AssurePort vs the alternatives
Shopping for security testing means choosing between three very different things that all call themselves “security.” Here is an honest comparison of continuous AI penetration testing, traditional human engagements, and developer code scanners — on what they actually test, the proof they give you, how often they run, and what they cost.
The security-testing market is noisy, and three product categories get lumped together even though they do fundamentally different jobs. Picking the wrong one is expensive — either you overpay for a once-a-year snapshot, or you buy a tool that reads your code but never proves what an attacker could actually do. This page lays out the three approaches side by side so you can match the tool to the job.
The three approaches
1. Traditional consultancy & human PTaaS
Firms that run human-led penetration tests, whether a classic consultancy or a modern “pentest-as-a-service” marketplace. The work is deep and creative — skilled testers chasing business-logic flaws a machine might miss. The trade-offs are cost and cadence: a single engagement typically runs $10,000 to $30,000, scheduling takes weeks, and the result certifies your system on one day. On a codebase that ships weekly, that leaves a 364-day blind spot. This is the right choice for a high-stakes, one-off deep assessment — and overkill as your routine coverage.
2. Developer code scanners (SAST / SCA / ASPM)
Tools that read your source code and dependencies and flag risky patterns early in the pipeline — static analysis, dependency scanning, and the application-security posture tools that aggregate them. They are fast, cheap, and belong in every CI pipeline. But they analyze code, not a running system: they cannot log in, chain requests, swap an object ID, or prove that a flagged issue is actually reachable and exploitable in production. They produce a list of potential issues, often with false positives, not a validated attack. They are a complement to penetration testing, not a substitute for it.
3. AssurePort — continuous AI penetration testing
AssurePort sits between the two: the depth of an authorized penetration test that attacks your running system, at the speed and price of an automated tool. AI agents run the OWASP-aligned attack playbook across 11 engines — web, API, cloud, network, Active Directory, SAP, email and more — and every finding ships with a human-verifiable proof of concept and a mapping to the compliance control it affects. It runs continuously, from $399 per scan, with all data resident in the EU.
Side by side
| Human PTaaS / consultancy | Code scanners (SAST/SCA) | AssurePort | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it tests | The running system, by hand | Source code & dependencies | The running system, by AI |
| Proof of exploitability | Yes (human PoC) | No — flags potential issues | Yes (verifiable PoC per finding) |
| Cadence | Once or twice a year | Every commit | Continuous — as often as you deploy |
| Coverage | Scoped per engagement | Code & libraries only | 11 engines: web, API, cloud, network, AD, SAP, email… |
| Compliance evidence | Yes, point-in-time | Weak — scan output, not exploit proof | Yes — mapped to ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS2, DORA, PCI-DSS |
| Data residency | Varies | Varies (often US) | EU throughout (Cloudflare EU, Fly Frankfurt) |
| Typical cost | $10k–$30k per engagement | Low monthly subscription | From $399 per scan |
| Best for | One-off deep assessment | Catching issues in the pipeline | Continuous, audit-ready coverage |
The honest version: these aren’t mutually exclusive. A mature programme runs code scanners in CI, keeps a human red team for the rare high-stakes assessment, and uses continuous AI pentesting as the layer that actually proves exploitable risk on every change. AssurePort is built to be that third layer — the one most teams are missing.
Which should you choose?
- You ship weekly and need to prove real risk, not potential risk. Continuous AI pentesting is the fit — code scanners won’t prove exploitability, and an annual human test can’t keep up.
- You have an upcoming ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIS2 or DORA audit. You need exploit-backed evidence mapped to controls, which a scan-only report does not provide. See our ISO 27001 control matrix for exactly which controls a pentest evidences.
- You’re an EU company handling regulated data. Data residency is a hard requirement, and most US-based tools can’t offer it end to end. AssurePort keeps everything in the EU.
- You need one deep, creative, high-stakes assessment. A human red team is still worth it for that specific job — then use continuous testing to hold the line the other 51 weeks.
Comparing a specific tool? See our focused write-ups: Aikido, Intruder, Cobalt, BreachLock and Pentera alternatives — each on how its approach differs from continuous AI penetration testing.
For the full methodology behind how AssurePort tests, see our pillar guide to penetration testing, and our honest take on who AssurePort is and isn’t for.
See what a continuous pentest finds that a scanner misses.
Run an authorized, AI-driven penetration test across web, API, cloud and more — with a human-verifiable proof of concept and compliance mapping behind every finding, from $399 per scan.
Run your first scan →Comparison reflects general, publicly observable differences between product categories as of 2026 and AssurePort’s own capabilities; it is not an assessment of any specific named vendor. Cost ranges for human engagements are typical industry figures and vary by scope. Verify any third-party tool’s current features and pricing with that vendor directly.