Consider replacing your SAST tool when developers have stopped reading its output, scans fail silently on important repositories, rules do not match your frameworks, or tuning costs more than the license. Try tuning first, but set a deadline and measure the outcome before deciding.
Sign 1: nobody reads the results
If findings sit unopened for weeks, or developers mute the pull request check, the tool has lost its audience. Look at the numbers: how many findings were opened, how many dismissed, how many fixed. A dismissal rate near 100 percent on certain rules points to bad rules. Across all rules it points to a bad fit.
Sign 2: scans fail or skip repositories
OWASP notes many static tools struggle with code that cannot be compiled, needing libraries, build instructions and complete code. If more and more repositories fail to scan as your build changes, coverage is eroding. Track the percentage of repositories scanned successfully each week. Falling coverage is a stronger warning than noisy output.
Sign 3: your stack moved and the tool did not
You adopted a new language or framework and the tool treats it as plain text. Framework understanding is one of OWASP's listed selection criteria for a reason. Ask the vendor for a roadmap date in writing. If the date passes, you have your answer.
Sign 4: triage eats the team
If triage time per finding keeps rising while the share of real findings falls, you are paying for noise. OWASP notes false positives are common with these tools, so some noise is normal. The question is whether it is manageable.
Sign 5: integrations and exports are stuck
You cannot get results into your tracker, your dashboards or your other tools. Standards help here. SARIF is an OASIS standard designed so results from different tools can be combined without converting each one. A tool with weak export is hard to leave and hard to complement.
Sign 6: cost grew faster than value
Pricing tied to users, applications or lines of code can drift. If a licensing model penalizes how your team has grown, revisit it.
Tune first, with a deadline
Before switching, give tuning a bounded try.
- Pick the ten noisiest rules and decide for each: tune, disable or keep.
- Restrict pull request checks to new findings.
- Fix the scan failures on the top repositories.
- Measure again after four weeks.
If the numbers do not move, run a proper pilot of an alternative on the same repositories and compare. Keep the old tool running during the pilot so you do not lose coverage.
Quick check
How long should I try tuning?
Four to six weeks is usually enough to see whether the numbers move. Set the deadline before you start.
Should I turn off the old tool right away?
No. Run both during the pilot and switch only after coverage on key repositories is confirmed.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
