Dependency-Track vs openarchiver

Dependency-Track is an OWASP-maintained, open-source platform that analyzes SBOMs to inventory software components and identify supply-chain vulnerabilities,…

Best for Dependency-Track: AppSec and DevSecOps teams needing to inventory software components via CycloneDX SBOMs and continuously match them against vulnerability sources like NVD, GitHub Advisories, Snyk, and OSV.
Best for openarchiver: Compliance, legal, and IT teams needing to archive and search corporate email from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or IMAP, or import legacy PST/EML files.

At a Glance

 Dependency-Trackopenarchiver
Primary categorySecuritySecurity
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFree/Open SourceOpen Source
Starting priceFreeFree (self-hosted)
Free planYesNot documented
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebNot documented
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APIYesNot documented

Key Differences

Core Function

Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track inventories software components via SBOMs and analyzes them for vulnerabilities.

openarchiver: openarchiver archives email for compliance and eDiscovery.

Software supply-chain security and email records management are separate disciplines.

Scale & Maintainer

Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track is an OWASP Flagship Project, free under Apache 2.0, used by 20,000+ organizations per the project site, and able to process tens of thousands of SBOMs per hour with version 5.0's horizontal scaling and active/active high availability.

openarchiver: openarchiver's scale, license, and maintainer details aren't documented in the facts available.

Project maturity and adoption signal how battle-tested a tool is for production use.

Deployment

Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track deploys via Docker or Docker Compose with a PostgreSQL database for version 5.0 and later.

openarchiver: openarchiver connects via Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and IMAP connectors, or PST/EML import, rather than describing a database-backed deployment stack.

Knowing the deployment footprint helps infra teams plan hosting requirements.

Data Sources

Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track cross-references NVD, GitHub Advisories, Snyk, and OSV for component vulnerabilities.

openarchiver: openarchiver's data sources are mailbox platforms and archive file formats (PST/EML), not vulnerability feeds.

The two tools ingest fundamentally different kinds of data.

Managed Hosting

Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track's cons explicitly note there is no official paid or managed hosting tier from the project itself, requiring self-hosting.

openarchiver: openarchiver's paid-tier and hosting details simply aren't documented in Gappsy's data.

Neither tool offers a clearly documented managed hosting path, which affects operational overhead.

Feature-by-Feature

Core Purpose

FeatureDependency-Trackopenarchiver
SBOM-based component inventoryAvailableUnavailable
Continuous vulnerability analysisAvailableUnavailable
Email archivingUnavailableAvailable
Full-text search of recordsUnavailableAvailable

Deployment & Licensing

FeatureDependency-Trackopenarchiver
Self-hosted deploymentAvailableAvailable
Open-source license documentedAvailableNot documented
Official managed/hosted tierUnavailableNot documented
Horizontal scaling / HAAvailableNot documented

Integrations

FeatureDependency-Trackopenarchiver
Vulnerability source cross-referencing (NVD, GitHub Advisories, Snyk, OSV)AvailableUnavailable
Policy engine for security/license rulesAvailableUnavailable
Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace connectorsUnavailableAvailable
PST/EML importUnavailableAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Dependency-Track

Open Source — Free N/A

openarchiver

Self-Hosted Community — Free N/A

Pros & Cons

Dependency-Track

Pros

  • Completely free and open source under the permissive Apache 2.0 license
  • Purpose-built for continuous, SBOM-based monitoring rather than one-off scans
  • Backed by OWASP's vendor-neutral, nonprofit governance
  • Proven to scale to enterprise-size portfolios (250,000+ SBOMs in production reports)

Cons

  • Requires self-hosting and infrastructure management, with no official managed SaaS
  • Relies on quality, complete SBOMs from upstream build tooling to be effective
  • No official commercial support channel from OWASP itself
  • Steeper setup and learning curve than turnkey commercial SCA products

openarchiver

Pros

  • Fully open source with no license fee for the core platform
  • Full data ownership and sovereignty since everything is self-hosted
  • Tamper-evident storage and audit trails suited to compliance and eDiscovery needs
  • Supports major mail platforms including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and IMAP
  • Portable .eml storage format avoids vendor lock-in

Cons

  • Requires self-hosting expertise and infrastructure to operate reliably
  • No official hosted cloud offering or published SaaS pricing tier
  • Smaller company and community compared to established commercial archiving vendors
  • Enterprise support depends on a partner program rather than a large in-house support team
  • Newer project with a shorter track record than long-established archiving suites

Use Cases

Choose Dependency-Track: AppSec and DevSecOps teams needing to inventory software components via CycloneDX SBOMs and continuously match them against vulnerability sources like NVD, GitHub Advisories, Snyk, and OSV.
Choose openarchiver: Compliance, legal, and IT teams needing to archive and search corporate email from Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or IMAP, or import legacy PST/EML files.
Need both: A security-conscious engineering organization might run Dependency-Track to continuously track vulnerabilities in its software supply chain while separately using openarchiver to retain a compliant, searchable archive of company email — two unrelated risk domains handled by two purpose-built, self-hosted tools.

Dependency-Track

  • Continuous open-source component risk monitoring — Track vulnerabilities across every project and dependency version automatically.
  • Meeting SBOM compliance requirements — Produce and manage SBOMs required by regulatory or procurement mandates.
  • Portfolio-wide supply chain risk visibility — Give security leadership a single view of component risk across the organization.

openarchiver

  • Regulatory email retention — Meet legal and regulatory requirements to retain and produce email records for a defined retention period.
  • Litigation holds and eDiscovery — Search and export tamper-evident email archives with a verifiable chain of custody during legal disputes.
  • Self-hosted mailbox migration and backup — Archive mailboxes before decommissioning accounts or migrating between email platforms, preserving full-text searchable history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Dependency-Track and openarchiver compete?

No. They're in different categories — software supply-chain vulnerability management versus email archiving.

Is Dependency-Track free?

Yes, free and open source under Apache 2.0, maintained as an OWASP Flagship Project.

Is openarchiver free?

It's listed as Freemium and described as a free email archiver, but specific paid-tier pricing isn't documented.

Does Dependency-Track archive email?

No. It inventories software components via SBOMs and tracks vulnerabilities, not email.

What SBOM format does Dependency-Track use?

CycloneDX SBOMs to track libraries, containers, operating systems, firmware, and services.

Does openarchiver track software vulnerabilities?

No. Its documented scope is mailbox connectors and PST/EML import for archiving.

Read the full Dependency-Track review · Read the full openarchiver review