CRACI vs Socket Security

The short answer

Socket Security is best known for catching bad open-source packages before they land. It analyzes package behavior (install scripts, network and filesystem access, obfuscated code, known malware, typosquats), tells you in the pull request, and Socket Firewall can block a malicious package at install time.

CRACI is a CI runner for GitHub Actions. Your jobs run on it, and while they run it records every external dependency they fetch, enforces an egress policy for the job and keeps tracking vulnerabilities in what shipped. Socket asks whether a package is safe to use. CRACI records what a build used and where it connected, and turns that into release evidence.

• Choose Socket to stop malicious and risky packages at the pull request and at install.
• Choose CRACI for build-time SBOMs, provenance data, build egress control and vulnerability tracking of what you shipped, including CRA vulnerability notifications.
• They are complementary. Socket screens packages going in; CRACI records and limits what the build did with them.

At a glance

What Socket does well

Socket for GitHub watches pull requests. When a change adds a dependency, Socket analyzes the package's behavior and comments if it is a security risk. Its checks cover install scripts, telemetry, native code, known malware, typosquats, protestware, obfuscated code and privileged API use such as shell, network and filesystem access. This is a different kind of signal from a CVE lookup: it can flag a package that is malicious but has no advisory yet.

Socket Firewall works as a wrapper around a package manager command (sfw npm install) or as a proxy between package managers and registries. It blocks malicious packages at any depth, including transitive ones. The free version needs no API key and covers npm, yarn, pnpm, pip, uv and cargo. The Enterprise version adds configurable policies, private registries and more ecosystems, including Go, Maven, Gradle, RubyGems and NuGet.

Socket also offers reachability analysis in three levels: dependency reachability, precomputed reachability from the Team plan, and full application reachability on Enterprise, which Socket says can flag up to 90% of vulnerability alerts as irrelevant. It detects manifests across JavaScript, Python, Java, Go, Ruby, Rust, .NET, PHP and Swift, and its CLI runs in GitHub Actions, GitLab, Bitbucket, Jenkins and Azure DevOps. CRACI does not analyze package behavior, does not comment on pull requests, does not offer reachability analysis and does not block individual packages today.

Socket pricing, as of September 2026

• Free: 1,000 scans a month, up to three members, malware detection and blocking.
• Team: $25 per developer per month, minimum five developers. Adds priority scoring, Slack alerts and precomputed reachability.
• Business: $50 per developer per month, minimum 20 developers. Adds SBOM import and export, compliance integrations, SSO and scanning of GitHub Actions.
• Enterprise: custom pricing. Adds full application reachability and repository integrations for GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps.

Annual billing saves up to 20%, and Socket says it will always be free for open-source projects. Socket prices per developer. CRACI charges only for build minutes, $0.002 per vCPU-minute ($0.004 for a default 2 vCPU runner), with no monthly fee and no per-SBOM charge; see CRACI pricing.

Where CRACI is different

The build is the source of truth

Socket reads the manifest and lock files a project declares. CRACI observes the build as it runs. A package-aware proxy on the runner sees traffic to package sources across npm, PyPI, RubyGems, Cargo, Go, Nix, OCI, apt, apk and Git sources, plus download presets. Evidence travels with CI caches, so a package restored from a cache is still accounted for. Each SBOM states its completeness per job and per cache: Complete, Complete with connections, Incomplete, Unavailable or Not recorded.

An egress policy for the whole job

Socket Firewall decides whether a package install goes through. CRACI's egress policy decides what the job can reach at all: default deny or default allow, with 24 built-in software-source presets and typed custom sources for npm, PyPI, apt, apk, the Go proxy, Nix, Cargo, OCI registries and Git. Policies are validated before the job starts and fail closed, and CRACI can alert you on a violation. A malicious install script that tries to call home is a network problem as much as a package problem. The two controls cover different parts of it.

Provenance and vulnerability tracking

The API returns SBOMs, network traces and provenance. CRACI does not sign provenance. CRACI aggregates vulnerabilities across builds and repositories, keeps re-evaluating monitored SBOMs, and lets security teams triage findings and send them to the teams that own the fix. Vendor SBOMs are monitored alongside your own builds, and SBOMs export as CycloneDX or SPDX.

An inventory of what is deployed where

CRACI's inventory view shows exactly which software versions are deployed to which products, globally. When a new vulnerability lands, you can see which products run the affected version instead of piecing it together from release notes and spreadsheets.

A note on Socket's free SBOM command

Socket CLI offers socket manifest cdxgen, a free local SBOM command that needs no account. Socket documents that this command forwards the call to cdxgen with changed defaults: a pre-build lifecycle that skips installing dependencies, and JavaScript as the default project type. Those defaults decide what it can find, and on a repository with no lockfile, such as expressjs/express, there is nothing there to resolve.

That describes one free local wrapper, not Socket's core product or its server-side SBOM export.

Which one fits

• You want to stop malicious packages at the door: Socket, with its pull request checks and Socket Firewall.
• You want fewer irrelevant CVE alerts through reachability: Socket, on Team or Enterprise. CRACI does not offer reachability analysis.
• You need evidence of what went into each release: CRACI records it from the build and ties it to the artifact.
• You want builds that cannot reach unexpected hosts: CRACI's egress policy.
• You ship products under the Cyber Resilience Act: CRACI tracks vulnerabilities in what you shipped and submits the CRA vulnerability notifications on your behalf.
• You run GitLab, Jenkins or Azure DevOps: Socket supports them today. CRACI supports GitHub Actions only today, with GitLab CI and Jenkins on the roadmap.

For the Cyber Resilience Act

Keeping malicious and risky components out of a product helps a manufacturer meet its security obligations, and Socket is built for that. CRACI automates a significant part of the software supply chain visibility and evidence that companies need for their wider CRA compliance process: build-time SBOMs with stated completeness, provenance data, continuous vulnerability tracking, and CRA vulnerability notifications submitted on your behalf. Neither tool makes a product compliant by itself. See what the CRA is and CRA compliance.

Using CRACI with Socket

CRACI replaces the runner, not GitHub Actions: runs still appear in GitHub, and Socket keeps checking your pull requests. Socket screens packages before they are added and as they install; CRACI records what each build fetched, limits where it can connect, and keeps tracking vulnerabilities in what shipped. Learn more about build-time SBOM generation and vulnerability tracking.

Weighing other package security tools too? See Socket alternatives.

Socket Security and CRACI: common questions

Pricing, SBOMs and where each tool fits

What is Socket Security?

Socket (socket.dev) is a software supply chain security platform for open-source dependencies. It analyzes what packages actually do, such as install scripts, network and filesystem access, obfuscated code, known malware and typosquats, and flags or blocks risky packages in pull requests, in CI and, with Socket Firewall, at install time.

Is Socket Security free?

Socket has a free plan with 1,000 scans a month and up to three members, and Socket says it will always be free for open-source projects. Socket Firewall also has a free version that needs no API key and covers npm, yarn, pnpm, pip, uv and cargo. Paid plans add reachability, SBOM export and more integrations.

How much does Socket cost?

As of September 2026, Socket's pricing page lists Team at $25 per developer per month (minimum five developers), Business at $50 per developer per month (minimum 20), and custom Enterprise pricing, with up to 20% off for annual billing. SBOM export starts on Business, and GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps repository integrations are on Enterprise.

Does Socket generate SBOMs?

Yes. SBOM import and export are on Socket's Business plan and up, and its CycloneDX export API is labeled beta. Socket builds the SBOM from the manifest and lock files it detects. CRACI records the SBOM while the build runs, from the packages the job actually fetched, and states whether each job's record is complete.

Does CRACI detect malicious packages like Socket does?

Not like Socket does. CRACI flags a malicious release once it has a published CVE, like any other vulnerability, but it does not analyze package behavior or score packages, so a new malicious package goes unflagged until an advisory exists. It controls what a build can connect to with a runner-level egress policy that fails closed, records every package the build fetched, and keeps re-evaluating what shipped against vulnerability data. Organization-wide package blocklists are on the roadmap.

Is CRACI an alternative to Socket?

Not for screening packages before they are added: that is Socket's core job and CRACI does not do it. CRACI is the choice when you need evidence of what went into each release: build-time SBOMs, provenance data, an egress policy for the build, continuous vulnerability tracking and CRA vulnerability notifications. Teams worried about malicious packages can run Socket on pull requests and build on CRACI.

Which CI systems do Socket and CRACI support?

Socket's CLI runs in GitHub Actions, GitLab, Bitbucket, Jenkins and Azure DevOps. CRACI is a runner for GitHub Actions today, with GitLab CI and Jenkins on the roadmap.