Application Security Monitoring Tools — 2026 Buyer's Guide

Eight tools, ranked by who they fit best. This isn't sponsored content; the SecureNow ASM page covers our own product, but this list is the honest read on the broader market.

1. Datadog ASM

What it is. Datadog's application security product, built on top of Datadog APM.

Best for. Teams already on Datadog. The integration cost is zero — flip a flag, signals appear.

Pricing. $17/host/month, on top of APM ($15+/host/month).

Strengths. Tight integration with Datadog's SOC dashboard. Mature signal triage UI. Bits AI for investigation.

Weaknesses. Detection-only by default; blocking requires ASM Protect (newer, framework-limited) or a separate WAF. Per-host pricing scales badly for SaaS. See Datadog ASM vs separate WAF.

Verdict. The default for Datadog shops; not the best ASM in absolute terms, but the lowest integration cost.

2. AWS GuardDuty + Inspector

What it is. AWS's bundled security observability — GuardDuty for VPC-level threat detection, Inspector for application-level scanning.

Best for. AWS-native teams that want their security data in the same console as everything else.

Pricing. Usage-based, typically $50–$500/month for moderate-sized AWS environments.

Strengths. Native integration with VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, AWS WAF. SOC 2 compliance out of the box.

Weaknesses. Application-layer detection is shallower than dedicated ASM tools. Most teams pair it with something else.

Verdict. Good baseline for AWS shops; rarely the only tool.

3. Snyk + Snyk Application Security

What it is. Snyk's runtime application security, built on top of their SAST/SCA platform.

Best for. Teams that already use Snyk for code-side vulnerability scanning and want runtime visibility from the same vendor.

Pricing. Per-developer per-month pricing, with the runtime tier as an add-on.

Strengths. Tight loop between code-side findings and runtime exploitation evidence — "this CVE in your dependency was actually exploited yesterday."

Weaknesses. Runtime detection is newer than the SAST/SCA features and not as deep as dedicated ASM. Per-seat pricing gets expensive for large dev teams.

Verdict. Add-on for existing Snyk customers; rarely a standalone choice.

4. Contrast Security

What it is. RASP-focused application security with deep instrumentation — bytecode-level for Java, similar depth for Python, .NET, Node.

Best for. Regulated industries (financial, healthcare) where active blocking is a compliance requirement.

Pricing. Custom enterprise; typical deal sizes $50–$200k/year.

Strengths. Best-in-class RASP. Deep visibility into the application internals. PCI DSS and HIPAA-aligned compliance reporting.

Weaknesses. Heavy instrumentation has real latency impact. Pricing is enterprise-only. Setup is a multi-week project.

Verdict. The right answer when active prevention is non-negotiable; overkill for everyone else.

5. SecureNow

What it is. OpenTelemetry-native ASM combined with an IP firewall, in one npm package.

Best for. Node-heavy SaaS, indie hackers, startups that want detection + light blocking + investigation in one tool.

Pricing. One plan: $99 per app per month with every feature included, after a 14-day free trial (no credit card). No per-host or per-seat charges.

Strengths. 5-minute setup. The 14-day trial includes every feature, so you can test it on real traffic before paying. Built-in firewall (known-bad IP feed, refreshed hourly). AI investigation in the same product.

Weaknesses. Newer tool, smaller ecosystem. Currently Node-only (Python/Go on roadmap). Self-host is roadmap.

Verdict. The default for Node SaaS under 200 engineers. Disclosure: this post is on the SecureNow site. See the comparison page for direct framing.

6. Wazuh

What it is. Open-source security platform with application monitoring, file integrity, and SIEM-like capabilities.

Best for. Teams that want to self-host, have ops capacity, and prefer open-source.

Pricing. Free (self-host). Cloud version exists at ~$0.70/agent/month.

Strengths. Mature, large community, broad feature set. Free in the literal sense (no per-feature gating).

Weaknesses. Setup is non-trivial — expect 1–2 engineer-weeks. Application-layer detection needs custom rules; out-of-the-box rules are mostly OS-level.

Verdict. Best free option if you have engineering time to invest.

7. Falco (cloud-native)

What it is. Kubernetes-focused runtime security. CNCF graduated project, heavily used in cloud-native shops.

Best for. Kubernetes-heavy infrastructure with security focus on containers and runtime behaviors.

Pricing. Free (open source). Sysdig is the commercial version with enterprise features.

Strengths. Cloud-native first. Good for detecting suspicious container behavior, suspicious syscalls, anomalous container starts.

Weaknesses. Not application-layer ASM in the traditional sense — focused on runtime/container events, not HTTP traffic patterns. Pair with something else for application detection.

Verdict. Add-on for Kubernetes shops; rarely the primary ASM.

8. SecureNow dedicated instance + custom rules

What it is. OpenTelemetry-native observability with the option to build custom security detection on top.

Best for. Teams that want self-hosted, OTel-native, and willing to write their own detection logic.

Pricing. Free (self-host) or cloud at ~$0.50/GB ingested.

Strengths. Full OTel data model means everything is queryable. Detection is just SQL on ClickHouse. Maximum flexibility.

Weaknesses. No out-of-the-box ASM — you write the detection rules. Expect engineering time investment proportional to detection breadth.

Verdict. Good for teams that already use SecureNow dedicated instance and want one product to do both.

Side-by-side

How to choose in 5 questions

1. Already on Datadog? → Datadog ASM (integration cost = 0).
2. Regulated industry, active prevention required? → Contrast or RASP-class tools.
3. Node-heavy SaaS, want one product? → SecureNow.
4. Self-host, willing to invest engineer time? → Wazuh or SecureNow dedicated instance + custom.
5. AWS-native, simple needs? → AWS GuardDuty + Inspector, possibly with one supplemental tool.

For everyone else, start with a free trial of one of the consolidated tools and let your real-world detection needs drive the buying decision.

Related

• What is application security monitoring?
• ASM vs RASP: when each one wins
• Continuous ASM on a $0 budget