A clear guide to the different types of code audits — pre-acquisition, security, performance, health check, rescue, and compliance — so you can choose the right audit for your situation.
What kind of code audits are there? Code audits fall into several types depending on why you're having one: pre-acquisition (due diligence) before buying or investing; health checks for general codebase condition; security audits for vulnerabilities and compliance; performance audits for speed and scalability; rescue or handover audits when taking over from a previous team; and compliance audits for regulatory requirements. The right type depends on your goal — valuation, risk, maintenance, or regulation.
If you're looking at getting a code audit, you've probably heard the term from a board member, a potential buyer, or a developer. But not every code audit is the same. The different types of code audits serve different purposes: one might focus only on security, another on whether the codebase is worth acquiring, and another on how maintainable it is for your team.
This guide explains what kind of code audits there are, when each type is used, and how to choose the right one — so you can get a useful report instead of a generic one.
People search for types of code audits or "what kind of code audits are there" for a few reasons:
Understanding the main types of code audits helps you ask for the right deliverable and use the results for real decisions.
Code audits are usually defined by purpose — why you're having the audit done. These are the six types that come up most often in practice.
What it is: An independent review of a codebase before you acquire a company, buy a product, or make a major investment. The goal is to answer: Is this software an asset or a liability?
What gets reviewed: Architecture, code quality, security, scalability, technical debt, dependency health, test coverage, and often infrastructure and deployment. The report feeds into valuation, deal terms, and post-close integration planning.
When you need it: Before signing an LOI or closing a deal. Findings can justify a lower price, escrow for remediation, or walking away.
How it differs from other types: It's the broadest in scope — it has to cover everything that could affect value or integration cost. It's also the most consequential: done well, it's often the highest-ROI spend in the deal process.
For a full checklist, see our guide on technical due diligence: what to check before acquiring software.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| due diligence code audit | code audit for acquisition |
| pre-acquisition audit | code audit before buying software company |
What it is: A general assessment of your codebase's condition — how readable, maintainable, and sustainable it is. Sometimes called a "code health check" or "maintainability audit."
What gets reviewed: Architecture and structure, code quality and readability, duplication and complexity, test coverage, dependency health, and DevOps (CI/CD, environments, monitoring). Security and performance may be touched at a high level but aren't the main focus.
When you need it: You're not in a crisis, but you want to know where you stand — before planning a big roadmap, after a key developer left, or when you feel like every change takes too long.
How it differs from other types: No single "trigger" like M&A or a breach. It's proactive. The output is a prioritized list of improvements and often a rough effort estimate so you can decide what to fix first.
When the focus is how quickly new developers get up to speed or where day-to-day friction is, it overlaps with developer experience (DX) audits — that section covers internal and external DX and when each needs its own attention.
If you're not sure how bad things are, read signs your software has technical debt — then consider a health-check audit to quantify it.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| code health check | what is a code health check |
| maintainability audit | codebase maintainability audit |
What it is: An audit that concentrates on vulnerabilities and security posture: can someone exploit the application, steal data, or bypass access controls?
What gets reviewed: Dependency vulnerabilities (CVEs), injection (SQL, XSS, etc.), authentication and authorization, secrets management, encryption, and security-related configuration. May be combined with dynamic testing (penetration testing) or run as a code-only (static) review.
When you need it: Before a launch, after a near-miss or incident, for compliance (e.g. SOC 2, ISO 27001), or when a customer or partner requires a security assessment.
How it differs from other types: Narrower scope — code quality and architecture are only relevant insofar as they create security risks. The report is usually organized by severity (critical / high / medium / low) with remediation steps.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| security code audit | security-focused code audit |
| code security audit | what does a security code audit cover |
What it is: An audit focused on speed, scalability, and resource usage — why is the app slow, and will it hold up under load?
What gets reviewed: Database queries (N+1, missing indexes, full scans), caching, asset size and bundling, API latency, memory and CPU usage, and scaling bottlenecks. Often involves profiling and load testing in addition to code review.
When you need it: Pages are slow, users complain, or you're about to scale (more users, more data) and you're not sure the system will cope.
How it differs from other types: Little emphasis on security or code style unless they directly affect performance. The deliverable is usually "here’s what’s slow and how to fix it" with concrete changes and impact.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| performance code audit | code audit for performance |
| performance audit | when to get a performance code audit |
What it is: An audit to understand a codebase you're taking over — from a previous developer, agency, or team — so you can support it, fix it, or plan a migration.
What gets reviewed: Structure and architecture, where the risk areas are, what’s documented (or not), deployment and environments, and a realistic assessment of "can we work in this codebase or do we need to rebuild?" Often includes a handover summary and a prioritized fix list.
When you need it: Your developer disappeared, you're switching development teams, or you've inherited software and need to decide whether to fix or rebuild.
How it differs from other types: The audience is the new team or the person deciding what to do next. The report should answer: "What did we inherit, and what should we do first?" When the question is how quickly the new team can get productive (not just "what's broken"), it overlaps with developer experience (DX) audits.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| handover audit | code audit when switching developers |
| rescue audit | code audit after developer left |
What it is: An audit to verify that the codebase and practices meet specific regulatory or contractual requirements — PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, or industry standards.
What gets reviewed: How data is stored and transmitted, access controls, audit logging, encryption, dependency licensing, and alignment with the relevant framework. Often produces evidence and gap lists for auditors.
When you need it: A customer, partner, or regulator requires compliance. You're entering a regulated industry or handling sensitive data.
How it differs from other types: The success criteria are defined by the standard, not by "is the code nice?" So the scope and report format are driven by the compliance framework.
| Compact keyword | Long-tail keyword |
|---|---|
| compliance code audit | code audit for compliance |
| regulatory code audit | PCI DSS code audit |
Developer experience audits focus on how easy it is for developers to get work done — but they split into two different things depending on whose developers and what asset you're assessing.
What it is: An assessment of how quickly your own developers can onboard, build, and ship — and where friction (tooling, docs, setup, CI, environment drift) slows them down. The question isn't just "is the code maintainable?" (that's a health check) but "how long until a new dev is productive?" and "what's blocking us from shipping faster?"
What gets reviewed: Onboarding (time to first PR, README and runbooks), local setup and environment parity, CI/CD feedback loops, documentation and discoverability, tooling and cognitive load. Often includes time-to-productivity metrics and a prioritized list of improvements to accelerate delivery.
When you need it: Your team is mostly or entirely developers and you need a phase of development to be much faster; onboarding takes too long; or velocity is slipping and you suspect process and tooling, not just code quality. We treat this as especially important when shipping velocity is critical — see our dedicated guide: Internal DX audit: when and why. For the frameworks and metrics behind it (DORA, SPACE, IDP pillars), see Internal DX: frameworks and metrics.
How it differs from other types: Health check answers "how healthy is the codebase?"; internal DX audit answers "how fast can our team ship with this codebase and tooling?" They overlap (both care about docs and structure) but deserve separate attention when the goal is explicitly velocity and developer experience.
What it is: An audit of your developer-facing product — documentation, API design, SDKs, onboarding flow, developer portal — for external developers (customers, partners) who adopt or integrate with your product. The asset under review is not your application codebase; it's the experience you offer to developers who use your API, SDK, or platform.
What gets reviewed: Docs structure and clarity, quick-start and tutorials, API consistency and discoverability, SDK quality, signup and trial flow, support and community. The output is usually a journey-based report (e.g. Discover → Evaluate → Learn → Build) with friction points and recommendations.
When you need it: You have a developer product (API, SDK, platform) and care about adoption, time-to-first-success, or conversion of developers into customers. For an in-depth take, see our guide: External DX audit: developer product and docs.
How it differs from other types: This is not a codebase audit. It's a different assessment — "is our developer product ready for adopters?" — so we keep it on a separate page and link to it here for teams that need both code and DX clarity.
Beyond purpose, audits can be described by depth or method.
| Type | Typical length | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Quick review | 2–4 hours | "Do we have a disaster or not?" — triage only |
| Standard audit | 1–2 days | Most situations: health check, rescue, pre-acquisition (small codebase) |
| Deep audit | 3–5 days | Large codebases, M&A due diligence, high-stakes compliance |
For more on what a thorough audit covers (architecture, quality, security, performance, tests, dependencies, DevOps), see what to look for in a code audit.
| Your situation | Type of audit to consider |
|---|---|
| Acquiring or investing in a company/product | Pre-acquisition / due diligence |
| Wondering how healthy the codebase is | Health check / maintainability |
| Need faster shipping; team is dev-heavy | Internal DX audit |
| Developer product (API/SDK/docs) — adoption matters | External DX audit |
| Preparing for launch or compliance | Security-focused or compliance |
| App is slow or won’t scale | Performance audit |
| Taking over from previous dev or team | Rescue / handover |
| Customer or contract requires proof | Compliance (and possibly security) |
You can combine types — for example, a pre-acquisition audit often includes a security and performance component — but naming the primary goal helps you scope the work and get a report that answers the right question.
Once you know what kind of code audit you need, the next step is to get one that matches. A good audit report should give you an executive summary, findings by severity, specific recommendations, and effort estimates so you can act on the results.
At Hunchbite, we offer a free initial audit: we review your codebase, identify the main concerns, and give you an honest recommendation — including whether you need a deeper audit (e.g. full due diligence or security-focused) or whether your code is in good shape.
Need the right type of code audit for your situation? Request a free audit — we'll assess your code and recommend the right depth and focus. Or book a call to discuss what you're dealing with.
If this guide resonated with your situation, let's talk. We offer a free 30-minute discovery call — no pitch, just honest advice on your specific project.
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