Cyclops vs Paros: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
Cyclops is a free dynamic application security testing tool. Paros is a free dynamic application security testing tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best dynamic application security testing fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Developers and security teams running browser-based applications will find Cyclops useful for catching XSS vulnerabilities during development and testing; it's free and lightweight enough to integrate into any workflow without friction. The 122 GitHub stars suggest real adoption among practitioners who value simplicity over feature bloat. Skip this if you need post-deployment detection or runtime protection for production applications, since Cyclops is a testing-time tool that catches XSS before it ships, not after.
Development teams and pentesters evaluating web application security on a zero budget should pilot Paros; its Java-based proxy architecture handles manual and semi-automated vulnerability discovery without licensing friction, making it ideal for teams building testing workflows before committing to commercial DAST. The tool has been actively maintained for nearly two decades and integrates cleanly with CI/CD pipelines for teams willing to script around its GUI. Skip Paros if you need automated scanning at scale, machine-learning-driven payload generation, or support for modern API authentication schemes; it's a manual-heavy framework that demands operator expertise to extract full value.
