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Acunetix vs HackerOne comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Acunetix
Ranking in Application Security Tools
14th
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
28th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (10th), DevSecOps (6th)
HackerOne
Ranking in Application Security Tools
16th
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
29th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Bug Bounty Platforms (1st), Penetration Testing Services (2nd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (8th), AI Observability (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Acunetix is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HackerOne is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Acunetix2.1%
HackerOne0.5%
Other97.4%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Rahul Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer - Penetration Tester at a government with 10,001+ employees
Identifies vulnerabilities across bulk web applications but needs better support and cleaner reports
The best feature Acunetix offers is the centralized dashboard and the quality of reports it generates, which includes various options for selecting reports and developer options for directly sharing the reports with developers. The centralized dashboard of Acunetix gives visibility into the security aspects of mass applications; for instance, with more than 200 applications, it provides a valuable overview of findings and necessary fixes, along with a high-level summary that helps us achieve compliance through monthly and sometimes weekly scanning. In terms of reporting, Acunetix is excellent because it can generate different types of reports, such as an executive summary report, detailed reports, and developer reports that can be shared directly with developers. Acunetix positively impacts my organization by helping identify outdated libraries and applications, including legacy applications vulnerable to old attacks based on OWASP Top 10, thus aiding in compliance checks for PCI DSS and OWASP. Acunetix provides a centralized report with compliance-related aspects and a vulnerability timeline, effectively helping reduce vulnerabilities and save time.
Ruphus Muita - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
Has improved my motivation to submit bugs consistently through fast response and clear filtering
I think HackerOne can be improved by allowing new users to gain access to certain programs that are only open to known, renowned users. Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities. I am currently satisfied with the rewards, response time, and other aspects of the platform, so I don't have anything else to add about the necessary improvements. I give HackerOne a nine out of ten because if new hackers are given more opportunities, it could be a perfect 10 for me. However, the reason I gave a nine is that I don't have much to complain about; I specifically love the program and don't have many concerns.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It comes equipped with an internal applicator, which automatically identifies and addresses vulnerabilities within the program."
"The features of Acunetix have proved most effective in identifying vulnerabilities."
"Picks up weaknesses in our app setups."
"The usability and overall scan results are good."
"The most valuable feature of Acunetix is the UI and the scan results are simple."
"The vulnerability scanning option for analyzing the security loopholes on the websites is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the speed at which it can scan multiple domains in just a few hours."
"Acunetix has an awesome crawler. It gives a referral site map of near targets and also goes really deep to find all the inputs without issues. This was valuable because it helped me find some files or directories, like web admin panels without authentication, which were hidden."
"The most valuable feature of HackerOne is its variety of programs. These programs provide depth into various areas, such as mobile, API, and websites."
"Apart from getting all the bug bounty opportunities, we also get the chance to practice in a safe environment, like a demo setup. These features are great for beginners who want to explore bug bounties in the future."
"HackerOne has been the right fit for our current situation from both a functionality and cost-effectiveness perspective."
"The fast verification process impacts my motivation significantly because a quick response keeps me motivated, and if I'm going to try and hunt bugs today, I would appreciate a response within the day or at least within a few days."
"HackerOne is larger than WebCloud and has a better reputation than BugCloud, which results in a smoother process."
"HackerOne has positively impacted my organization by improving external attack surface visibility, enabling faster detection of cloud and infrastructure issues, reducing MTTR through structured triage and SLAs, and enhancing our strong security posture across multi-customer environments with audit-ready reporting."
"HackerOne is larger than WebCloud and has a better reputation than BugCloud, which results in a smoother process."
"Using HackerOne has definitely improved the security of my web application, identifying security gaps I didn't realize as a web developer."
 

Cons

"The jargon used makes it difficult for project managers to understand the issues, and the technical explanations used make it difficult for developers to understand issues. These things should be simplified much more. That would be very helpful for us when explaining to them what needs to be fixed. The report output needs to be simplified."
"Acunetix provides the benefit of saving time for an end user. I would not say it saves money because the cost and license of Acunetix is far more than what others offer."
"Acunetix needs to be dynamic with JavaScript code, unlike Netsparker which can scan complex agents."
"It should be easier to recreate something manually, with the manual tool, because Acunetix is an automatic tool. If it finds something, it should be easier to manually replicate it. Sometimes you don't get the raw data from the input and output, so that could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in website authentication because I've seen other products that can do it much better."
"It is difficult to create a proxy connection."
"I believe Acunetix can improve customer support, as the dedicated support staff are often unfamiliar with problems and troubleshooting, leading to communication gaps that delay issue resolution."
"Improving the handling of false positives would be beneficial because it can be challenging to trust the findings flagged by Acunetix, and those findings must be manually validated."
"However, I reduced my rating by one mark because a proper internal triage team should be in place, not as a replacement for internal security controls."
"Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities."
"HackerOne provides a "HackBot" which helps identify other relevant reports, including duplicates, public reports from other companies, etc. However, the functionality is limited and it would be nice to integrate it with broader services offered like auto responses, triggers, etc."
"Response time can be improved. The HackerOne Trust team can be slow to respond sometimes. They're not using AI, which could help reduce the number of duplicate reports."
"One limitation is that if a finding has been reported on HackerOne and was also reported earlier by another user or outsider, the platform is not able to collate that information together."
"Everything has become slower on HackerOne."
"The ability to view the conversation between the triagers and the programs will be really good."
"One issue I've experienced is traffic. Many people try to participate when an opportunity with a bounty of around 1,000-15,000 dollars comes up. In this case, the first person to report the vulnerability gets the bounty. If a second person reports the same vulnerability, they are marked as duplicated instead of receiving some recognition. The second person also invested time finding the issue, so I think this can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"All things considered, I think it has a good price/value ratio."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price is exceptionally high."
"The pricing is a little high, and moreover, it's kind of domain-based."
"I would say that Acunetix is expensive because there are products on the market with similar features that are equally or better-priced."
"Implementing Acunetix needs a medium or larger business agency, because you need some money to get Acunetix. It is costly, but if you care about your agency's security, then maybe it's a cost that might help you in the future."
"Acunetix was around the same price as all the other vendors we looked at, nothing special."
"The pricing and licensing are reasonable to a point. In order to run multiple scans at a time, we are going to have to purchase a 100 count license, which is an overkill. Though, compared to what we were paying for, the cost seems reasonable."
"The solution is free."
"The tool is open-source and free for bug bounty hunters."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Acunetix Vulnerability Scanner?
I'm using Acunetix to automate security checks. Acunetix helped me catch common vulnerability issues early and improved the overall security posture of the application before development, specifica...
What advice do you have for others considering Acunetix Vulnerability Scanner?
I would advise anyone or any startup looking to engage in the security part to directly use Acunetix, as this will help in most aspects. I would rate this product a nine out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Acunetix?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that the setup cost and pricing need to be reconsidered.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HackerOne?
I have not experienced any costs since I use HackerOne independently, just logging into the site, hunting bugs, and submitting them without any expenses.
What needs improvement with HackerOne?
HackerOne has trust from companies such as Shopify, PayPal, and Uber, which provides a stronger brand perception and competitive market positioning. However, I reduced my rating by one mark because...
What is your primary use case for HackerOne?
I use HackerOne for the bug bounty platform to find security issues. When we discover vulnerabilities, we receive awards for them. Before testing any new payment API for public release, we can have...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

AcuSensor
HackerOne Assets, HackerOne Pentesting Services, HackerOne Security Assessments, HackerOne Vulnerability Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Joomla!, Digicure, Team Random, Credit Suisse, Samsung, Air New Zealand
Anthropic, Crypto.com, General Motors, GitHub, Goldman Sachs, Uber, and the U.S. Department of Defense
Find out what your peers are saying about Acunetix vs. HackerOne and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.