Complete Guide to Aikido Security (2026)

Aikido connects code, dependency, secrets, infrastructure, cloud, container, domain, and runtime checks through one application security service. Choose it when those checks can replace enough separate tools to make one platform worthwhile, including the work of reviewing its alerts.

Fit at a Glance

Situation	Decision
Several scanner contracts	Bundled platform trial
Two-person evaluation	Developer plan
Specialist SAST requirement	Matched scanner trial
Strict local control	Architecture review

What Does Aikido Scan?

Aikido documents one repository connection for dependency analysis, static analysis, secrets, licenses, infrastructure files, and malware checks. Other modules cover cloud assets, container images, domains, APIs, and runtime traffic, with plan-specific limits and setup.

Surface	What it analyzes	What it catches
SAST	Application source	Code security findings
SCA	Dependency graph	CVEs and licenses
Secrets	Repository history	Exposed credentials
IaC	Infrastructure files	Cloud misconfigurations
Containers	Image layers	Package vulnerabilities
CSPM	Cloud accounts	Asset misconfigurations
DAST	Running endpoints	Runtime vulnerabilities
Malware	Package installs	Malicious dependencies
Licenses	Dependency inventory	License policy
Runtime	Application traffic	Attacks and bots

A containerized API on AWS can put source, packages, images, infrastructure files, cloud assets, and a running endpoint into the same Aikido account. Confirm which module scans each asset and which plan provides the required enforcement before treating the connection as full coverage.

How Does Aikido Reduce False Positives?

Aikido AutoTriage reprioritises supported findings using code context, exploitability and its own rules. It mainly handles SAST findings, with selected cloud and container checks also supported. Review downgraded alerts before relying on that filtering.

A matched trial should include an exploitable flaw, a safe lookalike, and a finding behind a non-production path. Record the original severity, the AutoTriage decision, the evidence shown, and the time needed for a reviewer to confirm or reverse it.

How Does Aikido AutoFix Work?

Aikido AutoFix turns eligible findings into proposed patches in an IDE or pull request. Review the diff, rescan the changed code and run the repository’s tests before merging.

Aikido's current documentation covers fixes for dependencies, SAST, IaC, containers, and pentest findings. Review and test every generated change before it merges.

What that looks like across different surfaces:

• A SAST finding in your API layer produces a reviewable PR your team can inspect and merge
• An IaC misconfiguration in your Terraform generates a targeted patch with an explanation
• A vulnerable dependency surfaces with an updated version and a diff showing what changed
• A container base image with unpatched CVEs gets a concrete remediation suggestion

AWS reports that Aikido moved AutoFix from about 30 seconds per request to about five seconds by using Lambda tenant isolation. The isolation model gives each tenant dedicated execution environments and permits reuse only for later requests from the same tenant and function.

AutoFix covers more than 100 vulnerability types. The current plan table lists 10 monthly fixes on Developer, unlimited fixes on Basic and Pro, and custom terms at Enterprise.

Aikido says it does not use AutoFix code for model training. Its data page says it stores the original and fixed files involved in an AutoFix, while AWS documents same-tenant reuse inside the isolated Lambda boundary.

What Does Aikido AI Pentesting Test?

Aikido's pentest products send automated attack traffic to a running application and API, then produce a report for the selected scope. The current pricing page describes role-based access tests, multiple API styles, retesting, and several test depths.

The public offer says the customer does not pay when the test finds no high or critical issue. Treat that as a commercial term to confirm in the order, including how severity, scope, retests, and disputed findings are handled.

A standard assessment starts at $4,000 for one application and its primary APIs. The rightsized option scales with repositories, endpoints, roles, and application complexity, while continuous testing uses custom terms. Compare the quoted scope with the test method your audit or customer actually requires.

Automated testing does not establish the experience, independence, or contractual scope of a human-led engagement. Keep a human test when regulation, customer terms, or the threat model requires it, and use automated testing for the documented cadence it can cover between reviews.

How Do You Set Up Aikido?

Set up Aikido by connecting a repository, then enable the scanners and integrations your team needs. The initial repository scan is agentless and read-only; cloud, runtime and active testing modules have separate access requirements.

The platform documents integrations across these workflow categories:

• Version control: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps
• IDEs: VS Code and JetBrains, with real-time AutoFix in the editor as you write
• Issue tracking: Jira, Linear
• Compliance tooling: Drata, Vanta (relevant if you're targeting SOC 2 or ISO 27001)
• CI/CD: Azure Pipelines, GitHub Actions

IDE scanning can surface supported source, secret, infrastructure, and dependency findings before a pull request. Aikido also says those local scans use less repository and deployment context than cloud scans. Compare the IDE and cloud results before relying on the editor scan alone.

Begin with one least-privileged repository connection. Record source-control permissions, webhook events, branch access, organization scope, and who can change a gate. Revoke the connection after the trial and confirm which findings, source-derived data, and audit records remain.

Enable scanner modules separately. A repository scan, cloud connection, domain test, container registry, and runtime module require different data and permissions. Turning on one module at a time shows which feature produced a finding, added cost, or requested access.

For every cloud connector, record the requested role, permitted accounts, regions, resources, and write capabilities. Run the first scan against a disposable or read-only scope, inspect the audit log, and remove any permission the documented check does not require.

For a domain, API, or runtime module, define the authorized target and test window before activation. Confirm authentication, rate limits, exclusions, emergency disablement, retained request data, and the owner who can distinguish scanner traffic from a real incident.

What Are Aikido’s Limits?

Aikido’s scanners have language, deployment and plan limits. IDE scans have less context than cloud scans, and on-premises scanning does not provide a self-managed copy of the whole platform. Check each required scanner and deployment mode before replacing an existing control.

The SAST engine uses Aikido rules plus customized open-source engines, with multi-file taint analysis limited to the languages named in its support table. IDE scanning has less repository and deployment context than the cloud scan. AutoTriage mainly applies to SAST, with only selected cloud and container checks supported.

Local controls are also plan-specific. Pro adds on-prem scanning, while Advanced adds brokers for internal applications and a private registry proxy. Those features keep selected scanning or connectivity inside the customer's network; they are not a self-managed copy of the full platform.

Teams with strict residency rules should map source, manifests, findings, telemetry, AutoFix files, and credentials before connecting a repository. The plan name alone does not answer that data-flow question.

List the languages and assets you need to scan in a comparison table. Record whether each case runs in the IDE, cloud scan, pull request, release gate, or local control. A scanner name in the plan table does not prove identical rules, context, or enforcement at every surface.

Run safe positive and negative fixtures for each required scanner. Preserve the rule identifier, evidence, severity, suppression option, gate result, and remediation. Record both missed problems and harmless code flagged as unsafe when deciding whether to buy.

The Developer plan's 10 monthly AutoFix allowance is enough to test the workflow, while Aikido lists unlimited AutoFix on Basic and Pro. AI Pentesting and other resource-heavy features can use separate credits, so include those workloads in the trial budget.

How Much Does Aikido Cost?

Aikido offers a free Developer plan for two users. Basic starts at $300 per month for ten included users, while Pro and Advanced each display a $600 monthly starting price for ten users. Asset allowances differ, so compare the included limits as well as the headline price.

Build the estimate from protected repositories, images, domains, cloud accounts, users, pentest scope, and any runtime modules. The same user count can produce a different plan when the protected-asset mix changes.

Separate included features from usable capacity. A scanner may appear in a plan while its asset allowance, scan cadence, credit model, or deployment control prevents the intended rollout. Put each required module and allowance beside the quote.

Plan	Monthly price	Included scale
Developer	$0	2 users, 10 repositories
Basic	$300/10 users	100 repositories
Pro	$600/10 users	200 repositories
Advanced	$600/10 users	500 repositories
Enterprise	Custom	Negotiated scale

• Developer includes 2 images, 1 domain, 1 cloud account, and 10 AutoFix runs each month.
• Basic includes 50 images, 3 domains, 3 cloud accounts, and unlimited AutoFix.
• Pro includes 100 images, 10 domains, 10 cloud accounts, and unlimited AutoFix.
• Advanced includes 200 images, 20 domains, 20 cloud accounts, and unlimited AutoFix.
• Enterprise negotiates its modules, support, limits, and AutoFix allowance.

Developer provides a two-user evaluation path with repository, asset, scan, and AutoFix limits. Basic adds workflow, reporting, and organization controls; Pro and Advanced change scanner availability and asset limits. Compare the plan price with the named controls it would replace.

Who Should Use Aikido?

Aikido suits teams that want one service for source, dependency, secret and cloud checks. A specialist may fit better when a specific language or deployment restriction determines the choice.

The upgrade decision should follow evidence from representative repositories and assets. Record which scanner produced each finding, whether AutoTriage changed it, whether AutoFix generated a usable patch, and whether the configured gate enforced the policy. A broad scanner list still needs an owner for every queue the team keeps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Aikido train on your code?

Aikido says it does not use AutoFix code for model training. AWS documents tenant-isolated Lambda environments for AutoFix, with reuse allowed only for later requests from the same tenant and function. Aikido separately says stored AutoFix data is limited to the original and fixed files, subject to its stated retention and secret-scanning controls.

Does Aikido replace Dependabot?

Aikido and Dependabot overlap on advisory-based dependency findings. Dependabot uses GitHub's dependency graph and advisory database and can open security-update pull requests. Aikido documents SCA alongside source, secret, container, infrastructure, and cloud scanners. Keep both only when each has a distinct owner and enforcement job.

When is a paid Aikido plan worthwhile?

A paid Aikido plan is worthwhile when its extra scanners, limits and workflow controls save more than the subscription costs. There is no universal team-size cutoff. Basic starts at $300 per month for ten included users; compare that cost with the tools it would replace and the time spent reviewing alerts.

Can Aikido AI Pentesting replace a human pentest?

Aikido AI Pentesting cannot replace a human pentest when a contract, audit or regulation specifically requires a human-led engagement. Its automated tests cover a defined application and API scope. Confirm that the test method, independence, report and retest terms meet your requirements.

Verdict

Choose Aikido when one contract and set of rules must cover code, dependencies, secrets, infrastructure, cloud assets, containers, domains, and selected runtime controls. AutoFix adds reviewable patches for eligible findings, while the repository's review and tests remain the approval gate.

Keep a specialist when the requirement depends on an unsupported language, a package behavior signal, a specific self-managed architecture, or a test method Aikido does not document. Use the trial to check which requirements Aikido meets and whether its checks actually block the changes they should.

Start with Developer on representative assets, then model Basic, Pro, or Advanced from the scanner modules and asset limits the team actually used. Replace existing tools only after the trial shows Aikido can do their required jobs and someone is responsible for each remaining alert.

Before purchase, test integration removal and data deletion. Revoke source-control access, disconnect cloud credentials, remove a test user, and document what findings, source-derived data, generated fixes, and audit records remain.

Where to Go Next

• Application Security hub covers how the supply chain, secrets, SAST, and container security layers connect
• Socket.dev guide covers behavioral supply chain scanning in depth: the free tier, Socket Firewall, and reachability analysis
• Dependabot guide covers GitHub's built-in CVE-based dependency alerting, which runs alongside Aikido rather than instead of it
• AI code review hub covers the PR-level review layer for catching what your team writes before it merges

Related

• Application Security hub
• Socket.dev guide
• Dependabot guide

Sources

• Aikido plans and included limits
• Aikido source-code scanning

Facts and prices were checked against the official vendor pages on July 28, 2026.