Comparison
Threat Detective vs Snyk.
Snyk secures your code. Threat Detective gets your medical device through regulatory review.
Two different tools for two different problems
Snyk
Developer security platform
Snyk is a broad application security platform designed for development teams. It scans source code, open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure as code for vulnerabilities. It is used across industries by engineering teams as part of their CI/CD pipeline.
- Static analysis (SAST) and software composition analysis (SCA)
- Container and infrastructure-as-code scanning
- Proprietary vulnerability database with remediation advice
- Developer-first tooling integrated into IDEs and CI/CD
- Per-developer pricing from $25/month (Team plan)
Threat Detective
Medical device cybersecurity platform
Threat Detective is purpose-built for medical device manufacturers who need to produce cybersecurity documentation for FDA, EU MDR, and UKCA regulatory submissions. It takes your existing SBOM and generates the evidence regulators expect.
- SBOM validation against NTIA minimum elements
- Vulnerability scanning across NVD, GitHub Advisories, and OSV
- Submission-ready documentation in FDA eSTAR format
- Post-market surveillance monitoring and reporting
- Per-project pricing from £149/month with unlimited team members
Why the distinction matters for medical devices
The FDA cybersecurity guidance (updated ) requires medical device manufacturers to submit an SBOM, document known vulnerabilities with evidence of risk assessment, and provide evidence of ongoing monitoring as part of premarket submissions. EU MDR Annex I has similar expectations for cybersecurity risk management.
Snyk can support several of these requirements. Its SAST and SCA capabilities help teams implement a secure development lifecycle, and its continuous scanning supports the secure design practices that FDA expects. These are genuinely valuable for meeting the development-side requirements of the guidance.
Where the gap appears is in documentation. FDA reviewers expect cybersecurity risks to be scored using the MITRE CVSS rubric, with documented rationale for each accepted vulnerability, including mitigations and residual risk. Snyk allows developers to dismiss findings with a short note, but this does not produce the structured evidence an eSTAR submission requires. It was not designed to produce submission-ready documentation, or to support post-market surveillance reporting after clearance.
Medical device teams often end up using Snyk for their development workflow, and then manually reformatting the output into regulatory documentation. Threat Detective eliminates that manual step by starting from the SBOM and producing submission-ready evidence directly.
Medical device SBOM tools: feature-by-feature comparison
Snyk is a broad developer security platform whose SAST and SCA capabilities can support FDA secure development lifecycle requirements. Threat Detective is purpose-built for medical device teams who need SBOM management, CVSS risk scoring, and cybersecurity documentation for regulatory submissions.
SBOM management
Upload and validate existing SBOMs
Snyk can export SBOMs from scanned projects (Ignite or Enterprise plans); it does not accept externally produced SBOMs for analysis.
Threat Detective
Snyk
SBOM export (CycloneDX and SPDX)
Snyk SBOM export requires the Ignite plan ($1,260/yr per developer) or Enterprise. Not available on Free or Team plans.
Threat Detective
Snyk
NTIA minimum element validation
Threat Detective
Snyk
PURL and CPE identification for component matching
Snyk uses its own vulnerability database and package identifiers rather than CPE-based matching against NVD.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Support for third-party and vendor SBOMs
Medical devices often include third-party components with supplier-provided SBOMs that need to be incorporated.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Vulnerability scanning
NVD vulnerability database
Snyk monitors NVD as one of several sources for its own curated database. Threat Detective scans directly against NVD, GitHub Advisories, and OSV.
Threat Detective
Snyk
GitHub Security Advisories
Threat Detective
Snyk
OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Threat Detective
Snyk
Proprietary vulnerability database and research
Snyk maintains its own curated vulnerability database with proprietary research, manual audits, and additional context beyond public sources.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Static application security testing (SAST)
Snyk Code provides SAST capabilities that support FDA secure development lifecycle (SDLC) requirements. Threat Detective focuses on SBOM and vulnerability documentation, not source code analysis.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Container and infrastructure scanning
Snyk offers container, IaC, and cloud security scanning. These capabilities can support broader FDA cybersecurity requirements around secure design and development practices.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Regulatory documentation
FDA eSTAR-format cybersecurity documentation
Snyk does not generate documentation in the format FDA reviewers expect for premarket cybersecurity submissions.
Threat Detective
Snyk
MITRE CVSS rubric for cybersecurity risk scoring
Threat Detective implements the MITRE CVSS rubric used by FDA reviewers to evaluate cybersecurity risks, and documents the scoring process as evidence for your submission.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Vulnerability triage with eSTAR-grade evidence
Snyk allows developers to ignore or dismiss vulnerabilities with a short reason, but this does not produce the structured risk-acceptance evidence that FDA expects in an eSTAR. Threat Detective documents the full triage rationale: why a vulnerability was accepted, what mitigations apply, and the assessed residual risk.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Submission-ready PDF reports
Snyk provides developer-oriented reports and dashboards, not formatted regulatory submissions.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Post-market surveillance reports
Threat Detective
Snyk
Audit trail for compliance evidence
Snyk Enterprise includes audit logging, but it is designed for organisational security governance, not regulatory submissions.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Post-market monitoring
Continuous CVE monitoring after device clearance
Both platforms provide ongoing vulnerability monitoring, though with different workflows and reporting.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Alerting for newly disclosed vulnerabilities
Threat Detective
Snyk
Periodic post-market reports for regulators
Threat Detective
Snyk
Pricing and access
SBOM features included in base plan
Threat Detective includes full SBOM management from the Self-Guided plan at £149/month. Snyk requires Ignite ($1,260/yr per developer) or Enterprise for SBOM export.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Per-project pricing
Threat Detective charges per medical device project with unlimited team members. Snyk charges per contributing developer.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Free trial
Threat Detective
Snyk
Unlimited team members
Snyk pricing scales with the number of developers. Threat Detective allows unlimited team members on all plans.
Threat Detective
Snyk
Pricing model comparison
Snyk and Threat Detective use fundamentally different pricing models. Snyk charges per developer. Threat Detective charges per medical device project.
Snyk pricing
Per contributing developer
- Free
- $0 (limited tests)
- Team
- $25/month per dev
- Ignite (includes SBOM)
- $1,260/year per dev
- Enterprise (includes SBOM)
- Custom pricing
SBOM export requires the Ignite or Enterprise plan. A team of 5 developers on the Ignite plan costs $6,300 per year before adding any regulatory documentation workflow.
Threat Detective pricing
Per medical device project
- Self-Guided
- £149/month
- Accelerated Programme
- £1,750 first month
then £149/month - Private Cloud
- From £14,400/year
All plans include full SBOM management, vulnerability scanning, regulatory documentation, and unlimited team members. No per-developer charges. See full pricing details.
When Snyk is the better choice
This is not a one-or-the-other decision. Snyk and Threat Detective solve different problems and many teams may benefit from both.
Choose Snyk if your primary need is securing your development pipeline. Snyk excels at finding vulnerabilities in source code, scanning containers, and integrating into CI/CD workflows. Its SAST and SCA capabilities directly support the secure development lifecycle practices that FDA guidance expects. If you need real-time security feedback as you write code, Snyk is a strong choice for that part of your compliance story.
Choose Threat Detective if your primary need is producing cybersecurity documentation for a regulatory submission. Threat Detective starts where your build process ends: with the finished SBOM. It validates that SBOM, scores vulnerabilities using the MITRE CVSS rubric, documents your triage decisions with the evidence FDA reviewers expect, and produces formatted eSTAR-ready reports. It then continues monitoring for new vulnerabilities after your device reaches the market.
Use both if you want developer security scanning during development (Snyk) and regulatory-grade cybersecurity documentation for your submission (Threat Detective). The tools complement each other because they operate at different stages of the product lifecycle. If you need help planning your approach, our consulting team can advise.
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