Glossary · Hosting & DevOps

Snyk

Definition: Snyk is a developer-first security platform that scans code, open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure-as-code for known vulnerabilities and license issues, then suggests fixes, so teams catch security problems during development instead of after release.

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Overview

What Snyk is

Snyk is a developer-first application security platform. It integrates into the tools developers already use, including code editors, Git repositories, and CI/CD pipelines, and scans for security vulnerabilities and license risks as code is written, rather than in a separate audit at the end. The goal is to catch and fix problems early, when they are cheapest to resolve.

What it scans

Snyk covers four main areas: Snyk Code (static analysis of your own source code, or SAST), Snyk Open Source (scanning dependencies for known vulnerabilities, or SCA), Snyk Container (image and base-layer scanning), and Snyk Infrastructure as Code (checking Terraform, Kubernetes, and similar configs). It maps findings to a vulnerability database and suggests specific fixes or upgrade paths.

Why it matters for maintained and modernized apps

Most modern applications are built largely from open-source packages, and vulnerabilities in those dependencies are a leading source of breaches. Running Snyk as part of app maintenance and support keeps a live application patched as new CVEs are disclosed. During app modernization, it surfaces risky legacy dependencies early, so upgrades are planned deliberately instead of discovered during an incident.

Where we use it

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How our team puts Snyk to work in real projects.

App Maintenance Support

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FAQ

Snyk — common questions

Is Snyk free?

Snyk has a free tier with a monthly limit on tests, suitable for individuals and small projects, plus paid Team and Enterprise plans that add more tests, users, and governance controls. Pricing is generally per contributing developer plus usage.

Snyk vs. Dependabot: which should I use?

Dependabot, built into GitHub, automates dependency-update pull requests and is free, while Snyk adds broader coverage across your own code, containers, and infrastructure-as-code, plus richer vulnerability data and fix guidance. Many teams use Dependabot for routine updates and Snyk for deeper security scanning.

Does Snyk fix vulnerabilities automatically?

Snyk detects issues and can open automated fix pull requests that bump dependencies to a safe version, but a human still reviews and merges them. For your own code, it points to the vulnerable lines and recommends changes rather than editing them for you.

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