RedStrike vs Cobalt
Automated continuous testing against human-led penetration testing delivered through a platform. Different products for genuinely different jobs — here is which one fits which.
Cobalt is a human-led pentest-as-a-service provider: engagements are scoped and directed by Cobalt pentesters and bought through credit packages alongside a platform subscription. RedStrike is automated continuous testing: scans run on a schedule with no human tester included, findings are verified with evidence and de-duplicated across tools, and results map to ten compliance frameworks. The honest framing is not that one replaces the other. A human tester finds business-logic abuse that no automated engine will; an automated platform covers the other fifty-one weeks of the year. Teams that can afford both usually buy both, and use continuous coverage to make the human engagement start from a much shorter list.
What each one is
Two different products, described plainly
RedStrike
RedStrike is an automated, continuous security testing and cloud posture platform. It tests applications, APIs, networks, containers, mobile builds, and AWS, Azure, and GCP accounts on a schedule, verifies findings with collected evidence before reporting them, de-duplicates across tools, and maps results to ten compliance frameworks. It is software, not a services engagement — there are no human testers included.
Cobalt
Cobalt describes itself as a pioneer of pentesting as a service and a human-led, AI-powered offensive security provider. Engagements are scoped and directed by Cobalt pentesters and delivered through their platform, which also handles retesting and report access. Testing is purchased as credits in annual packages, typically alongside a platform subscription.
Check their current details at source →Side by side
How they differ
No prices here on purpose — third-party figures disagree and go stale. Compare the models, then check both current prices at source.
| Dimension | RedStrike | Cobalt |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the testing | Automated engine. No human testers included. | Human pentesters, scoped and directed per engagement. |
| Cadence | Continuous — scans run on a schedule, drift caught within a scan cycle. | Per engagement. Testing happens during the scoped window. |
| Pricing model | Subscription metered on targets, cloud accounts, and cloud resources. Prices published on /pricing. | Credit packages for testing plus a platform subscription. Quote-led for most tiers. |
| Business-logic abuse | Limited. Automated authorization and workflow testing, but no creative human attack chaining. | A core strength — this is what human testers are for. |
| Cloud posture (CSPM) | Included. CIS benchmarks on AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes; framework rulesets on AWS. | Cloud assets can be scoped into an engagement; continuous posture management is a different product category. |
| Framework mapping | Ten frameworks with edition pinning, exported as PDF, SARIF, OpenVEX, and OSCAL. | Reports are designed to satisfy auditor requirements for a penetration test. |
| Time to first result | Self-serve. Add a target and scan. | Scoping and scheduling precede the engagement. |
When Cobalt is the better choice
- Your auditor, customer, or regulator specifically requires a human-led penetration test with a named testing firm — some contracts and some assessors do.
- The risk you are most worried about is business-logic abuse specific to your product: a pricing flow that can be gamed, a multi-party workflow with an exploitable sequence. This is where a creative human materially outperforms any engine.
- You need a scoped, time-boxed engagement against a defined target with a formal report as the deliverable, rather than an ongoing programme.
- You want an expert to interpret findings in the context of your architecture and threat model, and to be available to discuss them.
When RedStrike fits better
- You need coverage of the whole year, not one window in it — the weeks between engagements are where most weaknesses are introduced.
- Cloud posture matters as much as application testing, and you would rather not buy two products for it.
- You need evidence continuously and in machine-readable formats (SARIF, OpenVEX, OSCAL) rather than a report per engagement.
- You are pre-security-hire and need a programme that runs without a specialist to operate it.
- You want retesting to be a function you call rather than a change order you negotiate.
Other comparisons
See how RedStrike compares elsewhere
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Questions about choosing between RedStrike and Cobalt.
Can RedStrike replace a human penetration test?
For the automatable majority of testing, yes, and continuously rather than annually. For creative business-logic abuse and chained attacks specific to your product, no — that still benefits from a person. Whether it satisfies a specific compliance requirement is your auditor's determination about your environment, not something any vendor can promise you.
Why does this page not compare prices?
Because we cannot state Cobalt's prices accurately. Their published pricing is quote-led for most tiers, third-party sources disagree with each other, and any figure we printed would be stale within months. RedStrike's prices are published on our pricing page; for Cobalt's, ask Cobalt. Comparing pricing models is honest and durable; comparing invented numbers is neither.
Do teams use both?
Frequently, and it is a sensible pattern. Continuous automated testing keeps the surface covered year-round and shortens the list a human engagement starts from, which makes the human hours go to the problems only a human can find.
What does RedStrike cover that a point-in-time engagement does not?
Configuration drift, chiefly. A cloud account that passed in January can be materially different by March, and an engagement scoped in January has no opinion about March. Continuous posture grading and attack-surface discovery are what close that gap.
Evaluate it against your own estate
The fastest way to settle a comparison is to point both at something you own.