Cost and Resource Analysis

SAST costs include licensing, infrastructure, and ongoing tuning efforts. Enterprise SAST platforms range from tens to hundreds of thousands annually. Infrastructure requirements vary from modest build servers to substantial analysis farms for large code bases. The hidden cost often lies in tuning efforts—reducing false positives requires security expertise and developer time. However, early vulnerability detection provides substantial ROI through reduced remediation costs.

IAST costs encompass licensing, performance overhead, and integration complexity. Licensing models typically charge per application or runtime instance. Performance overhead might require additional test infrastructure to maintain acceptable response times. Integration complexity varies by technology stack but generally exceeds SAST's simpler deployment. The investment pays off through dramatically reduced false positives and developer efficiency.

Resource requirements extend beyond direct costs. SAST requires security professionals who understand code analysis and can tune tools effectively. IAST needs operations expertise for agent deployment and performance optimization. Both benefit from security champions who bridge development and security teams. Organizations must factor these human resource requirements into tool selection decisions.