization check, a tenant-isolation flaw: these are properties of the running application, and a static scanner has only shallow queries for them and never exploits them at runtime. Keygraph tests business logic against the live app, the layer a scanner cannot reach.

04 / Not only on GitHub

All your code, not one vendor's corner of it

Most enterprises run more than one source host: GitLab, Bitbucket, acquisitions, on-prem. GHAS secures GitHub, and as a separate product Azure DevOps, and nothing else, even when self-hosted. Keygraph is SCM-agnostic, so the same proof and the same loop cover all of them, inside your own perimeter.

Get more with Keygraph

Continuous pentesting, proven with a PoC

Keygraph's agentic pentester attacks your running app in a real browser and ships only proven, reproducible exploits. Run it as often as you choose, on every release, nightly, or on demand; with BYOK there is no per-scan metering. GHAS scans every push but never pentests the running app, and the human pentest that does costs $10k to $30k a year and leaves a 364-day gap.

Learn more
Static-dynamic correlation

Keygraph attacks the running app with full source knowledge and correlates both stages into one result per vulnerability. GHAS has no running-app testing to correlate its alerts against.

Learn more
Verified-patch remediation

Keygraph writes the fix and re-runs the original exploit to prove the vulnerability is actually gone, then opens a labeled PR. GHAS can open a draft Copilot fix and re-scan, but that only confirms the alert stopped firing, and it leaves you to verify the fix before you merge.

Learn more
A fully open-source engine

Keygraph's engine is Shannon, AGPL-3.0 with 44k+ stars, so you can read exactly how it works. GHAS's CodeQL engine is proprietary; only its queries are open source.

Learn more

FAQ

Does Keygraph replace GitHub Advanced Security?
It can, and for some teams it does, but plenty of teams run both, using Keygraph as the proof-and-remediation layer on top of GHAS scanning. Keygraph runs the same class of static analysis GHAS does (SAST, secret scanning, SCA) and the part a scanner cannot: it exploits findings against your running app, reports only what is exploit-validated, correlates static and dynamic results, tests business logic, and keeps a cross-tool system of record.
Does GitHub Advanced Security do penetration testing?
No. As of June 3, 2026, GHAS is scanner-class: CodeQL (SAST), secret scanning, and Dependabot (SCA). It does not include dynamic testing of a running application, black-box pentesting, or automated exploit validation. GitHub positions DAST as a separate, third-party integration.
Is Copilot Autofix the same as Keygraph's remediation?
They solve different halves. Copilot Autofix generates a suggested patch and leaves verification to you. Keygraph's remediation writes the fix, dynamically re-tests the running app to prove the vulnerability is gone, and opens a labeled pull request. Both keep a human in the loop; only one re-tests the fix for you.
Where do Keygraph findings surface for developers?
Findings land in the Keygraph findings tab and dashboard: one deduplicated record per vulnerability with its PoC, status, and history. For remediation, Keygraph pushes a labeled pull request to your repository, so fixes arrive in the review flow your team already uses. Bidirectional Jira sync and SLA tracking route the rest of the work.
What happens to findings Keygraph can't exploit?
They are not reported, and that is the point. Keygraph surfaces every vulnerability it can produce a working PoC for, whether the finding came from static analysis or from exploiting the running app; many findings are discovered statically and surface with their proof. The only vulnerabilities it does not report are the ones it cannot produce a PoC for, regardless of how they were found. That is a deliberate tradeoff: the findings tab holds demonstrated, actionable vulnerabilities, not a queue of hypotheses competing for triage time.
Does my source code or model traffic leave my environment?
No. Keygraph runs inside your own perimeter (AWS/GCP/Azure), self-hosted or air-gapped, and routes inference through your own model key. Tokens never traverse Keygraph, and source is discarded after the scan. GHAS's AI features run on GitHub's managed cloud, on third-party models you don't control.
How is Keygraph priced compared to GHAS's per-committer model?
Keygraph is priced per active developer, a comparable unit to GHAS's per-committer metering ($19 Secret Protection + $30 Code Security as of June 3, 2026); current rates are on the pricing page. We frame the value on the whole program because a scanner-only buyer still carries separate pentest spend on top of the license. Shannon, the open-source engine, is free under AGPL-3.0.
What is Shannon, and is it really free?
Shannon is Keygraph's open-source agentic pentester: it reads your source and exploits the running app. It is free under AGPL-3.0 with 44k+ GitHub stars; self-host and run it yourself at no cost. The Keygraph platform adds the full static suite, correlation, the system of record, integrations, in-perimeter deployment, compliance evidence, and support.
We're on Azure DevOps, does this change?
The capability comparison is the same. Pricing differs slightly: GHAS for Azure DevOps is $49/active committer/mo as a legacy bundle, now split into the same $19 (Secret Protection) + $30 (Code Security) for new customers.
Is CodeQL open source?
Not fully. CodeQL's queries are MIT-licensed, but the CodeQL CLI and analysis engine ship under GitHub's proprietary CodeQL Terms and Conditions, which are not OSI-approved. Free use is limited to public or OSI-licensed code; running CodeQL on any private or closed-source codebase requires a paid GitHub Code Security license (formerly part of GitHub Advanced Security). Keygraph built its own engine, Shannon, and released it under AGPL-3.0, so you can read and run the full thing.

Don't take our word for it,
try out Keygraph for yourself!

Run Keygraph against your own environment and judge the results: working exploits against your running app, and fixes proven closed.

Sources

Claims about GitHub Advanced Security on this page are drawn from the primary references below, verified June 8, 2026.

  1. GitHub Docs, About GitHub Advanced Security. https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/learning-about-github/about-github-advanced-security
  2. GitHub Changelog, Introducing GitHub Secret Protection and GitHub Code Security (per-active-committer pricing, $19 + $30), March 4, 2025. https://github.blog/changelog/2025-03-04-introducing-github-secret-protection-and-github-code-security/
  3. GitHub Docs, Billing for GitHub Advanced Security (active-committer definition). https://docs.github.com/en/billing/concepts/product-billing/github-advanced-security
  4. GitHub Changelog, Advanced Security for GitHub Team organizations, April 1, 2025. https://github.blog/changelog/2025-04-01-github-advanced-security-is-here-for-github-team-organizations/
  5. GitHub Docs, Responsible use of Copilot Autofix for code scanning. https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/responsible-use/responsible-use-autofix-code-scanning
  6. GitHub Docs, About Dependabot alerts. https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/dependabot/dependabot-alerts/about-dependabot-alerts
  7. Microsoft Learn, Billing for GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/repos/security/github-advanced-security-billing?view=azure-devops
  8. GitHub Docs, Hosting of AI models for GitHub Copilot. https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/ai-models/model-hosting
  9. CodeQL repository README (queries MIT-licensed; CLI licensed separately; commercial license required for closed-source code). https://github.com/github/codeql
  10. CodeQL CLI binaries, license (the proprietary CodeQL Terms and Conditions). https://github.com/github/codeql-cli-binaries/blob/main/LICENSE.md
  11. GitHub Docs, About the CodeQL CLI (free on public repos; private repos require a GitHub Code Security license). https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/codeql-cli/getting-started-with-the-codeql-cli/about-the-codeql-cli
  12. GitHub Changelog, Dependabot alerts show vulnerable function calls (Python beta) (reachability limited to a Python beta). https://github.blog/changelog/2022-04-14-dependabot-alerts-show-vulnerable-function-calls-python-beta/
  13. CodeQL query help, Missing function level access control (CWE-862/285/284; shallow static access-control queries). https://codeql.github.com/codeql-query-help/csharp/cs-web-missing-function-level-access-control/
  14. GitHub Blog, Third-party code scanning tools, IaC and container scanning (IaC/container via CodeQL or third-party Actions). https://github.blog/2020-10-07-announcing-third-party-code-scanning-tools-infrastructure-as-code-and-container-scanning/
  15. GitHub Changelog, Security overview dashboards (security overview as the findings surface). https://github.blog/changelog/2024-07-19-security-overview-dashboards-secret-scanning-metrics-and-enablement-trends-reports-are-now-generally-available/
  16. GitHub Changelog, CSV exports for security alerts on the security overview dashboard (exportable alerts). https://github.blog/changelog/2024-08-06-csv-exports-for-security-alerts-on-the-organization-level-security-overview-dashboard/
  17. GitHub Docs, Configuring SAML single sign-on for your enterprise (SSO/SCIM/RBAC/audit). https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/managing-iam/using-saml-for-enterprise-iam/configuring-saml-single-sign-on-for-your-enterprise
  18. GitHub Docs, Triaging code scanning alerts in pull requests (alerts land in the PR). https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/managing-code-scanning-alerts/triaging-code-scanning-alerts-in-pull-requests
  19. GitHub Blog, CodeQL zero to hero part 1, the fundamentals of static analysis (CodeQL flags potential issues; it does not run the attack). https://github.blog/developer-skills/github/codeql-zero-to-hero-part-1-the-fundamentals-of-static-analysis-for-vulnerability-research/
  20. CodeQL, semantic code analysis engine (mature dataflow analyzer with an extensible query library). https://codeql.github.com/
  21. GitHub, Security plans and pricing (Secret Protection $19 + Code Security $30 per active committer/month). https://github.com/security/plans
  22. GitHub, GHAS Jira integration (synchronize Code Scanning alerts to Jira issues). https://github.com/github/ghas-jira-integration
  23. Microsoft DevBlogs, GitHub Secret Protection and Code Security for Azure DevOps (legacy $49 bundle split into $19 + $30 for new customers). https://devblogs.microsoft.com/devops/github-secret-protection-and-github-code-security-for-azure-devops/
  24. DeepStrike, Penetration testing cost (separate third-party engagement, $10,000 to $30,000 range). https://deepstrike.io/blog/penetration-testing-cost