Comparison

Lumstep vs Dependabot

Dependabot is free, zero-setup on GitHub, and excellent at opening dependency update pull requests. It is also purely a dependency updater - no SAST, no secret detection, no SBOM, no trust scores, and no GitLab support.

Our verdict

Dependabot updates deps. Lumstep secures your entire codebase.

Dependabot and Lumstep are not competing for the same job. Dependabot keeps your dependency versions current. Lumstep adds SAST, secret detection, SBOM quality scoring, trust scores, KEV/EPSS prioritization, and works on GitLab - covering everything Dependabot cannot.

SAST, secrets, SBOM, trust scores - Lumstep covers the full security surface. Dependabot covers only dependency version updates.
KEV + EPSS prioritization - only the findings being actively exploited surface as urgent. Dependabot surfaces all alerts equally.
GitLab support - Lumstep works on GitHub and GitLab. Dependabot is GitHub-only.
EU hosting - Lumstep runs on EU infrastructure. Dependabot runs on GitHub's US-primary servers.
Free with no limits - Dependabot is included in every GitHub plan. No repo cap, no cost.
GitHub-native, zero setup - two-click enablement for any GitHub repository. No external account.

Feature comparison

Feature
Vulnerability Detection
Dependency scanning (SCA)Known CVEs in third-party packages
Opens dependency fix PRAutomated pull request for patched versions
Secret detectionLeaked credentials in code and git history
SAST - own codeInjection, XSS, insecure patterns
Enrichment & Prioritization
KEV enrichment (CISA actively exploited)
EPSS scores (exploit probability)
Prioritized alert queueRank by exploitation risk, not just CVSS
SBOM & Supply Chain
SBOM generation (CycloneDX / SPDX)
SBOM quality scoring (A–F grade)
Open-source trust scoresSecurity Scorecards + deps.dev
Platform & Compliance
GitHub support
GitLab support
EU data residency
Security score per repo
CI gate (block below score threshold)
Free tier25 reposUnlimited

Deep dives

Scope

What Dependabot cannot scan.

Dependabot keeps dependencies current. Everything outside that scope - secrets committed by a developer, SQL injection in your own authentication code, SBOM compliance for a customer security review, a package that just changed maintainer - requires a separate tool. Lumstep covers all of it in one scan.

One scan covers secrets, SAST, SBOM, SCA, and trust scores.
lumstep.fr
Secret detectionSAST (own code)SBOM generationSBOM quality gradeTrust scoresEU hostingGitLab support
Prioritization

7 findings to fix. Not 312.

Dependabot surfaces all dependency alerts with a CVSS severity label. On an active codebase the queue grows faster than teams can service it. Lumstep filters every finding through CISA KEV and EPSS data - surfacing only the subset where exploitation is confirmed or statistically probable. The rest are tracked, not noise.

lumstep.fr
Lumstep
7
Dependabot
312
Platform coverage

GitHub and GitLab from one dashboard.

Dependabot is a GitHub feature. If any of your repositories live on GitLab - or if your team moves to GitLab - Dependabot provides zero coverage. Lumstep connects to both platforms with the same scanner configuration and aggregates results in a single security dashboard.

lumstep.fr
GitHub App integrationGitLab API tokenSingle dashboardUnified security scoreOne CLI tool
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