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Software composition analysis · October 2026 Edition

Snyk Open Source vs GitHub Dependabot

Seven of fourteen models named Snyk Open Source first on the direct prompt; zero named GitHub Dependabot. Snyk Open Source was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and GitHub Dependabot by nine and Snyk Open Source carries 55 labels and GitHub Dependabot 17, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Snyk Open Source

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

GitHub Dependabot

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share16%8%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate16%18%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#6A position in a field of 17; printed, not drawn.
Labels5517A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Snyk Open Source reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Mend.io was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Trivy vs Snyk Open Source · Trivy vs GitHub Dependabot · Snyk Open Source vs Mend.io

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 software composition analysis page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Snyk Open SourceFirst choices, of fourteen modelsGitHub Dependabot
Direct70
Paraphrase003 against Snyk Open Source
Comparative70
Budget-constrained041 against Snyk Open Source
Scale-constrained10
Negative005 against Snyk Open Source · 3 against GitHub Dependabot
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, Snyk Open Source and GitHub Dependabot were named in the same answer forty-one times, of the 177 answers naming Snyk Open Source and the 53 naming GitHub Dependabot. In those answers GitHub Dependabot took the first choice nine times and Snyk Open Source sixteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Snyk Open Source and GitHub Dependabot stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Snyk Open Source GitHub Dependabot first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Snyk Open Source on the left and GitHub Dependabot on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Snyk Open Source and GitHub Dependabot stood in it.

Snyk Open Source first, GitHub Dependabot an alternative

7 of 14 modelsGitHub Dependabot was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniSnyk Open Source alternatives: FOSSA, OWASP Dependency-Check, OWASP Dependency-Track
Grok 4.1 FastSnyk Open Source alternatives: Mend.io, Sonatype Lifecycle
DeepSeek V4 FlashSnyk Open Source alternatives: Mend.io, Sonatype Lifecycle
Kimi K2Mend.io, Snyk Open Source alternatives: GitHub Advanced Security, GitHub Dependabot, Sonatype Lifecycle, Trivy
GLM 4.7 FlashXGitHub Advanced Security, Snyk Open Source alternatives: Black Duck, Endor Labs, FOSSA, Mend.io, Sonatype Lifecycle
MiniMax M2.5Snyk Open Source, Sonatype Lifecycle alternatives: Black Duck, FOSSA, GitHub Advanced Security
GPT-6 LunaSnyk Open Source alternatives: GitHub's built-in supply-chain tools, Mend.io, Sonatype Lifecycle

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 4.5Mend.io alternatives: Black Duck, Endor Labs, FOSSA, Snyk Open Source, Sonatype Lifecycle
Gemini 3.5 FlashAikido Security alternatives: Endor Labs, Mend.io, Snyk Open Source
Perplexity SonarMend.io alternatives: Black Duck, Snyk Open Source, Sonatype Lifecycle
Qwen 3.7 FlashMend.io alternatives: GitHub Advanced Security, Snyk Open Source
Muse Glimmer 30BMend.io alternatives: Snyk Open Source, Sonatype Lifecycle

Neither was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Mistral SmallMend.io alternatives: GitHub Advanced Security, Insignary Clarity
Llama 4 MaverickMend.io

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
Snyk Open Source leads by thirty-four points.
Snyk Open Source39%#1 of 14
GitHub Dependabot5%#4 of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Snyk Open Source leads by eight points.
Snyk Open Source16%#2 of 17
GitHub Dependabot8%#6 of 17
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Snyk Open Source leads by five points.
Snyk Open Source5%#5 of 14
GitHub Dependabot0%#– of 14
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Snyk Open Source

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

“enterprise buyers often cite "unpredictable ballooning costs"... some procurement models recommend avoiding it if strict cost-prediction budgets are required” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Snyk is proprietary software. A mid-sized B2B company might prefer Trivy or Dependency-Check to avoid vendor lock-in and licensing costs” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“limited policy flexibility, poor data quality for complex remediations, high false positives in transitives, and costs spike” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“Choose Snyk if you want a seamless developer experience with early vulnerability detection and integrated security scanning.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · first choice
“Choose Snyk if you have a budget and want the best developer-first integration and workflow tools.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Start with Snyk for most mid-market B2B due to its balance, high adoption, and dev-centric design” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · first choice

What the models said about GitHub Dependabot

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

“Useful for alerts, but sources warn about false positives, limited transitive analysis, and limited remediation automation in this basic form.” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“a reasonable choice for GitHub-based dependency alerts and updates, but don't assume it gives complete coverage of your software supply chain” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Free/native, but basic (no deep reachability/licenses), prone to stale alerts” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“GitHub Dependabot is the zero-excuse baseline: dependency alerts and automated update PRs free on every repo” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“Best low-budget starting point: GitHub Dependabot if your code is already on GitHub.” GPT-6 Luna · budget prompt · first choice
“the best place to start is GitHub Dependabot (if you're on GitHub) or Trivy” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget 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.