Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Pentera vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Pentera
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
4th
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (1st)
The NodeZero Platform by Ho...
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
1st
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
2nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (13th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Penetration Testing Services category, the mindshare of Pentera is 10.9%, down from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai is 12.2%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Penetration Testing Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai12.2%
Pentera10.9%
Other76.9%
Penetration Testing Services
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd
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.
SH
Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has unified our IT teams by providing clear visibility into network vulnerabilities and accelerated remediation with real-world attack testing
One of the things that we've shared with Horizon is just the reporting. They've made a lot of changes over time, but when examining computers, most average normal people don't look at a computer and identify it as 114.82.117.180. They identify it as 'the printer for accounting.' When many of the reports give the very detailed technical IP address or serial number, that's really not helpful for anyone other than the person, the hands-on person that's trying to remediate it. All the managers, all the leaders, having information in that format isn't helpful. Being able to have information about what those devices are would be very helpful. There's a technical reason they can't just have an easy button because some people have really complicated networks. When examining things for the average company, the average executive, that 114 number, there's only one of those. But if examining an AT&T or a Walmart, it isn't unique. They haven't solved that problem. But for the 90% of companies, being able to have just a human readable name for all devices on your network in all of the reports all of the time would be the most beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Pentera has many authentic features."
"What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach."
"The product is easy to use."
"Pentera has many authentic features."
"The most valuable feature of Pentera is that you can do continuous vulnerability assessment, which is automated."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"Maybe there are some remediation steps on the website, we can mask sensitive information on the website better."
"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."
"The NodeZero Platform is amazing; what I love most about it is that it's automated and comparable to the manual pen testing we did with a third-party company, but with the added benefit of unlimited retesting to validate fixes."
"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help identify vulnerabilities on my on-premise systems by adding an element of validation and offensive security testing on top of known vulnerabilities. The feature that allows security teams to fix and retest vulnerabilities instantly is very useful, even though it may not happen literally 'instantly.' It's a necessary tool for any organization to understand whether vulnerabilities are genuinely exploitable by attackers. With its near-real-time testing capabilities, it's an essential part of any security portfolio."
"Penetration testing and scans are useful features."
"Overall, I'd rate NodeZero at nine to 9.5 out of ten."
"For us, The NodeZero Platform is literally the single best security solution we have because the way that it works is we're able to scan every part of our network, both internally and externally, and then get completely actionable feedback that doesn't matter if it's for an application developer or a network admin."
"After the third party conducts the pen test, The NodeZero Platform is run, and it finds the same things they found and sometimes a few other things that they did not even identify."
"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help in identifying vulnerabilities on our on-prem systems because it provides actual vulnerabilities by attacking our systems."
"My favorite feature about The NodeZero Platform is that it's autonomous, and it truly delivers on that promise—it can be set and forgotten while it performs its tasks, and it does exactly what it claims to do."
 

Cons

"Pentera's general dashboards could be improved and made more specific in terms of vulnerabilities that I'm discovering."
"One area for product improvement could be the inclusion of a dashboard to cover multiple branches and subsidiaries, allowing for centralized monitoring."
"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."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"The automated penetration testing features must be improved."
"The licensing and IP management need improvement."
"The licensing and IP management need improvement. When the IP is imported into a system, we cannot withdraw or revoke the license."
"They've added a chatbot which isn't particularly useful, but when it can't answer questions, it forwards messages to human support."
"One of the areas where improvement is needed is in the visibility and reporting for large enterprises."
"You need to be cautious about what it scans, as it could potentially cause issues."
"I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good."
"The areas for improvement for The NodeZero Platform involve integration and automation. It would be beneficial if it could integrate directly with vulnerability management tools that would allow the platform to automatically import data, identify vulnerable systems, and test targets immediately, potentially even enabling automated feedback loops for rescanning since the process is currently manual."
"Sometimes even their support doesn't know why we're seeing certain issues."
"The reports are quite useless."
"The only issue we’ve encountered is that sometimes the scans take a long time to complete."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have to pay a yearly licensing cost for Pentera."
"The tool is relatively cheap."
"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."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Penetration Testing Services solutions are best for your needs.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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...
What do you like most about Horizon3.ai?
Penetration testing and scans are useful features.
What needs improvement with Horizon3.ai?
I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good.
What is your primary use case for Horizon3.ai?
We use The NodeZero Platform for control validation and we are also looking for the likelihood of vulnerabilities.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Horizon3.ai
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blackstone Group Caterpillar Apria Healthcare Taylor Vinters Sandler Capital Management Drawbridge BNP Paribas British Red Cross
Government agencies, Defense Industrial Base organizations, and enterprises in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and criticalinfrastructure rely on NodeZero to meet rigorous security and compliance requirements with continuous, scheduled, and on-demand testing.
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentera vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.