Autonomous AI penetration testing · Pricing guide
XBOW Pricing, Explained
XBOW is one of the few vendors in this category that publishes prices. Its Lightspeed offering costs $4,000 per test for lightweight applications and $8,000 per test for complex ones, with an Enterprise tier by quote. This guide breaks down what each tier includes, what drives you into the higher tier, and how the per-test model compares with subscriptions.
Last verified: 2026-07-13
XBOW pricing at a glance
What the Published Tiers Mean
The two Lightspeed tiers price application complexity, not testing depth: both deliver the same autonomous AI pentest with a compliance-ready report and re-testing. A brochure site or a simple app with a handful of screens fits the $4,000 tier; a SaaS product with multiple modules, third-party integrations, and multi-step workflows lands at $8,000. If in doubt, expect the scoping conversation to place a real product in the Premium tier.
Enterprise moves from per-test purchases to a relationship: continuous offensive coverage, real-time dashboards, multi-member team access, SSO, and API integration. XBOW does not publish what that costs; per-test buyers do not need it.
Per-Test vs. Subscription Economics
At $4,000 to $8,000 per test, XBOW undercuts traditional consultancies (commonly $5,000 to $30,000 for a comparable web app engagement) while delivering in days instead of weeks. For an annual or twice-yearly compliance test, that is a strong deal.
The economics change if you ship often. Testing monthly at the Premium tier is $96,000 a year; weekly is far past that. The per-test model prices each run, so the cost of "test every release" scales linearly with your release cadence, which is exactly the scenario flat-rate subscriptions exist for.
What a Year of Testing Costs (2026)
Annualized cost by testing cadence, using published or commonly reported prices.
| Cadence | XBOW (published) | Traditional firm | Penetrify |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 test/year | $4,000–$8,000 | $5,000–$30,000 | From $1,200 |
| Quarterly | $16,000–$32,000 | $20,000–$120,000 | From $1,200 |
| Monthly | $48,000–$96,000 | Rarely feasible | From $1,200 |
| Every deploy | Enterprise quote | Not feasible | From $1,200 |
XBOW figures from its published Lightspeed tiers; consultancy range from commonly cited 2026 surveys; Penetrify from published plans (from $100/month). Last verified July 2026.
Continuous Coverage Without Per-Test Fees
XBOW and Penetrify are both autonomous AI pentesting platforms; the difference is the billing model and what it encourages. XBOW prices each engagement, which works for point-in-time needs. Penetrify is a flat subscription from $100/month: test on every deploy, retest after every fix, no marginal cost per run. If your team ships weekly, the per-test math never works; a subscription does.
The bottom line
Credit to XBOW for publishing prices in a category that hides them. At $4,000 to $8,000 per test with a 5-day report, it is priced aggressively against traditional consultancies for point-in-time engagements, and its bug bounty track record is real. Choose it for scheduled, audit-driven tests. If the goal is testing tied to your release cycle, per-test pricing is the wrong shape: that is subscription territory.
Frequently asked questions
How much does XBOW cost?
XBOW publishes two per-test prices: $4,000 for lightweight applications (Lightspeed Plus) and $8,000 for applications with multiple modules and workflows (Lightspeed Premium). Enterprise plans with continuous coverage are quoted individually.
What is included in an XBOW test?
An autonomous AI penetration test of your application with an audit-ready report within 5 days, instant re-testing with automated verification, and support for black-box, white-box, or grey-box approaches. Reports are positioned for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR and 40+ frameworks.
Is XBOW cheaper than a manual penetration test?
Usually yes for comparable scope: manual web app pentests commonly run $5,000 to $30,000 and take weeks, while XBOW is $4,000 to $8,000 with a report in days. The trade-off is the same as for any autonomous platform: human testers still lead on business logic and novel attack chains.
XBOW vs. Penetrify: which pricing model fits my team?
Pick per-test (XBOW) if you need one or two audits a year. Pick a subscription (Penetrify, from $100/month) if you want testing on every release: at monthly or weekly cadence, per-test fees exceed a year of subscription within the first few runs.