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Fortra's Cobalt Strike vs Pentera comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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

Fortra's Cobalt Strike
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
7th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Pentera
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Penetration Testing Services (4th), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (1st), AI-Powered Penetration Testing (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Cobalt Strike is 2.6%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pentera is 19.0%, down from 29.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Pentera19.0%
Fortra's Cobalt Strike2.6%
Other78.4%
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2519427 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Compact, versatile, creates shell codes for bypassing antivirus and built-in report templates streamline the process
Probably its delivery methods could be improved. It might need some improvements on its spear phishing module. You can clone a web page, and then you can spear phish a target, and the target connects to your beacon. I believe that it needs to be more modernized to the current standards of multi-factor authentication bypass. Although there are already tools that actually do that, like Evilginx that’s been used as a proxy server, I truly believe Cobalt Strike could do something like that. I believe if Cobalt modernize this specific feature to try to bypass multi-factor authentication, it’s gonna be something. I’m not aware if it’s actually a feature in the latest Cobalt Strike updates, but from my version, I don’t see that it’s possible right now. I don’t think AI is at the stage where it can conduct such complex operations. AI is mostly being used to create phishing templates, very simple stuff. AI is not mature enough to do something more complex, although I truly believe that in a few years, it might have such capabilities.
reviewer1460223 - PeerSpot reviewer
Ai Expert at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automated testing has reduced manual effort and improves remediation of critical vulnerabilities
The biggest friction point with Pentera is the need for more granular control or the ability to exclude specific sensitive systems, as well as the necessity for the cloud environment to mature. While Pentera excels in on-premises and hybrid setups, its AWS and Azure attack path simulation is not as deep compared to others.If I could change one thing in Pentera to improve my workflow the most, it would be the platform UI because some security team members are not penetration testing specialists, making it difficult for them to navigate. I would make it easier with more guided workflows.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It also made a lot of post-exploitation activities easier."
"Cobalt Strike offers significant customization capabilities."
"The platform's most valuable features are credential management and vulnerability management."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"Surface provides automated validation and penetration testing features with a proactive, continuous, and highly realistic approach to cybersecurity validation, helping organizations understand and reduce their true cyber exposure."
"We moved from a reactive security posture to a proactive one."
"The most valuable feature of Pentera is that you can do continuous vulnerability assessment, which is automated."
"Maybe there are some remediation steps on the website, we can mask sensitive information on the website better."
"What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach."
"Pentera has significantly affected our organization by dropping our mean time to remediate critical vulnerabilities because the remediation team can clearly evidence the exploit instead of debating CVSS scores, and our security posture has improved."
 

Cons

"Probably its delivery methods could be improved."
"The stability of the tool can be improved."
"The biggest frustration I have had with Pentera is the navigation, which seems slower."
"One area for product improvement could be the inclusion of a dashboard to cover multiple branches and subsidiaries, allowing for centralized monitoring."
"The biggest frustration or friction point I have had with Pentera is that the navigation seems slower."
"The biggest friction point with Pentera is the need for more granular control or the ability to exclude specific sensitive systems, as well as the necessity for the cloud environment to mature."
"The price could be improved."
"The enterprise pricing is a big investment."
"They need to offer support for a new graphic card."
"There is room for improvement in virtualization compatibility."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's expensive."
"The tool is relatively cheap."
"We have to pay a yearly licensing cost for Pentera."
"It's not that expensive, but it could be more cost-effective."
"The product's cost is reasonable. I rate the pricing a three out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Healthcare Company
10%
Transportation Company
8%
Hospitality Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's Cobalt Strike?
While not inexpensive, Cobalt Strike is a comprehensive platform. Its pricing reflects the capabilities and flexibility it offers. The solution can be cost-effective when utilizing its full potenti...
What needs improvement with Fortra's Cobalt Strike?
The stability of the tool can be improved. There are some limitations, but they tend to be more from outside of the tool rather than within it. The limitations often come from operators who may lac...
What is your primary use case for Fortra's Cobalt Strike?
I use Cobalt Strike to emulate threat actor activities.
What needs improvement with Pentera?
Cloud testing capabilities need enhancement. The core product was built for on-premises internal network validation.
What is your primary use case for Pentera?
Continuous automated security validation across our internal network and external attack surface was necessary. The problem we were solving was that our manual penetration testing program, as good ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Blackstone Group Caterpillar Apria Healthcare Taylor Vinters Sandler Capital Management Drawbridge BNP Paribas British Red Cross
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Cobalt Strike vs. Pentera and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.