What NDepend does

NDepend, operated under the legal entity ZEN PROGRAM and founded in 2004, is a static code analysis product purpose-built for the .NET ecosystem. The product centers on a proprietary C# LINQ-based rule language called CQLinq that lets engineering teams author custom code-quality rules, custom quality gates, and custom regression checks directly in C#. Around this core, NDepend delivers interactive dependency graphs, a dependency structure matrix, SQALE-based technical-debt estimation, baseline-based regression detection, and web reports that import and unify issues from Microsoft Roslyn Analyzers and JetBrains ReSharper Code Inspections. The product supports every active .NET version (.NET 10.0, 9.0, 8.0, .NET Core, .NET Framework, ASP.NET Core, Blazor, Xamarin, Unity, UWP) and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The commercial product is delivered as four subscription editions — Developer, Build-Machine, Azure DevOps Extension, and GitHub Action — sold via direct website purchase, Visual Studio Marketplace, and Azure DevOps Marketplace, with a 14-day free trial as the primary lead-generation mechanism. Over 12,000 companies are reported to use NDepend, with named public advocates including Microsoft program manager Scott Hanselman, Wintellect co-founder Jeffrey Richter, and independent consultants. The go-to-market is sales-led for larger deals and product-led for long-tail developer adoption. The most recent strategic emphasis is on AI-assisted coding workflows: an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server (2025) and v2026.1.6 (January 2026) allow AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and JetBrains Junie to detect and automatically fix issues surfaced by NDepend's static analysis, positioning the product as the structured source of truth for code-quality decisions in AI-augmented development.

Name

NDepend

Legal name

ZEN PROGRAM

Website

https://ndepend.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NDepend is a .NET static code analysis tool used by 12,000+ companies to monitor code quality, detect regressions, enforce CQLinq-based quality gates, and review AI-generated code via deep Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, and CI/CD integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: NDepend generates revenue through perpetual and subscription software licenses sold in multiple editions: Developer Edition (individual developer use), Build-Machine Edition (CI/CD integration), Azure DevOps Extension, and GitHub Action license. Each edition targets different deployment contexts within development organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NDepend is a static analysis tool for .NET code that monitors code quality, detects regressions, generates interactive dependency diagrams and web reports, and enforces customizable Quality Gates. It analyzes all .NET versions across Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and other CI/CD platforms, and integrates with AI coding assistants through an MCP Server to detect and fix code issues automatically.

Product overview

NDepend is a suite of .NET code quality and security analysis tools consisting of the core NDepend static analyzer, a Visual Studio extension, a standalone executable (VisualNDepend.exe), Azure DevOps/GitHub Actions CI/CD integrations, and an open-source MCP Server for AI assistant integration. The product delivers deep code quality insights through interactive web reports, implements Quality Gates for build control, provides 100+ code metrics, and offers AI-assisted coding features including GenAI code review and automatic issue fixing through AI agents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NDepend A static code analyzer for .NET that monitors code quality, detects regressions, generates diagrams and reports, and provides deep code quality and security insights through interactive web reports. Targets .NET development teams, software architects, and tech leads.
• NDepend MCP Server An open-source Model Context Protocol server that enables AI coding assistants to detect, browse, and automatically fix code issues identified by NDepend. Designed for development teams using AI-assisted coding tools that need automated quality enforcement.
• NDepend.API A programmatic SDK/API providing developers access to NDepend's code analysis capabilities for building custom automation and tools. Targets developers and DevOps engineers who need to integrate NDepend analysis into custom workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• Focus on progress since baseline - new issues highlighted in red vs all issues shown in black, enabling teams to prioritize fixing newly introduced problems rather than addressing entire legacy codebase
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

AI capability7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Microsoft Visual StudiocoreTechnology or IntegrationNDepend offers deep integration with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 through 2026 as a VSIX extension. The extension provides real-time code analysis within the IDE and integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio's development workflow.
• JetBrains RidercoreTechnology or IntegrationNDepend is available side-by-side with JetBrains Rider through the standalone VisualNDepend.exe application, enabling .NET developers using Rider to access full NDepend analysis capabilities.
• Microsoft Azure DevOps / TFScoreTechnology or IntegrationNative Azure DevOps and TFS extension that enables quality gates to be enforced within Azure DevOps pipelines. Analysis runs as a DevOps task during continuous integration.
• GitHubcoreTechnology or IntegrationNDepend GitHub Action enables code quality analysis within GitHub Actions workflows. An MCP Server is also available on GitHub for AI-assisted issue detection and fixing.
• Microsoft (Roslyn Analyzers)majorTechnology or IntegrationNDepend imports and displays issues from Microsoft Roslyn Analyzers including Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.NetAnalyzers, unifying findings within NDepend's dashboard alongside native rules.
• JetBrains (ReSharper)majorTechnology or IntegrationNDepend imports and displays issues from JetBrains ReSharper Code Inspections, unifying findings within NDepend's dashboard alongside native rules for comprehensive code quality visibility.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SonarSource (SonarQube / SonarCloud): SonarSource's SonarQube and SonarCloud are the leading multi-language code quality and security platforms, including .NET support. NDepend competes head-to-head for static analysis, code coverage, and technical debt tracking inside enterprise DevOps pipelines.
• JetBrains ReSharper: ReSharper is JetBrains' flagship .NET code quality and refactoring tool that performs static analysis, detects code smells, and integrates deeply with Visual Studio and Rider. NDepend explicitly imports ReSharper Code Inspection results, signaling direct feature overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Snyk Code: Snyk is a broader developer security platform with Snyk Code providing SAST / static analysis across multiple languages including .NET. It competes for the same security-and-quality-in-CI/CD budget as NDepend, though with a wider product portfolio.
• Veracode: Veracode is an enterprise application security platform with static analysis (SAST) capabilities across many languages including .NET. It targets large enterprise security teams — the same buyers NDepend pitches for its security-focused use cases.
• Checkmarx: Checkmarx provides enterprise SAST solutions covering .NET among many languages, with deep CI/CD and security-policy enforcement. It competes with NDepend in the security-and-quality use case overlap, particularly in regulated industries.
• Coverity (Synopsys): Coverity is a long-established commercial static analysis platform owned by Synopsys, supporting C#/.NET alongside other languages. It competes for enterprise budget allocated to code quality and security, particularly in large engineering organizations.
• GitHub Advanced Security (CodeQL): GitHub Advanced Security includes CodeQL, a powerful semantic static analysis engine for .NET and other languages, integrated natively into GitHub pull requests. It is a direct competitor for the in-CI/CD code review budget NDepend targets, especially for shops already standardized on GitHub.

Emerging players

• DeepSource: DeepSource is a developer-first code review automation platform with static analysis for multiple languages including .NET. It targets the same engineering team buyers as NDepend with a more modern, automated, PR-centric workflow.
• Codacy: Codacy is a code quality automation tool that performs static analysis on every commit, supporting .NET and many other languages. It targets the same DevOps quality-gate use case as NDepend with a cloud-first delivery model.
• CodeScene: CodeScene combines code quality analysis with behavioral / technical-debt prioritization, supporting .NET repositories. It overlaps with NDepend's technical-debt and trend-monitoring features while adding team-productivity analytics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ndepend
• Facebookfacebook.com/ndepend
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ndepend

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NDepend