Understanding penetration testing costs is essential for organizations planning security budgets and evaluating vendor proposals. While prices vary significantly based on numerous factors, this comprehensive guide provides detailed penetration testing pricing benchmarks for 2024, explains the key variables affecting costs, reveals hidden fees to watch for, and offers strategies to maximize value while managing budgets effectively.
Penetration Testing Cost Overview: Quick Answer
Typical penetration testing costs range from $4,000 to $150,000+ depending on scope, complexity, and testing type. Here's a quick reference:
- Small network pen test: $5,000-10,000
- Single web application: $8,000-15,000
- Medium enterprise network: $15,000-30,000
- Comprehensive assessment: $30,000-75,000
- Large enterprise program: $75,000-150,000+
Penetration Testing Costs by Type
Network Penetration Testing
| Scope Size | IP Addresses | Typical Cost | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 1-50 | $5,000-10,000 | 1-2 weeks |
| Medium | 50-250 | $10,000-25,000 | 2-3 weeks |
| Large | 250-500 | $25,000-45,000 | 3-4 weeks |
| Enterprise | 500+ | $45,000-100,000+ | 4-8 weeks |
Includes: External and internal network testing, vulnerability exploitation, privilege escalation testing, lateral movement assessment
Web Application Penetration Testing
| Application Complexity | Description | Typical Cost | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | 5-10 pages, basic functionality | $8,000-12,000 | 1-2 weeks |
| Moderate | 10-50 pages, authentication, database | $12,000-20,000 | 2-3 weeks |
| Complex | 50+ pages, complex workflows, APIs | $20,000-35,000 | 3-4 weeks |
| Enterprise | Multiple apps, microservices, extensive APIs | $35,000-75,000+ | 4-8 weeks |
Includes: OWASP Top 10 testing, authentication/authorization testing, business logic assessment, API security testing
Cloud Security Penetration Testing
- Single cloud account (AWS/Azure/GCP): $12,000-25,000
- Multi-account/multi-cloud: $25,000-50,000
- Kubernetes/container security: $15,000-30,000
- Serverless application testing: $10,000-20,000
Includes: IAM policy review, misconfig identification, container security, serverless security, storage security
Mobile Application Testing
- Single platform (iOS or Android): $10,000-18,000
- Both platforms: $18,000-30,000
- Complex mobile apps with APIs: $25,000-40,000
Includes: Client-side testing, server-side API testing, data storage security, authentication testing
Specialized Testing Types
- Physical penetration test: $10,000-25,000
- Social engineering campaign: $5,000-15,000
- Wireless security assessment: $8,000-15,000
- Red team engagement: $50,000-150,000+
- Active Directory assessment: $15,000-35,000
- IoT/OT security testing: $20,000-50,000+
Key Factors Affecting Penetration Testing Costs
1. Scope and Size
Impact: Most significant cost driver (40-50% of total cost variation)
- Network testing: Number of IP addresses, subnets, and locations
- Application testing: Number of pages, forms, user roles, and API endpoints
- Cloud testing: Number of accounts, regions, and services in use
- Rule of thumb: Costs scale approximately linearly with scope size
2. Testing Approach and Knowledge Level
Impact: 20-30% cost variation
- Black box (no knowledge): Most expensive; testers start with zero information requiring extensive reconnaissance (add 30-50% to base cost)
- Gray box (partial knowledge): Standard pricing; testers receive credentials and basic documentation
- White box (full knowledge): Most efficient; complete access to code, architecture, credentials (save 15-25% vs black box)
3. Environment Complexity
Impact: 15-25% cost variation
- Simple environments: Standard applications, common technology stacks, straightforward architectures
- Complex environments: Custom applications, legacy systems, obscure technologies, complex integrations (add 25-40%)
- Hybrid complexity: Mix of cloud, on-premises, SaaS requiring different skill sets (add 20-30%)
4. Compliance and Methodology Requirements
Impact: 10-30% cost variation
- PCI DSS compliance testing: Requires PCI QSA or qualified assessor (premium 20-30%)
- Specific methodologies: NIST, OWASP, PTES framework adherence
- Documentation requirements: Detailed reporting for auditors
- Attestation letters: Formal compliance documentation
5. Firm Tier and Expertise
Impact: 30-50% cost variation between tiers
- Big 4 firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG): Premium pricing ($150-400+/hour) with brand recognition
- Specialized boutique firms: Competitive pricing ($125-250/hour) with deep technical expertise
- Mid-tier providers: Value pricing ($100-175/hour) balancing cost and quality
- Budget providers: Lowest cost ($75-125/hour) with potentially less experience
- Offshore providers: $50-100/hour but communication and quality challenges
6. Testing Depth and Manual Effort
Impact: Can double or triple costs
- Automated scanning with minimal manual work: Lower cost but misses complex vulnerabilities
- Standard manual testing: Balanced approach with thorough coverage
- Deep manual testing: Extensive hands-on investigation, custom exploits, advanced persistence testing (2-3x standard cost)
7. Geographic Location
Impact: 20-40% cost variation by region
- Major tech hubs (San Francisco, New York, Seattle): +30-40% above national average
- Secondary markets (Austin, Denver, Raleigh): Aligned with national average
- Lower-cost regions: -15-25% below average
- Remote testing: Increasingly common, reducing geographic price disparity
8. Remediation Retesting
Impact: +$2,000-10,000 to total project cost
- Included: Some proposals include one round of retesting
- Additional cost: Others charge separately for validation testing
- Typical retest pricing: 25-40% of original test cost
- Compliance note: PCI DSS requires retesting of high-risk findings
9. Urgency and Timeline
Impact: 25-50% premium for rush engagements
- Standard lead time: 4-6 weeks from contract to test start
- Expedited (2-3 weeks): +15-25% premium
- Rush (under 2 weeks): +25-50% premium
- Planning tip: Book tests 6-8 weeks in advance for best pricing
Hidden Costs and Fees to Watch For
Additional Charges Often Not Included in Quoted Prices
- Travel expenses: $2,000-5,000 for on-site physical testing or meetings
- Tool licensing: Some firms pass through commercial tool costs
- Emergency response: After-hours incident support during testing
- Extended reporting: Custom report formats or additional documentation
- Presentations: Executive briefings or board presentations
- Retesting: Validation of remediation efforts
- Scope creep: Testing beyond originally defined boundaries
- Expert consultation: Additional hours for remediation guidance
Questions to Ask Vendors
- "Is remediation retesting included in this price?"
- "Are there any additional fees beyond the quoted cost?"
- "What happens if we need to expand scope during testing?"
- "Do you charge for travel if on-site presence is needed?"
- "Is post-test consulting for remediation included?"
- "What's included in the deliverables (report format, presentations)?"
Penetration Testing Cost Calculator
Use this framework to estimate your penetration testing costs:
Step 1: Determine Base Cost
Select your primary test type:
- Network (50 IPs): $10,000
- Web application (moderate complexity): $12,000
- Cloud security: $15,000
- Mobile app: $15,000
Step 2: Apply Scope Multipliers
- Double scope: x1.5-1.7
- Triple scope: x2.0-2.3
- 5x scope: x3.0-3.5
Step 3: Add Complexity Factors
- Legacy systems: +15-20%
- Custom applications: +20-30%
- Multi-cloud: +15-25%
- Complex integrations: +10-20%
Step 4: Adjust for Testing Approach
- Black box: +30-40%
- Gray box: Baseline (no adjustment)
- White box: -15-20%
Step 5: Include Additional Services
- Social engineering: +$5,000-10,000
- Physical testing: +$8,000-15,000
- Retesting: +25-40% of base
- Executive presentations: +$1,000-2,500
Example Calculation
Scenario: Medium-sized company wants comprehensive security assessment
- Network test (100 IPs): $12,000
- Web app test (2 applications): $20,000
- Social engineering: +$8,000
- Retesting: +$8,000 (25% of $32,000)
- Total estimated cost: $48,000
Pricing Models and Contract Structures
Fixed-Price Project
Most common model: 70% of engagements
- How it works: Defined scope with fixed total price
- Advantages: Budget certainty, clear deliverables
- Disadvantages: Scope changes require change orders
- Best for: Well-defined projects with clear boundaries
Time and Materials (Hourly)
Usage: 20% of engagements
- How it works: Pay for actual hours worked at agreed hourly rate
- Hourly rates: $125-400/hour depending on firm and expertise
- Advantages: Flexibility for scope changes
- Disadvantages: Budget uncertainty, potential cost overruns
- Best for: Exploratory testing, ongoing security validation
Retainer Model
Usage: 10% of engagements (growing)
- How it works: Pay monthly fee for allocated testing hours
- Typical structure: 40-160 hours annually, paid monthly
- Cost: $5,000-20,000/month depending on hours
- Advantages: Flexibility, priority scheduling, predictable budgeting
- Best for: Organizations needing regular testing with varying scopes
How to Reduce Penetration Testing Costs
Before the Engagement
- Define clear, focused scope: Test highest-risk systems rather than everything
- Remediate known issues first: Fix obvious vulnerabilities via scanning before pen test
- Provide white box access: Give testers credentials, documentation reducing reconnaissance time
- Prepare environment: Ensure systems accessible, credentials ready, contacts available
- Bundle multiple tests: Negotiate volume discounts for multiple simultaneous tests
- Consider gray box over black box: Save 20-30% while maintaining realistic testing
- Annual contracts: Commit to regular testing for 10-20% discount
Provider Selection Strategies
- Compare multiple vendors: Get 3-5 quotes for price and scope comparison
- Consider boutique firms: Often provide better value than Big 4
- Evaluate remote-first providers: Lower overhead = lower prices
- Check for educational/nonprofit discounts: Many firms offer 15-25% discounts
- Negotiate: Especially for large scopes or multi-year commitments
Operational Efficiencies
- Flexible scheduling: Off-season or off-peak testing may be cheaper
- Avoid rush fees: Plan 6-8 weeks in advance
- Combine testing types: Network + web app together is cheaper than separate
- Leverage previous work: Retests cost less than initial assessments
Return on Investment: Is Pen Testing Worth the Cost?
Cost of Data Breaches vs Pen Testing Investment
- Average data breach cost: $4.45M globally (2023 IBM study)
- Annual pen test cost: $15,000-50,000 for most organizations
- ROI calculation: Preventing single breach = 90-300x return on pen test investment
- Additional prevention: Even stopping smaller incidents ($50K-500K) provides substantial ROI
Beyond Breach Prevention
- Compliance cost avoidance: Regulatory fines (GDPR €20M, HIPAA $1.5M)
- Insurance premium reduction: 10-20% lower cyber insurance costs with regular testing
- Customer trust: Security testing demonstrates commitment improving retention
- Competitive advantage: Security certifications differentiating from competitors
- Reduced incident response: Finding issues proactively prevents expensive emergency response
Statistics Supporting Pen Test Value
- Organizations with regular pen testing experience 50-70% fewer successful attacks
- Average time to identify breach: 204 days without proactive testing vs 30-60 days with testing
- Cost per compromised record: $165 average (prevented through proactive security)
- Average ransomware payment: $200,000+ (preventable through vulnerability identification)
Budget Planning: What to Allocate for Penetration Testing
By Organization Size
- Small business (1-50 employees): $8,000-15,000 annually
- Single web application test or small network assessment
- Focus on customer-facing systems
- Mid-market (50-500 employees): $20,000-50,000 annually
- Network + web application testing
- Annual external, biennial internal
- Enterprise (500-5,000 employees): $50,000-150,000 annually
- Comprehensive program: quarterly web apps, annual network, cloud assessments
- Multiple engagements throughout year
- Large enterprise (5,000+ employees): $150,000-500,000+ annually
- Continuous testing program
- Multiple simultaneous engagements
- Red team operations
As Percentage of IT Security Budget
- Recommended allocation: 5-10% of total cybersecurity budget
- High-risk industries: 10-15% (financial services, healthcare)
- Compliance-driven: 8-12% to meet regulatory requirements
- Mature programs: Shift from large annual tests to continuous smaller engagements
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are penetration tests so expensive?
Penetration testing requires highly skilled security experts with specialized certifications (OSCP, GPEN) and years of experience. Quality pen tests involve 40-200+ hours of manual work by expensive professionals ($150-300/hour). The expertise, liability, insurance, and tooling required justify the investment, especially considering preventing a single $4.45M average breach provides 90-300x ROI.
Can I get a free penetration test?
Free pen tests don't truly exist. Some vendors offer "free assessments" as sales tactics (automated scans, not real pen tests). Bug bounty programs pay for finding vulnerabilities but aren't comprehensive pen tests. For legitimate security validation, budget $5,000 minimum for meaningful testing. Attempting to avoid pen test costs exposes organizations to far greater breach costs ($4.45M average).
How often should I budget for penetration testing?
Budget for annual testing at minimum ($15,000-50,000 for most organizations). High-risk organizations should plan quarterly testing. Additionally, budget for testing after: major infrastructure changes, new application deployments, significant security incidents, or before critical product launches. Multi-year planning enables better vendor negotiations and predictable budgeting.
What's the difference between $5,000 and $50,000 pen tests?
$5,000 tests typically involve: limited scope (single small app or tiny network), automated scanning with minimal manual validation, junior testers, basic reporting, no retesting. $50,000 tests provide: comprehensive scope, extensive manual testing by senior experts, custom exploit development, detailed investigation, executive presentations, remediation retesting. For meaningful security validation, budget appropriately for your scope.
Conclusion: Investing in Security Through Penetration Testing
While penetration testing represents a significant investment ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, the cost must be evaluated against the substantially higher costs of data breaches, regulatory fines, and reputational damage. With average breaches costing $4.45M and single compliance violations resulting in millions in penalties, penetration testing provides exceptional return on investment by identifying and enabling remediation of vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them.
Effective budget planning for penetration testing requires understanding the various cost factors, selecting appropriate testing types for your risk profile, choosing qualified providers offering fair value, and viewing pen testing as essential preventive investment rather than discretionary expense. Organizations that treat security testing as strategic investment rather than grudge purchase realize significantly better security outcomes and lower total risk exposure.
SubRosa Cyber Solutions provides transparent, competitive pricing for comprehensive penetration testing services across all testing types. Our certified pentesters deliver thorough manual testing combined with automated tools, detailed reporting with actionable recommendations, and remediation retesting to validate fixes, all at fair market rates without hidden fees. Schedule a consultation to receive a customized penetration testing proposal aligned with your scope, budget, and security objectives.