Pricing in Penetration Testing

What does a Penetration Test cost?

The costs for a penetration test depend on the time required for the pentest itself and the daily rate of the pentester.

A typical daily rate for penetration testing is between €1.160 (eg Hackeroo) and €2,600 (eg Exfilion), provided it is a reputable and professional service provider for conducting penetration tests. Lower daily rates usually indicate that the respective service provider is trying to sell an automated vulnerability scan instead of a manual penetration test.

The number of days required to complete the pentest itself depends on the complexity of the target and the attack vector being tested. Shorter penetration tests last only 2 days, pentests of larger systems or applications can take several weeks. Usually 5-10 days is a realistic average, open-ended up and down.

The costs often start at €2,400-4,000 for a small pentest and reach a level of around €8,000-10,000 relatively quickly. In the case of a complex and time-consuming pentest, the costs can be even higher.

Annual Salary of a Penetration Tester

The annual salary of a penetration tester depends primarily on their experience and competence, but also on their social skills. The classic distinction between the typical IT job levels of junior consultant, consultant, senior consultant, etc. cannot really be transferred to penetration testing.

A junior penetration tester, i.e. a penetration tester without any significant experience - fresh out of university - can probably carry out a penetration test, but whether the pentest is directly structured and also includes complex tests is questionable. However, a structured approach in particular characterizes a professional pentest.

Typically, good penetration testers are equivalent to senior penetration testers, so to speak. Penetration testing was not their first job, they have previously worked as a consultant, software developer or IT administrator, for example. There are exceptions, but these are rare.

A reasonable annual salary for a penetration tester (i.e. "senior penetration tester") is between €60,000 and €80,000. The less free time, the more responsibility, the more customer acquisition, the higher of course.