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Dynamic application security testing · October 2026 Edition

OWASP ZAP vs Burp Suite

Zero of fourteen models named OWASP ZAP first on the direct prompt; zero named Burp Suite. OWASP ZAP was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Burp Suite by thirteen and OWASP ZAP carries 54 labels and Burp Suite 45, so the shares are not directly comparable.

OWASP ZAP

criticized challenger

Named in four categories this edition.

Burp Suite

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

First-choice share29%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate30%18%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5445A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, OWASP ZAP reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Invicti was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. OWASP ZAP vs Invicti · OWASP ZAP vs Acunetix · OWASP ZAP vs StackHawk

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the dynamic application security testing page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
OWASP ZAPFirst choices, of fourteen modelsBurp Suite
Direct003 against OWASP ZAP
Paraphrase112 against OWASP ZAP
Comparative131 against OWASP ZAP · 1 against Burp Suite
Budget-constrained1402 against Burp Suite
Scale-constrained001 against OWASP ZAP · 1 against Burp Suite
Negative219 against OWASP ZAP · 4 against Burp Suite
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite were named in the same answer ninety-nine times, of the 188 answers naming OWASP ZAP and the 121 naming Burp Suite. In those answers Burp Suite took the first choice five times and OWASP ZAP forty-three.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite stood in it.
ModelDirectBSParaphraseBSComparativeBSBudget-constrainedBSScale-constrainedBSNegativeBS
Claude Haiku 4.5BSBSBS
GPT-5.4 miniBSBSBSBS
Gemini 3.5 FlashBSBSBS
Perplexity SonarBS
Grok 4.1 FastBSBSBS
Mistral SmallBSBS
DeepSeek V4 FlashBSBS
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 FlashBSBSBS
Kimi K2BSBSBSBS
GLM 4.7 FlashXBSBSBSBS
MiniMax M2.5BSBSBSBS
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30BBSBSBSBS
OWASP ZAPBS Burp Suite first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, OWASP ZAP on the left and Burp Suite on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

5 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Invicti alternatives: Acunetix, Intruder, OWASP ZAP, Rapid7 InsightAppSec
GPT-5.4 miniAcunetix, Invicti alternatives: Burp Suite
GLM 4.7 FlashXStackHawk alternatives: OWASP ZAP, Rapid7 InsightAppSec
MiniMax M2.5Invicti alternatives: Acunetix, Aikido Security, Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, Rapid7 InsightAppSec
Muse Glimmer 30BInvicti alternatives: Acunetix, Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP

Neither was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Gemini 3.5 FlashEscape alternatives: Astra Security, Invicti, StackHawk
Perplexity SonarBright Security alternatives: Acunetix, Beagle Security, Detectify, Intruder
Grok 4.1 FastIntruder alternatives: Acunetix, Astra Security
Mistral SmallBurp Suite Enterprise Edition, Intruder alternatives: Aikido Security
DeepSeek V4 FlashStackHawk alternatives: Escape, Intruder, Invicti
Llama 4 MaverickBurp Suite Enterprise Edition alternatives: Aikido Security, AppCheck, Intruder
Qwen 3.7 FlashIntruder alternatives: Acunetix, Aikido Security, Invicti
Kimi K2Bright Security, StackHawk alternatives: Acunetix, Invicti
GPT-6 LunaInvicti alternatives: Burp Suite DAST, StackHawk

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
OWASP ZAP leads by forty-three points.
OWASP ZAP43%#1 of 12
Burp Suite0%#11 of 12
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
OWASP ZAP leads by twenty-seven points.
OWASP ZAP29%#1 of 11
Burp Suite2%#7 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Burp Suite leads at enterprise.
Burp Suite4%#5 of 14
OWASP ZAP0%#14 of 14
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about OWASP ZAP

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“The Verdict: Avoid for CI/CD pipelines. Use only if you have dedicated in-house pentesters.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“High false positive rates require significant manual tuning and expertise... Avoid if: You're new to security testing or need low-maintenance automation.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“While OWASP ZAP is excellent and free, mid-sized B2B companies typically: Lack dedicated security teams to tune and manage false positives” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“For most small to medium-sized companies just starting with DAST, OWASP ZAP is typically the best choice due to its zero cost, robust features, and strong community support.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“the best DAST tool is usually OWASP ZAP because it is free, open-source, extensible, and widely recommended as the default starting point” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · first choice
“OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is widely considered the best Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tool available.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Burp Suite

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“The Verdict: Avoid for automated scanning. Use only for manual penetration testing.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Burp Suite Enterprise has complex setup and configuration requirements that often need dedicated security expertise” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Extremely manual and limited automation in the free version; Pro is better but still developer/pentester-focused.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“commercial tools like Burp Suite Professional and Invicti catch more vulnerability types than open-source alternatives, with Burp Suite achieving ~29% coverage of critical vulnerabilities” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
“I'd generally recommend Burp Suite Professional if you want the best balance of capability, usability, and web-app-focused coverage” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Burp Suite Professional (PortSwigger): Best for manual testing + automated scanning hybrid. Excellent SPA support.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.