2026-06-03 · Pricing
How Much Does a Startup Pentest Cost?
A startup penetration test at Faultline starts at €3,000 for a single application or API (Essentials), €5,000 for multi-surface web and API (Growth), or €7,000 for full external infrastructure (Comprehensive). All prices are fixed, with reports typically delivered in under two weeks from kickoff to report.
Many startups are also quoted €15,000 or more elsewhere for a penetration test and told to wait six weeks for the report. That price is not always based on what the work actually costs. It is based on what enterprise consultancies need to charge to cover account managers, sales teams, and project coordinators who never touch your application. Faultline Security was built to cut that out.
TL;DR
A startup pentest at Faultline costs €3,000 for a single app or API (Essentials), €5,000 for multi-surface web and API (Growth), or €7,000 for full external infrastructure (Comprehensive). All prices are fixed. No surprises. From scoping form to actionable report in under two weeks.
Why Are Pentests So Expensive at Most Firms?
The security industry has a pricing problem. Large consultancies and Big Four firms charge €15,000 to €50,000+ for penetration tests that are often run by junior testers following a checklist, managed by account managers who cannot answer a technical question, and delivered as a 200-page PDF weeks after testing closes. Half the findings are informational. None of it is written for a startup engineering team that needs to ship fixes by Friday.
The price is not a reflection of testing quality. It is a reflection of overhead.
Faultline is built differently. Senior testers only. A clear scope agreed before work starts. A report your engineers can act on the day it lands, with a findings walkthrough included so nothing gets lost in translation. And a price that reflects the actual work, not the organisational layers around it.
What Factors Affect the Price of a Pentest?
Within any firm, pricing varies based on a few key variables:
Scope size
The more surface area a tester has to cover, the more time it takes. A pentest covering your core API and authentication layer costs less than one that includes cloud infrastructure, multiple applications, and third-party integrations.
Number of surfaces
Testing one application costs less than testing three interconnected ones where trust boundaries between services also need to be assessed. Cross-application attack paths take additional time to map and exploit properly.
Infrastructure inclusion
Adding cloud configuration review (AWS, GCP, Azure), external perimeter testing, and service-level assessments increases scope and is often necessary for SOC 2 Type II and enterprise sales readiness.
Methodology
Gray-box testing (testers have standard user credentials) is more cost-effective than black-box (no access, starts from scratch) and produces more thorough findings in less time. All Faultline engagements use gray-box methodology by default.
Add-ons
Retesting, compliance mapping, and source code review are available as additions to any package.
Faultline Security Pricing
Three fixed-price packages. Clear scope. No surprises.
Essentials: From €3,000
Single application or API (up to 50 endpoints). Timeline: 3 to 5 business days.
Best for early-stage startups running their first pentest, companies needing a focused API or web app assessment, and teams preparing for a first SOC 2 conversation.
What is included:
- 1 web application or API (up to 50 endpoints)
- Gray-box testing following OWASP WSTG (90+ test case methodology)
- OWASP Top 10 and API Top 10 coverage
- Subdomain and virtual host enumeration
- Authentication and session management testing
- Security header and configuration review
- Business logic testing
- CVSS-scored findings with a working proof-of-concept for every issue
- Attack narrative showing how vulnerabilities chain together for real-world impact
- Remediation guidance per finding
- PDF report with executive summary
- Letter of attestation (shareable with auditors, customers, and partners without an NDA)
- Findings walkthrough and Q&A
Growth: From €5,000
Multi-surface web and API. Timeline: 5 to 8 business days.
Best for Series A stage companies, teams with multiple interconnected applications, and startups preparing for SOC 2 Type II or enterprise sales.
Everything in Essentials, plus:
- Up to 3 applications or API surfaces
- Cross-application trust boundary testing (can a user from App A escalate access via App B?)
- Business logic deep-dive across full user journeys, payment flows, reward systems, and multi-tenancy
- Inter-service API and authorization testing (internal endpoints, shared tokens, SSO exploitability)
Comprehensive: From €7,000
Full external infrastructure. Timeline: 7 to 10 business days.
Best for companies in regulated industries, enterprise-facing products, and startups whose cloud infrastructure footprint needs to be in scope.
Everything in Growth, plus:
- External perimeter testing (up to 20 IPs/hosts)
- Service-level assessment (SSH, SMB, and other network services)
- Cloud configuration review (AWS, GCP, Azure)
- Internal service exposure analysis (databases, admin panels, debug endpoints reachable from outside)
- Full retest after remediation included
Add-Ons
| Add-On | Price |
| Retest after remediation (Essentials and Growth) | +20% of base |
| Compliance mapping (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR Article 32) | +20% of base |
| Source code review | +30% of base |
| Quarterly testing (4 engagements per year) | 15% discount |
Get a fixed-price proposal in 24 hours
What Makes Faultline Different?
Every finding has a working proof-of-concept. Not a description of a theoretical risk, not a scanner output pasted into a template. A working exploit, documented step by step, showing exactly how the vulnerability can be used against your product. This is what separates a Faultline report from most of what the market produces.
Attack narratives, not just finding lists. The report includes a step-by-step story of how individual vulnerabilities chain together for real-world impact. Most pentest reports treat findings in isolation. Chained attacks are what real attackers use, and they are what your report should show.
The letter of attestation is included in every package. A one-page document confirming that a pentest was performed, shareable with auditors, customers, and investors without an NDA. Most firms charge extra for this or do not offer it at all.
Senior testers on every engagement. No outsourcing, no juniors following a checklist. The person testing your application is the person writing your report and walking your team through the findings.
From scoping form to report in under two weeks. Fill out a short form. Get a fixed-price proposal within 24 hours. Testing starts when you are ready. Your team has a report they can act on before the end of the sprint.
Here is what clients say about working with Faultline:
"Faultline came in with clear scoping, fast turnaround, and a report our engineers could act on immediately."
João Lages, Co-Founder and General Manager, Lympid
"The executive summary was shareable with stakeholders, the technical detail was deep enough for our engineers to act on, and we came out knowing exactly what to prioritise."
André Moniz, Co-Founder and CTO, Buk
How Does Faultline Compare to Other Options?
| Option | Typical Price | Reality |
| Faultline Security | From €3,000 | Fixed price, senior tester, actionable report in under 2 weeks |
| Large consultancy or Big Four | €15,000 to €50,000+ | Junior tester, account manager layer, 200-page PDF delivered weeks late |
| Freelance tester | €1,500 to €5,000 | Variable quality, no firm accountability, report format varies |
| Automated scanner | €200 to €2,000/year | No human testing, misses logic flaws, not accepted by auditors |
The gap between a large consultancy and Faultline is not quality. It is overhead. You are not paying for better testing at a big firm. You are paying for the layers of people between you and the tester. Ranges in the table above for other providers are typical ballparks and move with region and scope; they are not a single benchmark.
Fixed-Price vs. Day-Rate
All Faultline engagements are fixed price. Here is why that matters:
Fixed-price means you know the cost before you sign. No budget uncertainty, no scope creep surprises, no invoices that expand mid-engagement. You get a defined scope, a defined deliverable, and a defined price.
Day-rate (time-and-materials) bills for actual hours. It can run cheaper on simple engagements but creates uncertainty on anything complex. Day rates for experienced pentesters typically run €1,200 to €2,500 per day, and the total is only known at the end.
For a startup building a security budget for the first time, fixed-price is the only model that makes sense.
How to Get the Most Value From Your Budget
Start with Essentials if it is your first pentest. A focused test of your core application gives you high-value findings at the lowest entry cost. Broaden your scope in subsequent years as your product and security program mature.
Come prepared. Share API documentation, Postman collections, and test accounts before testing starts. Every hour a tester spends mapping your application is an hour not spent finding vulnerabilities.
Add compliance mapping if you have an audit coming up. The +20% add-on is significantly cheaper than having your compliance consultant translate findings into audit evidence after the fact.
Book quarterly if you ship frequently. The 15% discount means you are catching new vulnerabilities before they reach production rather than discovering them once a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a pentest every year?
Most security frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001) and enterprise customer requirements expect annual penetration testing. After your first pentest, annual retesting keeps your compliance documentation current and your security posture up to date as your product evolves.
Can I expense a pentest as part of fundraise preparation?
Yes. A pentest is a legitimate business expense and is increasingly viewed as standard Series A preparation, similar to a financial audit or legal review. Some investors reimburse due diligence costs post-close.
What is the difference between a pentest and a bug bounty?
A pentest is a time-boxed engagement with a defined scope and a guaranteed deliverable. A bug bounty is an open-ended invitation for researchers to find and report vulnerabilities. They are complementary. Run a pentest first to fix the obvious issues, then open a bug bounty to keep coverage ongoing.
Is the letter of attestation enough for auditors without sharing the full report?
Yes. The letter confirms a pentest was performed and is designed to be shared without an NDA. When an auditor or enterprise customer needs more detail, the full report can be shared under NDA. SOC 2 auditors typically request the full report as part of your evidence package.
What is included in the Faultline price?
Each tier includes manual testing, CVSS-scored findings with a proof of concept, remediation guidance, attack narrative, PDF report, letter of attestation, and a findings walkthrough. Add-ons cover retest, compliance mapping, source code review, and a discount on a four-engagement annual contract, as listed in the table on this page.
For questions about pricing, timelines, and working with Faultline, visit our FAQ page.
Faultline Security specializes in penetration testing for SaaS companies and startups. Scope your engagement in 24 hours