Semgrep alternative for AI-native engineering teams
Semgrep matches patterns.
Hyrax evaluates six domains.
Semgrep is fast, transparent and easy to extend, and custom rules make it excellent for enforcing known patterns. Hyrax answers a broader question across six domains, and verifies every fix against the project test suite before opening a pull request.
Hyrax audits roughly 400 of its own repositories.
Free plan: full access, up to 100 PR reviews a month, a $30 starter credit, and $10/month ongoing.
[Hyrax] Refresh session token before expiry
hyrax-bot wants to merge · +24 −6
Why teams switch
What changes when Hyrax runs above the tools.
Six domains, not one
Semgrep covers its own scanning domain well. Hyrax evaluates security, correctness, maintainability, performance, architecture and operations together.
Verified against the project tests
A rules engine confirms a change satisfies its own rules. Hyrax runs the project test suite and build, so a fix is proven against the real system.
Context that compounds
The map of the codebase lives in the repository and improves with every merge, so the next decision starts from everything learned before it.
Comparison
How Hyrax and Semgrep make decisions.
Read how Semgrep describes itself: semgrep.dev(opens in a new tab)
Workflow
Comments on a diff, or a verified pull request.
- 01Semgrep scans the project against its rule set.
- 02Findings arrive as a list to triage, with severity attached.
- 03The team decides what is worth fixing, makes the edits, and merges.
- 01Maps the codebase and keeps the map in the repository
- 02Applies architectural judgment across six domains
- 03Opens a verified pull request that a human merges
Getting started
From install to the first verified pull request.
Install the GitHub App
Grant read access to the repositories in scope. No card is required to start.
Hyrax maps the repository
Discovery writes HYRAX.md and .hyrax/discovery into the repository, so humans and AI tools read the same context.
Review the first pull request
Approved improvements arrive as verified pull requests. A human merges every one.
The honest verdict
Both tools solve real problems.
Choose Semgrep if
The team has patterns it needs enforced and wants rules it can read, write and version itself. Semgrep is the right instrument for known problems.
Choose Hyrax if
The problems worth finding are not all known in advance. Hyrax reasons about the codebase across six domains rather than matching a pattern catalogue, and verifies each fix against the project itself.
Open source engine free, then priced per contributor.
Free plan with a $30 starter credit and $10/month ongoing. Paid is $30 per user per month, and each paid user gets $30/month of credits.
FAQ
Questions about Semgrep and Hyrax.
Yes, and most teams run both. Semgrep keeps doing its job. Hyrax works at the level of the whole codebase, decides what is worth changing, and delivers verified pull requests. Nothing about the Semgrep setup has to change.
Discovery writes HYRAX.md and a .hyrax/discovery directory, which document the architecture, conventions and risk areas of the codebase. Everything else arrives as a normal pull request on its own branch. Hyrax has no write access to the default branch.
The free plan includes full access, a $30 starter credit and $10/month of credits ongoing, with no card required. The paid plan is $30 per user per month, and each paid user gets $30/month of credits. Pull request reviews are included on every plan.
Installing the GitHub App and granting access to a repository takes a few minutes. Hyrax maps the codebase, then runs the first audit and returns findings ranked by severity and effort. The first verified pull requests follow once an audit is approved.
Build what you're proud to ship.
GitHub-native. Human-controlled. Verified before merge.