Best alternative to APIsec

This tool serves as a focused, low-friction alternative to APIsec for teams that need rapid API risk visibility without authentication complexity. You submit a URL and receive a risk score from A to F along with prioritized findings. It is a black-box scanner that requires no agents, SDKs, or code access and supports any language, framework, or cloud. Scan duration is under one minute, limited to read-only methods plus text-only POST for LLM probes.

The scanner maps findings to three frameworks: PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 (2023). Detection spans 12 categories aligned to OWASP API Top 10, including Authentication bypass, BOLA and IDOR, BFLA and privilege escalation, Property Authorization over-exposure, Input Validation (CORS wildcard and dangerous methods), Rate Limiting and Resource Consumption, Data Exposure (PII patterns, API key formats, error leakage), Encryption checks, SSRF probes, Inventory Management, Unsafe Consumption surfaces, and LLM/AI Security with 18 adversarial probes across Quick, Standard, and Deep tiers. It also parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 with recursive $ref resolution and cross-references spec definitions against runtime behavior.

Authenticated scanning is available from Starter tier upward, supporting Bearer, API key, Basic auth, and Cookie credentials. Domain verification is enforced via DNS TXT record or HTTP well-known file, ensuring only the domain owner can scan with credentials. Header forwarding is limited to Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers. The scanner follows a strict read-only posture: destructive payloads are never sent, private IPs and localhost are blocked at multiple layers, and customer data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation.

The Web Dashboard centralizes scans, reports, score trends, and allows export of branded compliance PDFs. The CLI via the middlebrick npm package supports command-line execution with JSON or text output. A GitHub Action integrates scanning into CI/CD pipelines and can fail builds when scores drop below a chosen threshold. An MCP Server enables scanning from AI coding assistants such as Claude and Cursor. An API client provides programmatic access for custom workflows.

Pro tier adds scheduled rescans every 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly. Diff detection highlights new findings, resolved findings, and score drift between scans. Email alerts are rate-limited to one per hour per API, and webhooks are HMAC-SHA256 signed, with auto-disable after five consecutive failures. The tool helps you prepare for audits aligned with PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 (2023), and surfaces findings relevant to various regulatory controls using alignment language rather than certification claims.

The Free tier offers three scans per month with CLI access. Starter at 99 dollars per month supports 15 APIs, monthly scans, dashboard, email alerts, and the MCP Server. Pro at 499 dollars per month covers 100 APIs with continuous monitoring, GitHub Action gates, CI/CD integration, Slack and Teams alerts, compliance reports, and signed webhooks. Enterprise at 2000 dollars per month provides unlimited APIs, custom rules, SSO, audit logs, SLA, and dedicated support. For most teams, this scanner represents a focused alternative to APIsec; runners-up include manual testing workflows and highly specialized SAST tools that require deeper integration.