Chainsaw
ClaimedBlock malicious, typosquatted, and policy-violating packages before installation
From $240/seat/yearThe Bottom Line
- Best for
- Security and platform teams that need one install-time policy for npm, PyPI, Maven and other registries across CI and laptops
- Price
- From $240/seat/year. Compare plans
Key facts
- Free CLI with no account; hosted free tier for 3 people; Team offers paid tiers
- Covers 16 package ecosystems, including npm, PyPI, Maven, Go, Cargo and Docker
- Decision engine is open source under Apache-2.0 (github.com/Chain305/chainsaw-core)
Not for
Teams that only want vulnerability scanning after install, or that need build promotion and release distribution
What is Chainsaw?
Available on: API, Web, CLI
Preview
Key Features
- Refuses malicious, typosquatted and policy-violating packages at install time
- Monitor mode before enforcement, with per-rule rollout
- SSO (SAML and OIDC) and SCIM included on the Team plan
- Free offline CLI guard for npm, pip, cargo, gem and go
- Signed audit records for package decisions
Pricing Plans
Pricing checked Nov 3, 2026. Source: chain305.com/pricing, read Nov 3, 2026
| Plan | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 |
|
| Team | $25 / seat |
+4 more Show less
|
| Team | $240 / seat |
+4 more Show less
|
| Enterprise | From $36,000/year |
+4 more Show less
|
Is Chainsaw worth the price?
Chainsaw's pricing is fair and even generous at the low end: a genuinely useful free tier with all 25 detection signals and a hosted option for up to 3 people, then $25/seat/month ($240/seat/year) for teams of 5 to 100, which is reasonable for supply-chain firewall tooling with SSO, SCIM, and policy controls.
The $24,000/year Enterprise floor is steep for small shops but standard for air-gapped, SIEM-export, and Jira-integrated deployments. It's best for engineering teams that want to block malicious packages before install without building this in-house.
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Team tier requires a 5-seat minimum
Team tier caps at 100 seats
Enterprise starts at a $24,000/year custom quote
Recent pricing updates
Changes we detected on the Chainsaw pricing page.
- Enterprise went from $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
Chainsaw by the numbers
Toolradar data: Chainsaw's entry paid plan ($20/seat/mo, billed yearly) ranks #3 of 8 for price among the Security tools with a verified entry price per seat, where the median is $24.50/seat/mo. As of Nov 2026.
| Metric | Chainsaw | Peer median | Position (1 is best) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry paid plan | $20/seat/mo, billed yearly | $24.50/seat/mo | #3 of 8 tools priced per seat, verified price |
| Free plan | No | 46% have one | n/a |
Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. A lower entry price ranks higher; prices are read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis. All Security data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position.
Cite this: Toolradar, “Chainsaw by the numbers”, Nov 2026.
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Chainsaw FAQ
How does Chainsaw block malicious packages before installation?
Which ecosystems does Chainsaw support?
How does Chainsaw compare to Socket?
Which teams benefit most from using Chainsaw?
How is Chainsaw priced?
Can Chainsaw integrate with existing artifact repositories?
Does Chainsaw support policy-based blocking for typosquatted packages?
How does Chainsaw pricing compare with other Security tools?
Source: chain305.com