Generate, scan, and monitor MCP servers with 16 tools, or wire together Semgrep + Gitleaks + OSV-Scanner + MCP-Scan yourself. Here's the honest comparison.
| Feature | Roll your own | SmeltSec |
|---|---|---|
| Generation (from existing repo) | Not available | Under 60 seconds from REST/OpenAPI |
| 16 security scanners (integrated) | Manual wiring, per-scanner config | All 16 scanners, zero config |
| Quality scoring (6 dimensions) | Not available | Correctness, security, perf, maint, docs, tests |
| Config sync to 5+ AI clients | Manual JSON edits per client | Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, Windsurf, VS Code |
| Upstream monitoring (change alerts) | Build your own cron + diff tooling | Included, alerts on every upstream change |
| Attestation + SBOM | Manual syft/cosign setup | Auto-generated on every build |
| Multi-locale docs | Not typical | 8 locales out of the box |
| Audit logging + compliance artifacts | Custom logging pipeline | Included |
| Engineering time to assemble | Manual, ~2-3 engineer-months | Day one |
The open-source scanners are free. The engineering time is not. Here's a bottom-up estimate for a small team building and running the same pipeline in-house.
| Line item | Assumption | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Initial build | 2–3 engineers × 2–3 months at $15–20K/month fully loaded | $90–180K |
| Ongoing maintenance | ~15% of one senior engineer's time, every year | ~$30K / year |
| Outage + incident cost | One bad release, one on-call night, one supply-chain CVE | Variable, usually five figures |
Year-one total lands between $120K and $210K before counting a single outage. SmeltSec's Team plan is $50/month.
Four recurring costs don't show up until you've been running the pipeline for six months.
Semgrep rule syntax changes between minor releases. Gitleaks pattern files get reshuffled. OSV-Scanner output format shifts. Every drift means code to update and CI to retest.
The scanner chain has its own CVEs. Someone has to track them, apply the patches, and verify nothing regressed. You're running a security product inside your security product.
When the scan pipeline breaks at 2 AM, someone's pager goes off. Rolling your own means you own the rotation. Fully loaded, that's another $20–30K/year once you factor in comp differentials.
MCP-Scan releases a new detector. The MCP spec revises tool capability negotiation. A new client (say, VS Code's MCP support) needs config sync. Each of these is a small project.
Four questions. Answer them honestly. If you get to the end and SmeltSec is still the wrong fit, that's a fine answer.