--- title: "Cobalt Pentest Alternative: Continuous Autonomous Testing With Sekura — Sekura" url: https://sekura.ai/alternatives/cobalt/ description: "Weighing a Cobalt pentest alternative? Compare continuous autonomous testing from Sekura with Cobalt's human pentest-as-a-service platform." updated: 2026-08-23 generator: sekura build, scripts/build-markdown.mjs --- Alternative # Cobalt Pentest Alternative: Continuous Autonomous Testing With Sekura Weighing a Cobalt pentest alternative? Compare continuous autonomous testing from Sekura with Cobalt's human pentest-as-a-service platform. [All guides →](https://sekura.ai/blog/#guides) ![Sekura — owl-in-shield mark](https://sekura.ai/branding/sekura-owl-v3.png) A Cobalt pentest alternative has to deliver what buyers go to Cobalt for: a credible pentest, scheduled quickly, with results a customer or auditor will accept. Cobalt is a pentest-as-a-service platform that delivers human pentesters through a marketplace, faster to schedule than traditional consultancies. Sekura removes the scheduling problem entirely: autonomous agents that test continuously instead of point-in-time engagements. Details about third-party products reflect their public materials as of August 2026; verify with the vendor. ## Key facts - Cobalt is a pentest-as-a-service (PtaaS) marketplace: human pentesters delivered through a platform, with faster scheduling than traditional consultancies and point-in-time engagements. - Sekura runs a 7-phase multi-agent pipeline: SAST, recon, crypto-agility and post-quantum review, vulnerability analysis with 16 agents, exploitation with 16 exploit agents, chain analysis, and reporting. - Sekura reports a finding only with a deterministic proof-of-exploit. If the exploit does not reproduce, the finding is not reported. - Sekura runs in your own GitHub Actions runner or fully on-prem and air-gapped, so your code never leaves your environment. - Sekura's pricing is public and continuous: a free first scan, Scan Once at $199, and monthly plans from $20 to $300 a month, with enterprise tiers arranged by contacting us. ## What Cobalt does well Cobalt fixed the worst part of buying a pentest: the wait. Its marketplace model gets human testers onto your application faster than a traditional consultancy's booking cycle, and you still get what humans are uniquely good at. Human creativity matters. A skilled tester notices when a business process can be abused in ways no rule anticipated. If your application's risk is concentrated in novel business logic, or your customers and auditors specifically require human-led testing, a PtaaS platform like Cobalt is a sensible buy. We say more about that trade in [autonomous vs manual pentesting](https://sekura.ai/vs/manual-pentest/). ## Where Sekura differs A point-in-time pentest is a photograph. Your codebase is a video. Every engagement, human or not, starts going stale on the next deploy. We built Sekura for [continuous pentesting](https://sekura.ai/solutions/continuous-pentesting/): the pipeline runs on every push if you want it to, not once or twice a year. Four differences shape the comparison: 1. Proof standard. Every Sekura finding ships with a deterministic proof-of-exploit. If our exploit agents cannot reproduce it, it is not reported. 2. Coverage. One scan covers app-sec, LLM security testing, and post-quantum crypto review, with findings mapped to 14 compliance frameworks. 3. Environment. Sekura runs inside your GitHub Actions runner or fully on-prem and air-gapped. Your code never leaves; there is no tester onboarding or access provisioning. 4. Economics. Pricing is public and continuous, not per engagement. You know the annual cost before you talk to anyone. | | Cobalt | Sekura | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Approach | Human pentesters delivered through a PtaaS platform | 7-phase autonomous multi-agent pipeline from SAST through exploitation | | Proof of exploit | Human-written findings and reports; see vendor materials for format | Deterministic proof-of-exploit required for every reported finding | | Surfaces covered | Scoped per engagement with human testers | App-sec, LLM security, and post-quantum crypto review in one scan | | Deployment | Testers access your scoped targets; see vendor materials | Your GitHub Actions runner, or fully on-prem and air-gapped | | Pricing model | Per engagement; see vendor materials | Public: free first scan, $199 Scan Once, $20–$300/mo plans, enterprise contact-us | | Best for | Human creativity on business logic; buyers who require human-led reports | Continuous, proof-backed testing wired into how you ship software | ## How to choose a Cobalt pentest alternative Be honest about why you buy pentests. Three questions expose the answer: 1. Do you test to satisfy a point-in-time requirement, or to know your current deploy is safe? 2. Is your risk concentrated in novel business logic, or in the broad surface of code, dependencies, and configuration that changes weekly? 3. Do your auditors or customers require a human-led report, or will proof-of-exploit evidence satisfy them? If your answers favor point-in-time, business logic, and human-led, Cobalt and its peers remain the right call. If they favor continuous, broad surface, and evidence, Sekura is built for you, and the first scan is free; see [pricing](https://sekura.ai/pricing/). Human testers and autonomous agents are converging on the same standard: show the exploit or do not report it. The cadence, not the headcount, is becoming the real difference. ## Frequently asked questions Is Sekura a replacement for Cobalt? Sometimes. If you buy pentests mainly for continuous assurance on the software you ship, Sekura's autonomous, proof-first testing can replace repeat engagements. If you need human creativity on novel business logic, or a human-led report for a customer or auditor who requires one, a PtaaS platform like Cobalt still fits. What is the main difference between Cobalt and Sekura? Cobalt delivers human pentesters through a platform, scheduled faster than traditional consultancies but still as point-in-time engagements. Sekura is autonomous: a 7-phase agent pipeline that tests continuously and reports only findings backed by a deterministic proof-of-exploit. Is autonomous pentesting accepted for compliance? Sekura maps findings to 14 compliance frameworks, and proof-of-exploit evidence is strong audit material. Some frameworks or customers specifically expect human-led testing or an assessor's attestation, so confirm requirements with your auditor before replacing a human engagement. How does Sekura pricing compare to buying pentests? Sekura's pricing is public: a free first scan, Scan Once at $199, and monthly plans — Scan Always at $20, ScanPlus Always at $100, and ScanPro Always at $300 a month — with enterprise tiers arranged by contacting us. Those are continuous plans, not per-engagement fees. [All guides](https://sekura.ai/blog/#guides)