ZipLoom vs OWASP ZAP
ZAP is free and deep if you know how to drive it. ZipLoom runs automatically and ships the app.
OWASP ZAP is a free, open-source dynamic application security testing tool — an intercepting proxy that actively probes a running app. It is capable, respected, and costs nothing. What it asks for instead is expertise and time.
Where OWASP ZAP is stronger
Every tool on this page is here because it's good at something. These are the reasons to pick OWASP ZAP over us, written by us:
- It's free and open-source, with no seat count and no vendor. For many teams that settles it.
- Active scanning depth: ZAP genuinely attacks a running application in ways our read-only posture check does not.
- Total control — scan policies, contexts, authentication scripts, and automation are all yours to tune.
- A large community, long track record, and no dependence on a company staying in business.
Who each one suits
- You have security expertise in-house and want maximum control at zero licence cost.
- You need genuine active DAST probing rather than a posture assessment.
- You're required to run tooling you can inspect and self-host.
- Nobody on the project is a security engineer, and a tool that needs tuning will quietly go unused.
- You want checks to run on every deploy automatically, with the fix written for your AI agent.
- You also need the app deployed and monitored.
Side by side
| Outcome | ZipLoom | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Licence cost | $20/mo flat | Free, open-source |
| Setup and tuning | None — runs on deploy | You install, configure, and maintain it |
| Expertise needed | None | Security knowledge to configure and interpret |
| Active exploitation testing | No — read-only posture checks | Yes — genuine active scanning |
| Database RLS, secrets, CVE, licence checks | Yes | Not its focus |
| Fixes formatted for an AI agent | Yes | No |
| Ships and monitors the app | Yes | No |
| Runs without being asked | Every deploy | When you run it, or when you build the automation |
What it costs
The verdict
They can sit side by side, and for a security-literate team ZAP plus a deploy pipeline is a perfectly good answer that costs nothing in licences. ZipLoom is for the case where there is no security engineer, and a tool that only works when someone remembers to configure and run it will end up not running at all.
Assessed against published pricing and documentation as of 22 September 2026, plus hands-on use where noted. Prices change — follow the source links before relying on a number.
- Have someone who uses ZAP regularly sanity-check the active-scanning rows