Skip to main content

Security report for softwareadvice.com

Software Advice · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Software Advice is a well-established technology company specializing in providing personalized software recommendations, reviews, and comparisons to businesses. It operates as a subsidiary of Gartner, Inc., positioning itself as a leading software advisory platform with a large user base and extensive verified reviews. The website offers a comprehensive range of software categories and personalized 1-on-1 advisor consultations to assist businesses in selecting the right software solutions efficiently. The technical infrastructure of Software Advice is modern and robust, leveraging React and Next.js frameworks hosted on Vercel, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. The site integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, FullStory, and Trustpilot widgets, supporting data-driven insights and user engagement. Privacy and cookie policies are implemented with consent mechanisms, reflecting a good level of digital maturity and compliance. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS and includes essential security headers, contributing to a strong security posture. However, the absence of a publicly available security policy or incident response information represents an area for improvement. The missing WHOIS data for the domain introduces some uncertainty regarding domain registration legitimacy, although the professional presentation and business model suggest a legitimate operation. Overall, Software Advice presents a low-risk profile with strong business credibility and technical implementation. Strategic recommendations include publishing explicit security and incident response policies, enhancing transparency around vulnerability disclosures, and verifying domain registration details to strengthen trust further.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of softwareadvice.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching softwareadvice.com

This scan found 17 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
57
Security headers
35
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
75

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Software Advice holds a strong market position as a trusted software advisory service, helping over one million businesses with software selection. Its competitive advantage lies in combining verified user reviews with personalized advisor support, enabling efficient and informed purchasing decisions. The business model focuses on lead generation and advisory services, targeting business customers across 150 industries. The company benefits from its parent company Gartner's brand recognition and resources, enhancing its market credibility. Partnerships with platforms like Capterra and Trustpilot expand its ecosystem and user trust. Growth indicators include extensive software category coverage and a large volume of verified reviews, supporting sustained user engagement and revenue streams.

Security posture

The security maturity of Software Advice is solid, with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. The use of reputable third-party analytics and marketing tools is balanced with privacy compliance measures such as cookie consent banners. However, the lack of a dedicated security policy page and incident response contact information limits transparency and preparedness visibility. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Compliance with GDPR is indicated through privacy policy statements. To enhance security posture, the company should consider publishing vulnerability disclosure guidelines and security contact channels, improving incident response readiness and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Add incident response contact information and consider a vulnerability disclosure program.
  3. Verify and update WHOIS domain registration information to improve legitimacy perception.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards and broaden user inclusivity.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate potential security risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Software Advice
Description
We help companies find the right software—for free and in as little as 15 minutes.
Key services
Personalized software recommendations, Software reviews and comparisons, 1-on-1 advisor consultations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Vercel Analytics, Google Tag Manager, FullStory, Trustpilot Widget, Cookielaw.org Consent
Frameworks
Next.js
Platforms
Vercel
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with input sanitization implied

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, FullStory, Vercel Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads
Tracking pixels
FullStory, Trustpilot
Marketing tools
Lead Acquisition Service
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking detected.
  2. Strong focus on software advisory services with extensive categories and user reviews.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks ensures good performance and user experience.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage; contact via forms.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  7. WHOIS data missing, which reduces trustworthiness from a domain registration perspective.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React and Next.js stack, hosted on Vercel, which supports fast loading times and excellent mobile responsiveness. The integration of analytics tools like Google Analytics, FullStory, and Vercel Analytics enables comprehensive user behavior tracking and performance monitoring. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags, canonical links, and hreflang attributes for internationalization. The site uses cookie consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or headless approach. The technical implementation is robust with minimal technical debt visible, though continuous monitoring of third-party dependencies is advised to maintain security and performance.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 75/100Medium23 findingsView report
  2. 75/100 +2Medium24 findingsView report
  3. 73/100Medium23 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with softwareadvice.com. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review softwareadvice.com.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.