Before anyone talks about AI agents reviewing pull requests, most engineering teams still run a more traditional layer underneath: static analysis that checks for bugs, code smells, security hotspots, duplication, and test coverage on every commit. SonarQube, Code Climate Quality, and DeepSource are the three names that come up most often for this job. One important note before the comparison: Code Climate Quality isn’t quite “Code Climate” anymore — in 2026 it was spun out into a separate company called Qlty Software, while the original Code Climate kept its separate engineering-intelligence product, Velocity. This guide covers the current, officially published plans and prices for all three.
At a Glance
| SonarQube (Sonar) | Static analysis and security scanning in the cloud (SonarQube Cloud/Team) or self-hosted (SonarQube Server); free Community Build available |
| Code Climate Quality | Now operated as Qlty Software; Rust-based CLI analysis, maintainability/duplication scoring, AI autofixes |
| DeepSource | Static analysis, SAST, IaC scanning, and credit-based AI Review/Autofix add-on |
| Entry paid price | SonarQube Team: $34/mo · Qlty Pro: $20/contributor/mo · DeepSource Team: $24/user/mo (billed yearly) |
| Free tier | Yes, all three (with limits — see pricing table) |
| Languages supported | SonarQube: 35+ (Team) / 45+ (Enterprise) · Qlty and DeepSource: broad multi-language support (exact counts not separately published) |
Short Verdict
SonarQube remains the default choice for teams that need breadth — the most languages, the deepest security-rule coverage, and both cloud and self-hosted deployment options — but its page is also the most layered, with separate paid add-ons (Advanced Security, AI code-review and remediation agents) stacked on top of the base plan. Qlty (formerly Code Climate Quality) is the leanest and most transparently priced of the three, with a genuinely useful free tier and simple per-contributor pricing. DeepSource sits in between: strong static analysis plus an AI Review/Autofix credit system that’s useful if you want automated fixes but adds a second pricing dimension (lines processed) on top of the per-seat fee.
What It Is
SonarQube, from Sonar (formerly SonarSource), is the long-running standard for static analysis: it scans for bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells, and test coverage gaps, enforces quality gates in CI, and reports against standards like OWASP and MISRA. It ships in two deployment families: SonarQube Cloud (the hosted SaaS, sold as “Team” and “Enterprise” plans) and SonarQube Server (self-hosted, sold as Developer, Enterprise, and Data Center editions, priced per instance per year by lines of code). A free Community Build also exists for self-hosted, open-source-style use, and SonarQube is free forever for public OSI-licensed repositories.
Code Climate Quality / Qlty Software is the product long known for its maintainability letter grades (A–F) and duplication/complexity scoring, built around a fast, open, Rust-based CLI. In 2026 it was spun out of Code Climate into a standalone company, Qlty Software, which relaunched it as “Qlty Cloud” with an expanded feature set — including AI-powered autofixes counted as a distinct monthly allowance alongside analysis minutes.
DeepSource combines traditional static analysis (SAST, infrastructure-as-code scanning, secrets detection, code coverage) with an AI Review and Autofix layer that’s billed on a credit system — each Team seat comes with an annual AI credit, and heavier usage is metered by lines of code processed rather than by seat.
A typical SonarQube CI integration just points the scanner at your project key and quality-gate token:
sonar.projectKey=my-service
sonar.sources=src
sonar.qualitygate.wait=truePricing Breakdown
| Product | Plan | Price | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| SonarQube | Free (Developers) | Free forever, no card | Up to 50k lines of code (LOC) of private projects; community-forum support only |
| SonarQube | Team (Cloud) | From $34/month, billed monthly | For under 50 developers; covers up to 100k LOC; 35+ languages; 14-day free trial |
| SonarQube | Enterprise (Cloud) | Custom (contact sales) | 45+ languages, SSO/SCIM, portfolios, OWASP/MISRA reporting, zero data retention option |
| SonarQube | Server editions (self-hosted: Developer/Enterprise/Data Center) | Not publicly listed — priced per instance, per year, by LOC | Details require a separate quote; exact LOC-tier pricing isn’t published |
| Qlty (Code Climate Quality) | Free | $0/month | 1,000 analysis minutes/month, 100 AI autofixes/month, unlimited contributors |
| Qlty (Code Climate Quality) | Pro | $20/contributor/month | 20,000 analysis minutes/month, 5,000 AI autofixes/month, 1-year trend history |
| Qlty (Code Climate Quality) | Enterprise | $30/contributor/month | 75,000 analysis minutes/month, advanced analytics, org policies, SLA support; extra minutes $0.01 each |
| DeepSource | Open Source | Free | Public repos only; 1,000 PR reviews and 1,000 auto-format runs/month per the comparison table |
| DeepSource | Team | $24/user/month, billed yearly | Unlimited repos, PRs, and members; $100 annual AI Review credit per user; overage $8–$15 per 10K LOC processed; 3 free OSS-dependency-scan targets, then $8/month each |
| DeepSource | Enterprise | Custom (contact sales) | Self-hosted option, BYOK for AI Review (Claude, GPT, or Gemini), SSO, SLA support |
Pros and Cons
- SonarQube — Pros: broadest language support, strongest security/compliance reporting (OWASP, MISRA), flexible cloud-or-self-hosted deployment, and a genuine free tier for small private codebases and OSS. Cons: self-hosted Server-edition pricing isn’t public, and the Cloud plan structure now layers several separately priced AI add-ons (Advanced Security, Gitar AI Code Review, remediation/hunter agents) on top of the base Team price.
- Qlty (Code Climate Quality) — Pros: simplest, most transparent per-contributor pricing of the three; a usable free tier; a fast, extensible Rust CLI. Cons: still a very new brand as of 2026 following the Code Climate spin-out, so documentation, integrations, and long-term support history are less proven than SonarQube’s.
- DeepSource — Pros: unlimited repos and members even on the Team plan, with a useful bundled AI-review credit and clear OWASP/CWE-mapped reporting. Cons: AI Review overage is billed by lines of code processed, a second metered dimension on top of the per-seat price that can be harder to forecast for large monorepos.
Who It’s a Good Fit For / Who Should Look Elsewhere
SonarQube fits organizations that need compliance-grade reporting (OWASP Top 10, MISRA for embedded/automotive code) across many languages, or that specifically want the option to self-host for data-residency reasons — though they should budget time to get an exact self-hosted quote, since per-instance LOC pricing isn’t posted publicly. Qlty is a strong fit for small-to-mid-size teams that want clear, predictable per-contributor pricing and don’t need SonarQube’s compliance depth; its newness as a standalone company is worth weighing for teams that prioritize vendor longevity. DeepSource fits teams already bought into AI-assisted remediation who want that billed transparently as a credit rather than bundled invisibly into a flat fee, but teams with very large codebases should model the LOC-based overage costs before committing.
Bottom Line
For most engineering organizations evaluating traditional static analysis in 2026, SonarQube is still the safe, comprehensive default, especially where compliance reporting or self-hosting matters — just get a direct quote for the self-hosted tiers rather than assuming a number. Qlty is the best value pick for smaller teams that want simple, predictable pricing without SonarQube’s add-on sprawl. DeepSource is worth a close look specifically if AI-assisted autofixing is a priority and you’d rather see that cost itemized as credits than hidden in a flat per-seat fee.
FAQ
Is Code Climate Quality the same product as Qlty Software?
Yes, functionally — Code Climate Quality was spun out in 2026 into a new, separate company called Qlty Software, which now operates and sells the product (relaunched as Qlty Cloud); the original Code Climate company kept its separate Velocity product.
Does SonarQube have a free self-hosted option?
Yes — the SonarQube Community Build is free and open for self-hosted use, separate from the paid cloud Team/Enterprise plans and the paid self-hosted Developer/Enterprise/Data Center server editions.
How does DeepSource’s AI Review pricing work?
Team-plan users get a $100 annual AI Review credit per user included in the $24/user/month price; usage beyond that is billed at $8 per 10,000 lines processed (Standard) or $15 per 10,000 (Advanced).
What counts toward SonarQube’s lines-of-code billing?
Only private-project LOC counts, and for branched projects only the largest branch’s LOC is counted — analysis frequency doesn’t affect the bill.
Is there a free tier for open-source projects on all three?
SonarQube is free forever for public OSI-licensed repos, and DeepSource has a free Open Source plan for public repos; Qlty’s free plan isn’t restricted to public repos but caps analysis minutes and AI autofixes per month.
Sources
- Sonar — Plans and Pricing
- SonarQube — Pricing
- Qlty Software — Pricing
- Code Climate — “Code Climate Quality is now Qlty Software”
- DeepSource — Pricing
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