Penetration testing price

Penetration Testing Price – How Much Does A Penetration Test Cost?

The development and running process of an application never stops, right from selecting the hardware to choosing the desired developers, coding standards, and deploying the app to future maintenance; everything is analyzed and brought into work.

With this high-level development comes the task of maintaining a secure environment for the software.

Like any other human being, applications and software also need safe and secure surroundings to function efficiently, yield the desired output, and maintain a business’s trust and loyalty.
A simple website to a complex application all needs security protocols, and that requires professionals or experts to compile a report of bugs and the solutions to each of them.

What is Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing or Pen Testing is one such methodology that can assure the safety of your application. It is well said that to be in one’s position; you need to think alike. To understand how a hacker or an attacker might harm the system, one needs to be in the place of the hacker himself.

Pen testers or ethical hackers attack your system just how a hacker would explore the loopholes in the design, build a report, and provide the security solutions to overcome them.
The website vapt involves hiring experts, compromising the systems, implementing security solutions, and so on.

You must be curious to know about the expenses involved in this testing process.

Penetration testing price is something that is not fixed but depends on the needs of the system and the level of risks and vulnerabilities. The pricing range may vary from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars based on the type of application under test or the overall scope of the testing.

Factors affecting Penetration Testing Pricing

Penetration testing price cannot be fixed since every business has different requirements and a separate set of vulnerabilities that are dealt with with unique approaches.

The pricing depends on several factors like the size of an organization, complexity of the application, the software’s scope, methods to perform pen-testing, type of testing, remedies suggested, etc.

1. Organization’s Size

The bigger the size, the more complex infrastructure of the organization is, and the process is more costly than a smaller organization.

2. Complexity

The penetration testing pricing also depends on the number and complexity of systems under test. The more the number of servers, networks, facilities, applications, and IP addresses, the higher is the budget required for pen-testing.

3. Scope

Scope and complexity are linked closely while considering Pen testing price. One should have a clear image in mind about the elements that require more security than others need and should wisely define the parameters before the experts start to test the system to assure a limited and expected cost at the end.

4. Methodology

The tools that an expert will use also involves some cost. Advanced or expensive tools and slower methodology would yield more efficient and reliable results. Consider for complete thorough testing of the system for the first time for the application’s secure future.

5. Experience

An expert or a professional with more experience would fetch better results. Still, small businesses and do not require much advanced pen testing can consider less-experienced professionals to fit the pen test pricing in their budget.

6. Internal/External Pen Testing

Pen testing will be performed remotely or offsite in network security tests. Still, for onsite testing or internal testing, the traveling and lodging cost of the cybersecurity professionals will also count in the process’s overall pricing.

7. Solutions

This is the most vital step in pen testing, where the professionals submit a report of the potential vulnerabilities in the order of their risk and suggest the solutions to be opted to overcome these security bugs. These security solutions also vary the overall pen-testing prices or cost depending on the remedies required for your system or business.

Penetration Testing Pricing Structure

A combination of automated and manual penetration testing processes is the most optimized solution. The automated pen-testing controls tasks such as brute force attacks, parameter manipulation, scanning of ports, etc., that need to be performed repeatedly. In contrast, manual testing exploits business logic flaws, relationships between attack vectors, and possible outcomes.

The pricing package varies with the categories and the kind of penetration testing required for a company, from a basic plan to the most advanced one. It can be divided into three categories as follows:

Category 1

It is an affordable penetration testing plan generally opted by small size businesses where an expert with experience of a year or more performs the tests under senior professionals’ guidance.

It involves external network penetration testing for a fixed no of IPs, black-box testing, hosting of horizontal and vertical access, and host and network configuration testing individually or clubbed together in a single package. The basic pricing for such plans starts from $1000 and can go up to $5000 depending on the tests that the professionals will conduct.

Category 2

It is the most common category and a classic approach for reliable and high-quality penetration testing at affordable prices. A team of professionals manages the testing process where every individual performs a specific task under a leader’s supervision.

It involves combining all the tests like external network penetration testing, black-box testing, host and network configuration testing, and so on. It ranges from $5000-$7000.

Category 3

The category-3 is a premium level penetration testing that is best for organizations that require the supreme level of security and deal with a large amount of sensitive information and data over the network.

It is the most expensive category involving all kinds of tests to check the vulnerabilities of a system performed by a certified team of experts with tens of years of experience. The pricing ranges from $8000-$12000.


Penetration testing might sound like an undesired extra burden and a very costly affair at times. Still, as the web grows, it becomes mandatory for businesses to make their products risk-free and provide a secure and trustable environment to their customers.

Penetration testing pricing can consume a big part of your earnings, but what if an attacker leaks your sensitive data or hacks it into your application? You need to pay a hefty amount to protect your platform from them. These tests will add an extra layer of security from the possible attacks.

Now is the time to stop avoiding security threats to your system and consider the best plan and level up your security protocols with the services provided by cybersecurity firms like Astra Security with professional penetration testing at affordable prices to continue growing.

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