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Codacy sells seats. SonarQube sells by lines of code or runs self-hosted for free. The right pick depends on your team shape, platform, and whether you need air-gapped deployment — here's the breakdown.
Last updated: April 18, 2026
| Feature | Codacy | SonarQube | Git AutoReview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | SaaS static analysis | Self-hosted static analysis | AI code review |
| Deployment | Cloud only | Self-hosted or Cloud (Sonar) | VS Code + Git platforms |
| Pricing Model | Per developer | Per lines of code (LOC) | Per team (flat) |
| Starting Price | $18/dev/mo (yearly) | $32/mo (100k LOC) | $14.99/team/mo |
| Free Tier | Unlimited for open-source | 50k LOC / 5 users (cloud) | 10 reviews/day, 1 repo |
| Self-Hosted | No (cloud only) | Community Edition (free) | No |
| GitHub | Cloud only | Full | Full native |
| GitLab | Cloud only | Full | Full native |
| Bitbucket Cloud | Yes | PR decoration via CI | Full native |
| Bitbucket Server/DC | No | PR decoration via CI | Full native |
| Azure DevOps | Waitlist (no support yet) | Full | Planned |
| Languages | 40+ languages | 30+ languages | Any (via AI) |
| Security Scanning (SAST) | Built-in + SCA | Built-in (OWASP, CWE) | 20+ rules + AI pass |
| AI Code Review | MCP for AI agents | AI CodeFix (auto-remediation) | Core feature (3 models) |
| Human Approval Workflow | No (automated) | No (quality gates) | Yes (all plans) |
| Setup Time | Minutes (SaaS) | Hours/days (server setup) | Minutes (VS Code install) |
Codacy is a cloud-hosted code quality platform that runs static analysis on pull requests without requiring a CI pipeline. It combines SAST (application security), SCA (dependency scanning), secrets detection, and IaC checks into one SaaS product. Teams connect their Git provider, pick which branches to scan, and get inline comments on PRs.
Pricing: the Developer tier is free forever. Team plans start at $18 per developer per month on annual billing ($21 monthly). Business tier requires a sales call. Public/open-source repositories scan free on any plan, which is why Codacy shows up often in open-source projects.
The tradeoff: Codacy only supports cloud-hosted Git providers (GitHub.com, GitLab.com, Bitbucket Cloud). Teams on GitHub Enterprise, GitLab Self-Managed, Bitbucket Server/DC, or Azure DevOps cannot use it today — Azure DevOps is on a waitlist as of 2026.
SonarQube is the enterprise static analysis tool from SonarSource with 6,500+ rules across 30+ languages. It runs either as a self-hosted server (you install and maintain it) or via SonarQube Cloud (SaaS, formerly SonarCloud). Both integrate through CI pipelines — a build step runs the scanner, then SonarQube decorates PRs with issues, quality gates, and metrics.
Pricing depends on deployment. SonarQube Server has a free Community Edition (self-host, no cost), a Developer Edition that starts near $150/year for small codebases and scales with lines of code, an Enterprise Edition from $20,000/year with portfolio management and advanced security, and Data Center Edition from $130,000/year for high-availability deployments. SonarQube Cloud Team starts at $32/month for 100k lines of code, scaling up to 1.9M+ LOC tiers.
SonarQube supports every major Git platform: GitHub (Cloud and Enterprise), GitLab (Cloud and Self-Managed), Bitbucket (Cloud, Server, Data Center), and Azure DevOps. The tradeoff is setup complexity — self-hosted deployments need admin time, Docker or bare-metal installs, database provisioning, and CI pipeline integration.
| Feature | Codacy | SonarQube | Git AutoReview |
|---|---|---|---|
Static Analysis Rules Rule-based detection depth | 40+ languages, SAST+SCA | 6,500+ rules, 30+ langs | 20+ security rules |
Code Smells Maintainability warnings | Yes | Yes (extensive) | AI-detected |
Duplication Detection Find copy-pasted code | Yes | Yes | No |
Complexity Metrics Function complexity scoring | Yes | Yes (cognitive + cyclomatic) | No |
Security (OWASP/CWE) Vulnerability coverage | SAST + SCA + secrets + IaC | OWASP Top 10, CWE Top 25 | 20+ rules + AI pass |
Taint Analysis Track untrusted data flows | Yes (security focus) | Yes (Developer+) | No |
AI Code Review Contextual LLM analysis | MCP for AI agents only | AI CodeFix auto-remediation | Full multi-model AI review |
Cross-File Logic Bugs Bugs spanning multiple files | Limited | Limited | Yes (Deep Review agent) |
| Feature | Codacy | SonarQube | Git AutoReview |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloud SaaS Managed hosted version | Only option | SonarQube Cloud | Yes |
Self-Hosted On-premise deployment | No | Yes (Community free) | No |
Air-Gapped Deployment Fully offline install | No | Yes (Enterprise/DC) | No |
GitHub Integration depth | Cloud only | Full (+Enterprise) | Full native |
GitLab Integration depth | Cloud only | Full (+Self-Managed) | Full native |
Bitbucket Cloud bitbucket.org | Yes | Yes (via CI) | Full native |
Bitbucket Server/DC Atlassian self-hosted | No | Yes (via CI) | Full native |
Azure DevOps Microsoft Azure Repos | No (waitlist) | Yes | Planned |
CI/CD Integration Where scans run | Pipeline-less | Pipeline required | No (VS Code) |
| Feature | Codacy | SonarQube | Git AutoReview |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing Unit What you pay for | Developer seats | Lines of code (LOC) | Flat team plan |
Cost Predictability Budget stability | Linear (per seat) | Grows with codebase | Fixed monthly/yearly |
Free Tier Limits What's free | Open-source only | 50k LOC, 5 users | 10 reviews/day, 1 repo |
Starting Paid Plan Cheapest paid tier | $18/dev/mo (annual) | $32/mo (Sonar Cloud Team) | $9.99/mo (Developer) |
Enterprise Pricing Top tier cost | Custom | $20K+/yr (Server Enterprise) | $14.99/mo (Team, flat) |
| Plan | Codacy | SonarQube | Git AutoReview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free / Community | $0 Open-source repos only | $0 Cloud: 50k LOC, 5 users OR Server Community (self-host, free) | $0 10 reviews/day, 1 repo |
| Starter / Developer | $18/dev/mo (yearly) All languages, per-user seats | From $32/mo Cloud Team from 100k LOC | $9.99/mo 100 reviews/day, 10 repos |
| Team / Pro | $18-21/dev/mo Full SAST+SCA+IaC | Custom by LOC Scales by LOC tier | $14.99/mo Unlimited reviews, 10 repos |
| Enterprise / Server | Contact sales Business plan (custom) | From $20,000/yr Server Enterprise from $20K/yr | Contact Custom |
| Data Center (HA) | — N/A (cloud only) | From $130,000/yr Multi-node, HA | — N/A |
Pricing verified from official Codacy and SonarSource pages, April 2026. Enterprise tiers require sales contact; quoted numbers are entry points.
Static analysis and AI code review catch different bug classes. Rules find known patterns — SQL injection, unused variables, complexity spikes. AI finds context-specific issues — logic errors that pass all rules, architectural drift, cross-file bugs where function A breaks an unstated contract with function B.
Pairing a rule-based tool (Codacy or SonarQube) with an AI reviewer (Git AutoReview) covers both. The static tool runs in CI and blocks merges via quality gates. The AI reviewer posts inline comments after human approval, catching the bugs rules can't express. Neither replaces the other — they're complementary.
Git AutoReview costs $14.99/month for the whole team (flat), works with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket (including Server/DC — which Codacy doesn't), and keeps a human in the loop before anything ships to the PR.
Git AutoReview pairs with Codacy, SonarQube, or any static tool. Free tier, no credit card, works with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket (including Server/DC).
Install Git AutoReview Free