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Pentera vs Rapid7 Penetration Testing Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Pentera
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) (2nd)
Rapid7 Penetration Testing ...
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Penetration Testing Services category, the mindshare of Pentera is 13.0%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 Penetration Testing Services is 2.0%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Penetration Testing Services
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive attack surface coverage and real-world threat emulation strengthen security while licensing models need improvement
Comprehensive Attack Surface includes several features. Omni Attack Surface discovers, assesses, and exploits vulnerabilities across both internal networks and external assets, including cloud environments from a single platform. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Internal Network Validation test internal security controls and identify weaknesses within the internal network. Automated Penetration Testing features are provided through the Pentera Surface module. 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. They have AI-based reporting that leverages AI to identify patterns of exploitability over time, aggregate results across sites, and highlight recurring weaknesses. They offer two types of reports: an elaborate technical report for CTOs and an Executive Summary for management. When customers see the reports after completing the POC, they are impressed by how detailed the technical report is, while management can understand what actions need to be taken to protect their network and infrastructure. Recent Gartner reports indicate that traditional VAPT companies perform vulnerability testing at specific times, which creates security gaps. Pentera provides continuous validation, running 24/7 in the infrastructure. This means when any vulnerability appears due to firmware upgrades, OS updates, or software changes, it can be automatically identified in real-time.
Gabriel Woolverton - PeerSpot reviewer
Wide range of coverage and free
A useful improvement would be to have white papers for specific vulnerabilities readily available. It seems like they are not always linked when you are looking for a vulnerability identifier in the database. It would be useful to ensure that that information is readily available. That way, if you need to dive deeper into a vulnerability, you would have the capability to do so basically right there on the website.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Pentera is that you can do continuous vulnerability assessment, which is automated."
"The platform's most valuable features are credential management and vulnerability management."
"The tool showed us that our ransomware protection wasn’t working on some machines."
"What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach."
"Maybe there are some remediation steps on the website, we can mask sensitive information on the website better."
"The solution is SaaS-based. From a cloud perspective, it has Pentera Surface and Pentera Core. The Core is the on-prem deployed solution, while the Surface is the cloud-hosted solution that scans your public infrastructure. From the Surface perspective, the most valuable feature so far has been the attack surface mapping."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"The product is easy to use."
"The initial setup is very straightforward. This is not a tool that you have to set up yourself. All you have to do is just access their web-based vulnerability database application, which is open source and available to pretty much anyone."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in virtualization compatibility."
"One of the big issues we have is that the tool has an additional license for compromised credentials. Suppose compromised credentials for any of your domains appear in leaks, dumps, or are being sold. In that case, they try to aggregate that data and highlight that, for example, ten users appeared in recent dumps as compromised credentials. However, they don't provide much information about where those compromises came from or their source information, probably to protect their sources."
"Pentera's general dashboards could be improved and made more specific in terms of vulnerabilities that I'm discovering."
"Maybe scalability. I know that the Pentera right now is high level in order to scan big deals over 500 IPs and not less, and not less. That can be more granular. This will be useful."
"The price could be improved."
"One area for product improvement could be the inclusion of a dashboard to cover multiple branches and subsidiaries, allowing for centralized monitoring."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"The automated penetration testing features must be improved."
"A useful improvement would be to have white papers for specific vulnerabilities readily available. It seems like they are not always linked when you are looking for a vulnerability identifier in the database."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's cost is reasonable. I rate the pricing a three out of ten."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pentera?
What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach.
What needs improvement with Pentera?
The licensing model has changed from earlier versions. Previously, there was a 500 IP cap, and customers needed to buy a minimum of 500 IP and consider 500 domains. In Bangladesh, many large organi...
What is your primary use case for Pentera?
Common use cases include several features. The POC is completed before any customer goes for procurement. Once the POC is done, customers appreciate features such as comprehensive attack surface co...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blackstone Group Caterpillar Apria Healthcare Taylor Vinters Sandler Capital Management Drawbridge BNP Paribas British Red Cross
Motorola, Liberty wines, Kaman Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about HackerOne, Pentera, Bugcrowd and others in Penetration Testing Services. Updated: June 2025.
864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.