reviewdog vs Semgrep
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
reviewdog
Automated code review with any linter
VS
Semgrep
Fast, customizable static analysis for many languages
| Feature | reviewdog | Semgrep |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Go | OCaml |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,510 | ★ 16,146 |
| First released | 2016 | 2020 |
| Replaces | SonarQube | SonarQube, Snyk Code |
Why pick each one
Choose reviewdog if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.5k GitHub stars
Choose Semgrep if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 16.1k GitHub stars
- Written in OCaml
Frequently asked questions
Is reviewdog or Semgrep better?
Neither is universally better. Semgrep has the larger community, while reviewdog is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are reviewdog and Semgrep free and open-source?
Yes. reviewdog is licensed under MIT and Semgrep under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run reviewdog and Semgrep with Docker?
reviewdog: yes. Semgrep: yes.