42Crunch API Protection vs Source Defense How it works: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

42Crunch API Protection

Teams protecting microservices architectures should pick 42Crunch API Protection for its positive security model that enforces OpenAPI contracts at runtime, catching malformed requests before they reach application code. The tool covers all ten OWASP API vulnerabilities natively and deploys directly from CI/CD pipelines into containers and API gateways without requiring code changes. Skip this if you need a broader API management platform; 42Crunch is purpose-built for threat prevention, not governance or monetization.

Source Defense How it works

Mid-market and enterprise security teams managing high-risk third-party vendor ecosystems should use Source Defense How it works for its two-line code deployment against Magecart and formjacking attacks that traditional WAFs miss entirely. The agentless SaaS model deploys in hours rather than weeks, and the machine learning-based access control actually enforces least-privilege vendor permissions at the client side, which maps directly to GV.SC supply chain controls. This tool prioritizes real-time prevention over forensics, so organizations needing deep historical breach analysis or incident response workflows should look elsewhere.