Cobalt pricing 2025: Is it worth the investment?

Introduction

Cybersecurity has become a board-level priority in 2025 as organizations face increasing threats from sophisticated attackers and rising compliance requirements. Enterprises now need not only comprehensive vulnerability scanning but also validated, expert-led penetration testing to demonstrate resilience and meet regulatory obligations.

In this environment, penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) has emerged as a popular approach. By combining the expertise of seasoned testers with platform-driven delivery, PTaaS providers promise faster turnaround and better collaboration than traditional consultancies. Cobalt, one of the pioneers in PTaaS, has positioned itself as a leader with a credit-based pricing model and a global community of vetted penetration testers.

Yet as businesses consider long-term investments in security validation, questions arise. Is Cobalt’s pricing model cost-effective? Does it provide enough value to justify its premium rates? And is it still the right fit for development-driven organizations that need continuous, automated testing?

In this article, we will break down Cobalt’s 2025 pricing model, analyze its credit-based approach, highlight what you get at each tier, and explore the variables that drive costs. Finally, we will examine why Beagle Security is increasingly emerging as a better choice for modern development teams seeking affordable, automated penetration testing.

Cobalt pricing structure overview

Cobalt uses a credit-based subscription model, where one credit equals eight hours of expert penetration testing. Organizations purchase credits annually and allocate them across web apps, APIs, mobile apps, and infrastructure based on need.

To get pricing details, organizations must contact Cobalt for a custom quote. Standard, premium, and enterprise tiers are available, with volume discounts for larger programs. While this model offers flexibility, it also locks businesses into annual commitments and makes total cost heavily dependent on scope and frequency of testing.

Detailed pricing breakdown

Standard plan - get a quote

• Designed for teams in need of a speedy, annual pentest

• Best suited for meeting compliance requirements or fulfilling client requests

• Provides essential testing coverage with streamlined delivery

• Access to reporting and remediation recommendations

• Platform access for managing the testing lifecycle

Premium plan - get a quote

• Built for teams looking to establish a structured pentest program

• Provides broader coverage across applications and environments

• Enhanced reporting and methodology transparency

• Includes integration options with common developer and security tools

• Supports ongoing compliance and program maturity

Enterprise plan - get a quote

• Designed for organizations scaling pentest programs across multiple assets

• Provides higher testing frequency and broader scope

• Includes advanced compliance reporting and portfolio-level insights

• Dedicated customer support and program management

• Custom integrations and service-level agreements available

This tiered structure ensures flexibility, but organizations must request quotes to understand actual costs. Pricing ultimately depends on scope, frequency of testing, and enterprise-specific requirements.

Pricing variables that drive costs

Several factors determine how much organizations ultimately pay for Cobalt:

• Testing scope: Each application, API, or system requires credits, and larger scopes demand multiple credits.

• Testing frequency: More frequent pentests quickly consume credit allocations.

• Complexity: Advanced testing such as APIs, mobile apps, or infrastructure often require higher credit consumption.

• Support level: Higher-tier plans include premium support, faster initiation, and custom integrations.

• Contract terms: Annual commitments with limited rollover add rigidity to the pricing model.

What you get with Cobalt

Cobalt provides a mature PTaaS platform that combines manual penetration testing with streamlined delivery:

• Manual pentesting by a vetted global tester community

• Comprehensive testing methodologies across web, API, mobile, and infrastructure

• Real-time collaboration with testers during engagements

• Detailed findings with proof-of-concept exploitation and remediation guidance

• Compliance-ready reporting aligned to OWASP and CVSS scoring

• Platform dashboard to manage pentest lifecycle and track security posture

While these features cover the needs of large enterprises, Cobalt has limitations. The credit-based pricing makes costs high for frequent testing, turnaround is slower compared to automated tools, continuous security validation is limited, and testing remains dependent on human availability.

Beagle Security: A modern alternative

Beagle Security provides a modern alternative that addresses Cobalt’s core limitations for development teams. Instead of relying on credits and manual scheduling, Beagle Security uses AI-powered automated penetration testing to deliver continuous, scalable security validation.

Key features

• AI-driven penetration testing with continuous scanning

• Zero false positives through automated validation

• Deep API and modern web application coverage

• Seamless CI/CD pipeline integration for DevSecOps workflows

• Developer-ready remediation guidance with actionable fixes

• Instant testing without the scheduling delays of manual PTaaS

Pricing and value

• Essential Plan: $119/month

• Advanced Plan: $359/month

• Enterprise Plan: Custom, starting from $6,850/year

Beagle Security’s transparent subscription pricing eliminates the unpredictability of Cobalt’s credit system. With a G2 rating of 4.7/5, users highlight its accuracy, developer focus, and ease of integration into existing workflows.

For a fraction of Cobalt’s per-test cost, Beagle Security delivers continuous automated testing. This makes it far better value for development teams that need frequent, reliable, and scalable security validation.

Side-by-side comparison table

Understanding Cobalt’s total cost

The credit-based model creates several cost drivers beyond the headline per-credit price:

• Credit consumption: A medium test may use multiple credits, driving costs higher.

• Frequency: Regular quarterly or monthly tests quickly multiply expenses.

• Scope expansion: Adding APIs, mobile apps, or cloud environments consumes more credits.

• Support tiers: Premium support and enterprise SLAs add to the total cost.

• Contract commitments: Annual agreements limit flexibility and may lead to expired unused credits.

This makes Cobalt’s total cost of ownership much higher than subscription-based alternatives, especially for teams seeking frequent testing.

Is Cobalt worth it?

Cobalt offers significant value for large enterprises that require comprehensive manual penetration testing. Its vetted tester community, detailed reporting, and compliance alignment make it particularly attractive for regulated industries. For organizations that need high-quality, point-in-time security assessments, Cobalt remains a strong PTaaS choice.

However, for development teams building modern applications or organizations needing continuous validation, Cobalt becomes cost-prohibitive. Its manual approach introduces longer lead times, higher per-test costs, and limited scalability for agile environments.

Beagle Security, by contrast, provides AI-powered automated testing at just $119/month, delivering instant results, zero false positives, and developer-ready remediation. This enables:

• Faster feedback loops during development

• Broader coverage of modern application vulnerabilities

• Scalable and predictable pricing for growing organizations

• Continuous testing without reliance on manual scheduling

For large enterprises with complex compliance requirements and the budget for in-depth manual penetration testing, Cobalt provides a robust PTaaS platform. But for development-driven teams or organizations seeking cost-effective, continuous security validation, Beagle Security delivers superior coverage, faster results, and greater long-term value at a much more accessible price point.

Written by

Manindar Mohan

Cyber Security Lead Engineer

Contributor

Aaron Thomas

Product Marketing Specialist