Both understand your whole codebase. Only one runs it.
Greptile builds context across your repository to catch bugs in pull requests. Codeward adds sandbox execution, security tooling and debt tracking on top.
Unlike traditional AI review tools that spam pull requests with unverified comments, Codeward executes real tests inside isolated Firecracker microVMs before opening a fix. Only verified, non-breaking code reaches your repository (86.3% merge acceptance rate).
Use Greptile if your top priority is catching logic bugs with deep codebase context and you are happy with a focused review tool. Use Codeward if you want review plus execution, security scanning, compliance checks and merge gating in one open-source platform.
| Feature | Greptile | Codeward |
|---|---|---|
| AI PR review with codebase context | ✔ core strength | ✔ full clone and AST in sandbox |
| Line comments on PRs | ✔ | ✔ with suggested diffs |
| Executes code in a sandbox | ✕ | ✔ |
| Security checks (secrets, CVEs, OWASP) | Limited, review-based | ✔ 18 checks plus Trivy and ZAP |
| Technical debt and bloat detection | ✕ | ✔ 18 AST-based checks |
| Compliance checks | ✕ | ✔ |
| Merge blocking on critical findings | ✕ | ✔ |
| Verified fixes | ✕ | ✔ |
| GitLab support | ✔ GitHub and GitLab | GitHub today |
| Self-host | Enterprise plan only (AWS) | ✔ open source, any infra |
| Open source | ✕ | ✔ Apache 2.0 |
| Pass issue context to coding agents | ✔ one-click to Claude Code, Codex | Not yet |
| Free tier | 14-day trial, no permanent free plan | ✔ self-host free |
Greptile has a clear thesis: review quality comes from understanding the whole codebase. It is simple to buy and works on GitHub and GitLab. If you only need a sharp bug-finding reviewer, it is a focused choice.
Codeward trades that focus for breadth. It will not replace a reviewer tuned only for logic bugs in every case, but it adds execution, security scanning, compliance and debt tracking that Greptile does not attempt.
Greptile: about $30 per seat per month, 50 reviews included per seat and about $1 per extra review; Enterprise is custom. Codeward: open source; managed cloud at codeward.cloud.
It clones the repo into a sandbox and parses the full AST with Tree-sitter, so analysis is not limited to the diff. Cross-repository semantic duplicate detection is on the roadmap.
Yes. The full platform is Apache 2.0. Greptile offers self-hosting only on its Enterprise plan.
Yes. They comment on the same PRs. Many teams trial one at a time to compare noise levels.
Try the reviewer that runs your code.
Try Codeward Free →