Top 10 Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) Providers in 2023

Read this review of the Top Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) Providers to compare and select the pen test service for your requirements:

Pen Testing as a Service or PTaaS is defined as a service that helps in penetration tests conducted by IT professionals to effectively find and prevent security threats or data breaches. It helps organizations build a threat management program that shows data in real time before, during, and after the test is performed.

PTaaS has great benefits as it provides control to the customers in threat and vulnerability management programs. They provide flexible purchasing options that can include monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscriptions with continuous access to real-time data.

Various service providers have a feature of flexible reporting options that correlate findings and generate results to meet the needs of multiple stakeholders, and automated workflows make it easier to conduct scanning.

Pen Test as a Service Provider Review

There are four different methods of penetration testing: Traditional, Crowdsourcing, Internal Security Testing, and Mixed testing.

In this article, we have explained the meaning of PTaaS followed by market trends, expert advice and factors to be considered before opting for penetration testing providers.

Some FAQs are drawn with a list of the best Pen Testing as a Service Providers with detailed explanations. A comparison is made of the top Pen Testing as a Service Providers. In the end, the conclusion of the review process has been provided.

Factors to consider before opting for Penetration Testing Providers:

• Experienced and well-qualified pen testers should opt for professional certifications like OSCP, OSCE, GPEN, etc.
• Providers must follow an industry-accepted penetration testing methodology with disclosure of tools, methods, time limits, privacy, and so on.
• Enquire about data security by enquiring about data handling, storing, or disposal.
• Check for a provider that has liability insurance that can be helpful in case the data has leaked or been compromised.
• Different providers have different specialties or provide different services, so you should select one that supports your requirements.

FAQs on PTaaS Providers

Q #1) What is Pen Testing as a Service?

Answer: Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) refers to finding and taking remedial measures to avoid security threats by conducting penetration tests by IT professionals. It shows data in real-time to customers before, during, and after testing through the executive dashboard.

Q #2) Who needs Pentesting?

Answer: Every business enterprise needs pen-testing whether it is small, medium, or large. The main industries that use pen testing are health care, banking, and services to identify vulnerabilities and take remedial measures.

Q #3) Who is the best pen tester?

Answer: The best pen testers are:

1. BreachLock
2. Cobalt
3. Bugcrowd
4. Rapid7
5. NetSPI

Q #4) What are the 5 stages of pen testing?

Answer: The five stages of pen testing are: Planning, Scanning, Access, Maintaining Access, and Analysis.

First, a penetration tester gathers intelligence on the system to scan. They then use strategies, like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, etc., to simulate attacks on the system is tested. After access is gained and maintained, the penetration tester provides a detailed penetration testing report.

List of the Top Pen Testing as a Service Providers

Popularly known pen test services list:

1. BreachLock (Recommended)
2. Intruder
3. Cobalt
4. Bugcrowd
5. Rapid7
6. NetSPI
7. CrowdStrike
8. ScienceSoft
9. CyberHunter
10. Raxis
11. Indusface

Comparison of the BEST Pen Testing Services

Detailed reviews:

#1) BreachLock

Best for human hackers, cloud computing with Artificial Intelligence.

BreachLock offers a PTaaS platform that provides an innovative approach to delivering on-demand researchers that are experienced and certified by CREST, OSCP, OSCE, CEH, CISA, CISM, SANS, and many more.

It provides a single view of security testing data for its suite of full-stack pen testing services, including comprehensive pen tests for networks, applications, cloud, mobile apps, IoT, and more. It is a perfect option for pen testing with a third party to validate security and compliance requirements and prepare for audit readiness.

BreachLock also specializes in web scanning and network scanning for vulnerabilities along with full-stack Pen Testing as a Service.

Features:

• Compliant with PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR regulations.
• Provides penetration testing services for web and mobile applications, networks, third-party security, cloud, and social engineering.
• Provides an experienced and certified team of in-house security researchers.
• Uses industry standard methodology to ensure standard quality assurance and high-quality results.
• Includes web vulnerability scanning as well as vulnerability assessments.
• Provides continuous vulnerability scanning, monthly reports, and manual tests.

Founded In: 2019
Headquarters: New York.
No. of Employees: 51-200
Locations: New York, Wilmington, London, and Amsterdam.
Revenue: Generates $6.9M in revenue.
Clients: Conteneo, Fond, Brainfights Inc., Netlink, MobiChord, and more.

Pros:

• Simple to use.
• Provides a detailed picture of vulnerabilities.
• Provides testing reports within a secure range.

Cons:

• Improvements in customer service are advisable.

Verdict: BreechLock was awarded industry innovator by SC in 2019, Security leaders by MR Visionary in 2019, Top 10 most promising cyber security by CIO Review, and so on. It is best for its comprehensive, full-stack pen testing and security testing for regulatory compliance, including GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and Third Party Vendor Assessment.

Pricing: Contact for pricing.

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#2) Intruder

Best for ongoing attack surface monitoring.

Intruder is an easy and powerful cybersecurity software that scans vulnerabilities and weaknesses. It generates intelligent results through continuous risk management, attack surface monitoring, reporting, etc.

It scans for Internal and external vulnerabilities, cloud, web applications, and so on. It responds quickly to new threats, monitoring changes on the attack’s surface and comprehensive security checks.

Features:

• Monitors risks by scanning websites and finding vulnerabilities.
• Generate alerts in case of any changes in exposed ports and services.
• Generates intelligent, high-quality results by showing all risks on the same platform.
• A detailed vulnerability assessment report is provided in PDF and CSV format.
• Quickly identifies and remediates vulnerabilities.
• It can be integrated with tools like Microsoft Azure, Jira, Slack, Zapier, and more.

Founded In: 2015
Headquarters: London, UK
No. of Employees: 10
Revenue: Generates $1M+ revenue.
Clients: Litmus, Ometria, and many more.

Pros:

• Easy and powerful interface.
• Detailed assessment reports are provided
• Certified penetration testers are available.

Cons:

• Does not explore raw scanner output.

Verdict: Intruder has been trusted by more than 2K companies globally, including famous brands like Marvel, Ravelin, Litmus, Elliptic, and many more. It is best for monitoring risks across your attack.

Pricing:

• A 30-day free trial is available.

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#3) Bugcrowd

Best for reducing risk, increasing ROI, and highly configurable pen testing.

Bugcrowd is a crowdsourcing platform that prevents hackers from entering the network through ways like penetration testing. It works in 6 simple steps: define, connect, prioritize, reward, remediate and improve.

It provides access to expert talent globally. It enables scale, consistency, and continuous improvement and goes beyond the bug bounty. It quickly remediates vulnerabilities by using data, technology, and human intelligence.

Features:

• Compliant with regulations like PCI, NIST, ISO 27001, CMMC, etc.
• Enable configuring methodologies, duration, and models as per your needs.
• Ensure transparency by providing dashboards, timelines, and analytics.
• Well-qualified pen testers are available that generate high-quality results.
• Provides maximum risk reduction through incentivized testing models where pen testers are rewarded based on results.
• Use for network, web, API, cloud, mobile, LoT, and social engineering pen testing.

Founded In: 2011
Headquarters: San Francisco
No. of Employees: 201-500
Locations: San Francisco, CA, and Sydney, Australia
Revenue: Generates $127.8M in revenue.
Clients: National Australia Bank, Monash University, Beebole, and more.

Pros:

• Simple, easy to use, and intuitive interface.
• Can be integrated with Slack.
• Regulatory compliant.

Cons:

• Provides fewer professional researchers.

Verdict: Bugcrowd can be integrated with other platforms including Slack, Trello, Jira software, and more. It is compliant with regulations including GDPR, HIPAA, ISO, and more. It has been trusted by popular brands like HP, Invision, Twilio, and more.

Pricing: Pricing plans are categorized as Basic, Standard, Plus, and MAX. Contact for pricing and other details.

Website: Bugcrowd

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#4) Cobalt

Best for a faster launch and a team of on-demand security experts.

Cobalt is a web-based SaaS platform for faster, smarter, and stronger PTaaS. It helps organizations to start pentesting faster with on-demand security experts, remediate risk smartly, and make security stronger through a scalable and data-driven approach.

It includes highly qualified and more than 400 vetted testers. It works in six simple steps: discover, plan, test, remediate, report, and analyze. It enables you to customize the findings of reports with a variety of templates.

Features:

• Provides on-demand vetted pentesters globally.
• Compliant with PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC-2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and more.
• Provides real-time visibility to track security programs.
• Can be integrated with the tech stack and enable communication with testers in the process of testing.
• Available for web, API, mobile, external network, internal network, and cloud services.
• Enables finding data through insights and analysis of it.

Founded In: 2011
Headquarters: San Francisco
No. of Employees: 201-500
Locations: Boston, San Francisco, and Berlin.
Revenue: Generates $19.6M in revenue.
Clients: Sentara, Pendo, Kubra, Aircall, and many more.

Pros:

• World Class pentesting.
• Compliance with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, etc.
• Easy setup using the pentest wizard.
• 50% faster than traditional pentesting.

Cons:

• Functionality with integration can be risky.

Verdict: Cobalt is trusted by more than 1000 users globally including Sentara, Pendo, Kubra, Aircall, and many more. It has been awarded Global Infosec Award by Cyber Defence Magazine in 2021 and Excellence Award by Cyber Security in 2021.

Pricing:

• Pricing plans are as follows:
  • Standard: $1,500 per credit
  • Premium: $1,650 per credit
  • Enterprise: Contact for pricing.
• A 10-day free trial is available.

Website: Cobalt

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#5) Rapid7

Best for unparalleled attacker insights.

Rapid7 is a wholesome unified platform to find and remediate vulnerabilities through various ways including Pentest as a Service. It includes services like detection & response, vulnerability management, application security, and more.

It includes very effective products like InsideCloudSec, InsightIDR, InsightAppSec, InsightTVM, etc. It gives powerful tools to the protectors to detect and access the attack and take remedial measures quickly and intelligently with automation.

Features:

• Provides bonafide hackers instead of security experts.
• Provides you with storyboards and scorecards to help you understand the issues.
• Pen testing is available for mobile, web, network & wireless networks, loT, social engineering, and so on.
• Managed detection and response (MDR) services include 24/7 monitoring, unlimited DFIR, Faster MTTD and MTTR, and more.
• Vulnerability management services include network scanning, remediation, quarterly business review, and more.
• Managed AppSec solutions include services like application penetration testing, targeted reporting, vulnerability validation, and more.

Founded In: 2000
Headquarters: Boston, MA
No. of Employees: 2,353
Locations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Arlington, New York, Plano, and Tampa
Revenue: Generates $535M in revenue.
Clients: Qualys, LogRhythm, Tripwire, Adobe, Amazon, American Express, and many more.

Pros:

• Clean and intuitive web interface.
• Integration options with leading cybersecurity vendors are available.
• Scheduling the scans as per your preference.

Cons:

• Scans take a lot of time.
• Filtering capabilities need to be improved.

Verdict: Rapid7 has been trusted by more than 10K customers globally including famous brands like Hilton, Thermo fisher, Revlon, Domino’s, and many more. Its automation feature makes it easier to investigate and respond faster than ever.

Pricing:

• A free trial is available.
• Vulnerability risk management: Starts at $1.90 per month.
• Detection and response: Starts at $5.89 per month.
• Web application security: Starts at $175 per month.
• Cloud security: Starts at $5,775 per month.

Website: Rapid7

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#6) NetSPI

Best for ensuring a frictionless and simplified experience through its Resolve platform.

NetSPI is a platform that follows the PTaaS delivery model. It enhances reporting with trend analysis and accelerates remediation by integrating with ticketing systems and remediation tools. This includes services like scan monster, risk scoring, reducing administrative time, and many more.

Solutions other than pen test services include adversary solutions and attack surface management. Attack surface management includes cyber warfare training, tip sheets, and more.

Features:

• Provides enhanced reporting through trend analysis.
• Provides clear and easy ways for remediation.
• Reduces administrative time by managing security testing projects.
• Continuous scanning technology enables us to detect vulnerabilities faster.
• Risk scoring is available to access and qualify cybersecurity by integrating with PTaaS.
• Pentesting is available for loT, application, network, and more.

Founded In: 2001
Headquarters: Minneapolis.
No. of Employees: 51-200
Locations: Minneapolis, New York, and Portland.
Revenue: Generates $90M in revenue.
Clients: HealthEast, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Xcel Energy, Broadridge, and many more.

Pros:

• Enhanced reporting.
• Continuous scanning.
• The risk scoring feature is available.

Cons:

• Prices are not disclosed as well as no free trial is available.

Verdict: NetSPI has been awarded Momentus Leader Award and Top Rated Software Award by featured customers in 2022. It is best for its world-class pentest execution and delivery.

Pricing: Contact for pricing.

Website: NetSPI

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#7) CrowdStrike

Best for a unified platform approach to stopping breaches.

CrowdStrike is a platform that helps users in identifying vulnerabilities and rectifying them. It includes a bundle of services including cloud security, identity protection, managed detection and response, maturity assessment, Pentest as a service, and more.

It helps in preventing breaches, ransomware, and cyber attacks with world-class expertise and experience. It identifies vulnerabilities and exploits them with advanced tactics. It covers all security features by prioritizing security budgets.

Features:

• Reduces attack surfaces by identifying and mitigating threats.
• Provides visibility of security gaps to find blind spots.
• Helps in testing the effectiveness of the tools that you have invested in.
• Offers PTaaS for internal & external systems, web/mobile applications, insider threats, and wireless networks.
• Uses real-world threat actor tools to identify threats.
• Includes advanced threat intelligence, vulnerability scanning, and finding gaps.

Founded In: 2011
Headquarters: Austin and Texas.
No. of Employees: 6,250
Locations: Austin and Texas.
Revenue: Generates $1.45 Billion in revenue.
Clients: Goldman Sachs, Rackspace, CreditSuisse, Sega, etc.

Pros:

• Easy configuration, integration, and use.
• Coordinates the team.
• Uses real-world threat actor tools.

Cons:

• No custom dashboard is provided.

Verdict: CloudStrike has been recognized as a Customers’ Choice vendor in the 2021 Gartner Peer Insights Report for EPP. It provides 24/7 threat hunts with world-class intelligence and fully managed services.

Pricing:

• A free trial is available.
• Pricing starts at $8.99/month.

Website: CrowdStrike

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#8) ScienceSoft

Best for ethical hacking to prevent a potential intrusion.

ScienceSoft is a company that prevents security vulnerabilities or possible breaches through penetration testing. It has been operating for 19 years.

They use three methods for penetration testing: white box, black box, and grey box penetration testing methods and work in three simple steps namely: planning, testing, and reporting. It covers industries like healthcare, financial services, telecom, and other domains.

Features:

• Certified Ethical Hackers are provided.
• Provides penetration for network services, web applications, remote access security, social engineering, and physical security.
• Black box, grey box, and white box penetration testing methods are applied.
• Compliant with regulations like GLBA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA/NIST, etc.
• Provides a complete view of vulnerabilities including both the most critical and less significant to prioritize remediation as per the need.
• Avoid system downtime costs by identifying the risks before the attack.

Founded In: 1989
Headquarters: Mckinney, Texas
No. of Employees: 684
Locations: Texas, Georgia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and Fujairah.
Revenue: Generates $166 Million in revenue.
Clients: eBay, Nestle, Walmart, NASA JPL, IBM, and many more.

Pros:

• Regulatory compliant.
• Uses different vulnerability methods.
• Certified hackers are available.

Cons:

• Pricing is not fully disclosed.

Verdict: ScienceSoft has been recognized as the Top 50 Software Testing Companies in The Manifest and Mobile Application Penetration Testing Tools & Service Providers in Software Testing Help.

It is also recognized as America’s fastest-growing company in 2022 by Financial Times and Statista. It has been awarded the Highest Performer award 2022 by Software Suggest.

Pricing: Between $ 5,000- $ 40,000.

Website: ScienceSoft

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#9) CyberHunter

Best for quickly uncovering hidden security gaps.

CyberHunter is a platform that provides cyber security services for websites, networks, or cloud infrastructure. It offers services like penetration testing, cyber threat hunting, secure website hosting, vulnerability scanning, and more.

It covers industries like law firms, financial services, tourism, healthcare, customer goods, and more. It does different types of pentesting including black box network testing, Wifi network, mobile application, web application testing, and so on.

Features:

• Consulting services for cyber security are available.
• Vulnerability scanning is provided to find any existing threat or breach.
• Identify threats like latent adversaries, APTs, malware, trojans, and more in very little time.
• Do vulnerability scanning and identify persistent threats simultaneously.
• Includes customer-driven or compliance-driven penetration testing.
• Attempts exploitation through red team exercise.

Founded In: 2019
Headquarters: Ottawa, ON Canada
No. of Employees: 12
Locations: Canada and US
Revenue: Generates $1M+ revenue.
Clients: Toyota, Boxycharm, Synergy Gateway, The Minery, PSAC, GolfTown, etc.

Pros:

• Leverages the most advanced tools.
• Insights and cyber intelligence are provided.
• Generates detailed and easy-to-understand reports.

Cons:

• No free trial is available.

Verdict: CyberHunter is trusted by various popular brands globally including Synergy Gateway, Logiforms, Boxycharm, and many more. It is best for its features like red team exercise, use of different pentesting methods, and more.

Pricing:

• Basic protection for SMBs- $100 per month
• Intermediate- $175 per month
• Enterprise- $325 per month.

Website: CyberHunter

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#10) Raxis

Best for breach attack simulation and red teaming.

Raxis is a simple interface that helps in managing attack surface, Breach Attack Simulation, red teaming, and penetration testing. It was founded in 2011 and is certified by CISSP, CISM, CISA, OSCE, OSCP, OSWP, OSWE, and more.

It covers industries like banking, law offices, transportation, retail system, healthcare, etc. It identifies hidden risks and develops proactive security along with managing attack surfaces.

Features:

• Identify hidden security vulnerabilities or risks.
• Develop proactive security to identify risks before it’s too late.
• Keep verifying and validating existing security controls.
• Manages attack surfaces by providing a comprehensive view of the entire attack surface.
• Provides breach attack simulation by showing hackers’ point of view, how they will exploit it, and your situation in real life.
• A powerful red team is there to defeat security controls.

Founded In: 2012
Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
No. of Employees: 10-15
Revenue: Generates $3M+ revenue.
Clients: Delta, Scientific Games, AppRiver, BlueBird, and more.

Pros:

• A relentless combination of pen-testers and technology is provided.
• Includes proprietary technology and methods.
• Cost-effective and high-quality pentesting is provided.

Cons:

• Prices are not disclosed.

Verdict: Raxis is recommended for its features like attack surface management, continuous anomaly detection, and more. It conducts over 600 pen tests a year. It provides 24/7 customer support along with FAQs/Forums and a knowledge base.

Pricing: Contact for pricing.

Website: Raxis

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#11) Indusface

Best for a fully Managed Total Application Security Solution.

Indusface is a SaaS-based fully managed software that detects, protects, monitors, and accelerates security threats or vulnerabilities. It offers services like application security, web application firewalls, API scanning & protecting, SSL certificates, and so on.

It generates comprehensive findings using both manuals as well as automated penetration testing. Other services include attack simulation and identifying business logic flaws.

It covers industries like media, government, healthcare, financial and more.

Features:

• Web application scanning is available to detect vulnerabilities if it exists.
• Protects the web application by providing adequate remedies like firewalls.
• Monitor continuously to avoid any threat or DDoS attack.
• 24/7 customer support is provided.
• Blocks application layer attacks through web application firewalls.
• Mobile, as well as web application scanning, is available.
• Follows OWASP, OSSTMM & SANS Top-25 guidelines for assessment.

Founded In: 2012
Headquarters: Vadodara, IN
No. of Employees: 201-500
Locations: San Francisco, Bengaluru, Navi Mumbai, and New Delhi
Revenue: Generates $5M revenue.
Clients: TATA, LRN, Ideal Standard, Flipkart Health +, and so on.

Pros:

• Free website security checks are available.
• Uses both manual and automatic methods of pen testing.
• Certified cybersecurity experts are provided.

Cons:

• Dashboard improvements are advisable.

Verdict: Indusface has been trusted by over 3K customers worldwide, including famous companies like TATA Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T Infotech, and many more. It is best for its comprehensive reports that contain information like tools used, a list & description of vulnerabilities, and more.

Pricing:

• A free trial is available.
• Pricing plans are as follows:
  • Basic: Free
  • Advance: $49 per month
  • Premium: $199 per month.

Website: Indusface

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Conclusion

Through the research, we concluded how necessary penetration testing can be. Any business must have Pen Testing as a Service Providers working for them. Pen testing helps in the identification and remediation of security vulnerabilities that can be entered into your website or network through the malicious activities of hackers.

We discussed the top BEST Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) Provider. All of them contain very essential and effective features to safeguard one website, mobile, or network security through ways like Pentest as a Service.

Some are good at providing real-time visibility like – Cobalt, CrowdStrike, and more. Some provide well-qualified pentesters for penetration testing as a service, like – Cobalt, Bugcrowd, Raxis, and so on.

Our Review Process:

• Time Taken to Research this Article: We spent 36 hours researching and writing this article so you can get a useful summarized list of Pen Testing as a Service Providers with a comparison of each for your quick review.
• Total Pen Testing as a Service Providers Researched Online: 20
• Top Pen Testing as a Service Providers Shortlisted for Review: 11