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How much does a SOC 2 pentest cost?

Most quotes land between $5,000 and $20,000. Here’s what the compliance platforms and pentest firms publish, what drives the number, and what the cheaper options actually include.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 5 min read

Every SOC 2 budget has a line for the penetration test, and it’s often the one founders know least about. The published numbers are surprisingly consistent. What varies is what you get for them.

What firms charge

These are the ranges the large compliance platforms and pentest firms publish:

Source	Published range
Vanta	$5,000 to $15,000, depending on scope and the firm¹
Secureframe, quoting Alex Lauerman of TrustFoundry	Most between $5,000 and $20,000; average $8,000 to $10,000²
Drata	$5,000 to $15,000³
Synack	Web application $5,000 to $30,000; external network $4,000 to $12,000⁴
Astra	$2,500 to $50,000⁵

For a first formal engagement, Synack tells startups to “Budget $15,000 to $35,000 for a well-scoped gray box test with a usable compliance report.”⁴ Lauerman is more hopeful: for a company’s first test, “your scope is likely to be small and be below average in terms of cost.”⁶

How long it takes

Price isn’t the only cost. Vanta says most firms take “one to four weeks to complete a penetration test.”¹ Before that, Software Secured quotes “Scheduling within 3-6 weeks - sometimes sooner.”⁷ Then you fix what it found, and Vanta puts typical remediation cycles at 90 to 180 days.¹ If your audit window opens next month, the calendar can matter more than the invoice.

Where the money goes

A pentest is priced by the hour. Synack puts specialist rates at roughly $150 to $400 an hour and senior day rates at $1,200 to $3,000.⁴ A consultant who spent eight years in security assessment told Indie Hackers: “The going rate when I was doing it at a firm was 10k USD a week.”⁸ Lauerman says the same in fewer words: pricing “is generally associated with the level of effort required by a pen tester.”⁶

The hours grow with:

Scope. How many apps, IP addresses, APIs and cloud accounts are in the test. Secureframe says cost is “largely determined by the scope and complexity of the company’s systems.”²
Depth. Black box tests take longer than white box, and manual testing costs more per day than automated scanning.⁴
Who shows up. Synack says Big 4 firms charge two to three times the rates of boutique firms for comparable work.⁴
Compliance paperwork. Framework-specific reporting adds documentation time.⁴
Retests. Some quotes include one and some don’t. Synack’s example: “A $10,000 engagement that charges $3,000 per retest can finish considerably over budget if your team remediates in phases.”⁴

Cheaper options, stated fairly

Below five figures, the market splits into scanners sold by subscription and automated or AI pentests sold per test. Lowest published prices as of November 2026:

Product	Lowest published price	What it is
HostedScan	$39 a month, billed yearly ($468)⁹	Hosted ZAP, OpenVAS, Nuclei, SSLyze and Nmap scans, 5 targets
Astra	$69 a month for 1 target; autonomous pentest $2,999 a year¹⁰	Scanner and pentest plans
Pentest-Tools.com	From $96 a month¹¹	Network scanning, 16 assets
Beagle Security	$99 a month, billed $1,188 a year¹²	Web app security testing
Detectify	€0 platform fee, scanning billed per target¹³	External application scanning
Intruder	Free plan; AI web app pentests from $3,500 a test¹⁴	Scanner and AI pentests
Cobalt	$3,500 a test, an offer that ends December 31, 2026¹⁵	AI paired with Cobalt’s pentesters
Aikido	$50 to $30,000+, priced from your app¹⁶	AI pentest using your repos and two test accounts, with a PDF for SOC 2

One more: Drata says new customers currently receive an agentic pentest “worth up to $4,000.”¹⁷ If you’re already choosing Drata, ask about it.

The catch with cheap tests

Price follows hours, and fewer hours mean less coverage. Lauerman’s warning is worth reading before you buy anything automated: “Completely automated analysis can only find 10-20% of vulnerabilities in most cases.”⁶ Synack makes the same point: a shallow test “gives the organization a false sense of coverage.”⁴ Both sell manual testing, and both are right that a tool won’t find a broken permission check inside your app.

Where $20 fits

Pentrail is an automated external test of one domain for $20, paid once, with no subscription. It checks what an outsider can reach: 50 common ports on your own addresses, 80 sensitive paths such as .git, .env and database dumps, open redirects, weak TLS ciphers, subdomain takeover and DNS zone transfer, without exploiting anything beyond proving the weakness. The PDF has a CVSS score, the real request and response, and a fix for each finding, plus a SOC 2 control map, a letter of attestation and three free retests within 30 days.

It doesn’t test behind your login, your business logic or your internal network. Use it where an external test is enough for your auditor, or before a manual pentest, so the tester billing $150 an hour isn’t the one who finds your exposed .env file.

See your own grade

Scan your domain and see what an attacker sees.

Most SOC 2 pentests cost $5,000 to $20,000 because you’re buying a tester’s hours. Before comparing prices, ask what each quote includes (retests, a letter of attestation, SOC 2 mapping) and what it leaves out of scope.

Questions

How much does a SOC 2 penetration test cost?

Published ranges cluster at $5,000 to $20,000, with averages around $8,000 to $10,000. Complex SaaS applications can reach $30,000 or more.

How long does a SOC 2 pentest take?

Testing takes one to four weeks at most firms, and scheduling can add three to six weeks before it starts. Leave time for fixes and a retest before your audit window closes.

Why do pentest quotes vary so much?

Quotes are priced on tester hours, which grow with scope, depth, seniority, reporting and retest terms. Compare what each quote includes, not only the total.

Are retests included in the price of a pentest?

It varies. Some firms include a retest and others charge for each one, which adds up if you fix findings in phases. Ask before you sign; Pentrail includes three free retests within 30 days.

Sources

Vanta, Penetration testing 101: For most penetration testing companies, it takes one to four weeks to complete a penetration test depending on the size and scope of the attack vectors. … Typical remediation cycles can take 90-180 days depending on the availability of your resources. … Typically these tests start at $5,000 and can go up to $15,000 depending on the scope and the testing company you choose.
Secureframe, quoting Alex Lauerman (TrustFoundry), Penetration Testing 101: A Guide to Testing Types, Processes, and Costs: The cost of a penetration test is largely determined by the scope and complexity of the company’s systems. … According to Lauerman, the majority of pen tests cost between $5,000-$20,000, with the average being between $8,000-$10,000.
Drata, How Much Does a SOC 2 Audit Cost?: Penetration Testing ($5,000 - $15,000): Though not always required by SOC 2, many customers demand an annual pen test as part of their due diligence.
Synack (penetration testing firm), How Much Does a Pentest Cost? 2026 Trends and Insights: Big 4 firms typically charge two to three times the rates of boutique and mid-tier specialist providers for comparable testing work. … Web application $5,000–$30,000 Multi-tenant SaaS, SSO, payments, APIs … External network $4,000–$12,000 … Black box engagements, where the tester receives no prior knowledge of the environment, typically take longer and cost more than white box engagements … Manual testing by senior researchers costs more per day than automated scanning … The compliance requirements add cost through documentation. … A $10,000 engagement that charges $3,000 per retest can finish considerably over budget if your team remediates in phases. … Penetration testing cost per hour from specialist researchers runs from roughly $150 to $400, depending on seniority and provider tier. Day rates for a senior tester at a boutique firm typically land between $1,200 and $3,000. … Budget $15,000 to $35,000 for a well-scoped gray box test with a usable compliance report. … It’s that a shallow test gives the organization a false sense of coverage
Astra Security (pentest vendor), How Much Does a Pentest Cost in 2026: Avg Prices ($5K–$50K+): The average cost of a penetration test ranges from $2500 to $50,000.
Alex Lauerman (TrustFoundry), interviewed by Secureframe, Frequently Asked Questions about Pen Testing: If this is your company’s first penetration test, your scope is likely to be small and be below average in terms of cost. … It’s important to note that pricing is generally associated with the level of effort required by a pen tester … Completely automated analysis can only find 10-20% of vulnerabilities in most cases.
Software Secured (penetration testing firm), SOC 2 Penetration Testing Services: Scheduling within 3-6 weeks - sometimes sooner.
Coleton Pierson, replying on Indie Hackers, Any startup-friendly security assessment service out there?: The going rate when I was doing it at a firm was 10k USD a week.
HostedScan, Pricing & plans: Basic 5 Targets Included, Unlimited Scanning $39 / month Billed at $708 $468 per year … We offer the full-power of ZAP, OpenVAS, Nuclei, SSLyze and Nmap scanners
Astra Security, Plans & Pricing: Hacker style autonomous pentest at machine speed $2999 /yr … Scanner Lite Schedule monthly vulnerability scans $69 /m 1 Target
Pentest-Tools.com, Pentest-Tools.com pricing: Pricing plans starting from (price varies by asset count and billing cycle): NetScan from $96/month with 16 assets, AppScan from $140/month with 5 assets, Exploit from $190/month with 5 assets.
Beagle Security, Beagle Security Pricing: Essential For growing teams establishing web app security testing $ 99 per month Billed $1188 annually
Detectify, Pricing: Application Scanning Additional cost per target … Starter from €0 annual platform fee Up to 5 users 1 team
Intruder, Intruder Pricing: Need a pentest? AI-powered web application pentests. Starting from $3,500 / test … Free For companies getting started with security
Cobalt, Pentest Pricing & Penetration Testing Costs: Cobalt Autonomous Pentest pairs AI systems with elite Cobalt Core pentesters to deliver continuous offensive security across your full application portfolio. … Pricing $3,500 per test Limited time offer … Autonomous Pentest must be initiated and completed before Dec 31st 2026 in order to qualify.
Aikido Security, Pricing: Rightsized Pentest €45 - €25.000+ $50 - $30,000+ ₹5,000 - ₹20,00,000 £40 - £25,000+ scoped to your application … Output Full PDF report for SOC 2 & ISO 27001 … Link your repository and share two test credentials.
Drata blog (Monica Olmsted, partner marketing), When Continuous Compliance Meets Continuous Evidence: Under the current offer, new Drata customers receive an agentic pentest worth up to $4,000, delivered in about a business day