Horizon3.ai's NodeZero is one of the best-known names in autonomous pentesting, and security teams rely on it to show how an attacker could move through their network. As applications become the main target, though, some teams want their code checked as well as their infrastructure, or find per-app web testing hard to budget for. If you are weighing your options, these are the five Horizon3.ai alternatives worth a close look:
- AISafe Labs
- Pentera
- XBOW
- Ethiack
- MindFort
This comparison was published on November 11, 2026 and reflects the tools as we tested them then. Pricing and features change often, so check each vendor’s current pages for the latest.
What is Horizon3.ai?
Horizon3.ai makes NodeZero, an autonomous pentesting platform. NodeZero attacks internal networks from a host inside your network, along with your external attack surface and your AWS, Azure and Kubernetes environments. It chains weaknesses together the way an attacker would and proves each one, so every finding comes with proof and the attack path that led to it. This is where NodeZero is strongest: realistic internal network testing that you can run as often as your plan allows.
NodeZero WebApp, sold separately, crawls, logs into and attacks running web applications and their APIs. Findings come with fix guidance and a one-click retest, and they sync to Jira and ServiceNow.
NodeZero is priced per asset. Flex costs $15 per asset per test, and Core, Pro and Elite cost $50, $65 and $85 per asset a year with unlimited testing. Web apps are priced separately, per app.
Why organizations look for Horizon3.ai alternatives
NodeZero does a lot well, but teams usually start looking elsewhere for one of three reasons.
1. It does not read source code. Neither NodeZero nor NodeZero WebApp looks at your code. There is no code audit, SAST, dependency, secrets or IaC scanning, and no pull request review. NodeZero exploits known CVEs on live hosts and finds credentials in file shares, which is valuable, but flaws in your own application code are only found once they are deployed, if at all.
2. Web app testing is a separate, per-app purchase. NodeZero WebApp is sold on its own and priced per application. On WebApp Flex, one test of one app costs $10,000, and unlimited testing on WebApp Continuous is quoted per app. WebApp works from a URL, logins and an OpenAPI spec, so it cannot use your source code to guide a white-box test. Teams with several applications to test often find the cost adds up quickly.
3. Buying starts with a quote, and the fix stays with you. There is no free plan, and the pricing page offers no free trial; every package is bought through a quote after a demo. Scheduled testing starts on the Core plan. Findings come with fix guidance and a retest, without a patch or pull request, and issue tracker sync covers Jira and ServiceNow, with no Linear support.
Top 5 Horizon3.ai alternatives
Here is how the leading alternatives compare, starting with the one we build.
#1 AISafe Labs
AISafe Labs is an application security platform that uses AI agents to test your code and your running application the way an attacker would. It runs code audits, black-box and white-box pentests, pull request reviews and continuous monitoring from one place, and its free plan includes a full SAST suite.
Like NodeZero, AISafe Labs proves issues against live systems. The difference is where it looks. NodeZero is built for networks, hosts and cloud environments, while AISafe Labs focuses on the application layer: your source code and your running web application. Its agents build a model of your codebase and trace user input from where it enters to where it reaches a sensitive operation, which is how they find broken access control between teams and business-logic errors. A separate triage pass then confirms each finding, merges duplicates that share a root cause and shows its reasoning. AISafe Labs does not test internal networks, so teams that need that keep a network pentesting tool alongside it.
Key features
- Code Audit: AI agents review the whole repository and report evidence-backed findings with exact code locations, the path user input takes, and remediation guidance.
- Code Scan, free: SAST, AI SAST, dependency scanning, secrets detection, licence risk and IaC scanning on the free Basic plan, with no card required.
- Black-box and white-box pentests: agents probe your live application over HTTP and in a browser, and white-box tests combine source access with live confirmation, so findings come with evidence you can replay.
- Pull request security review: every pull request is reviewed for security defects, using what earlier audits learned about the project.
- Endpoint monitoring: AISafe re-runs the proof of each fixed finding against your live application on a schedule and alerts you when a fix regresses.
- Fix verification (beta): check a patched source revision against the original finding before you deploy it.
- Built for coding agents: findings, remediation guidance and fix verification are available through the AISafe API, so your own coding agent can read a finding, write the patch and start the verification itself.
- Fits your workflow: export findings to Jira or Linear, get alerts in Slack or Teams, and run AISafe on your own infrastructure if you need to.
Why AISafe Labs stands out as a Horizon3.ai alternative
- It covers your application code. Code audits and the free SAST suite find flaws in source code before it is deployed, including the access-control and business-logic issues that live in your own application.
- It uses your source to test the running app. White-box pentests combine source access with live confirmation, so findings in your web application come with evidence you can replay and the code location to fix.
- It catches issues before they merge. Pull request security review checks every change for security defects, using what earlier audits learned about the project.
- You can start without a sales call. The Basic plan is free, Pro has a published price, and the price of a code audit is shown before it runs.
Pricing
The Basic plan is free and includes the full SAST suite. Pro starts at $40 a month and includes the same number of credits, which pay for code audits, pentests and continuous work; the price of a code audit depends on the size of the codebase and is shown before you start.
Ideal for: Teams whose main risk is in their own applications: engineering and security teams that need to find logic and access-control flaws in code and in the running application, and close the loop from finding to verified fix, without moving to an enterprise contract.
#2 Pentera
Pentera is an automated security validation platform that runs safe, real attacks in live production and proves which gaps are exploitable. Like NodeZero, it covers internal networks, with modules for the internal network (Core), the external attack surface (Surface), cloud and identity (Cloud) and web apps and APIs.
Pentera Resolve routes fixes and retests them. Pentera is sold as an annual contract by quote, and its AWS Marketplace listing shows one contract unit at $120,000 for 12 months.
Key features
- Internal network, external attack surface, cloud and identity testing
- AI web app and API testing with exploit evidence and reproduction steps
- Validation of secrets exposed in public Git repositories
- Recurring scheduled tests, with fixes retested
- Jira, Linear and ServiceNow integrations
- Agentless deployment, on-premises or in the cloud
Ideal for: Larger organisations that want a like-for-like replacement for network pentesting, with web app testing in the same annual contract.
#3 XBOW
XBOW is an autonomous AI pentesting platform that attacks running web applications and their APIs, proves each finding with a validated exploit and retests fixes once you deploy them. You can upload source code, API specs and documents as optional context to guide testing.
XBOW is priced by usage through packages of Attack Credits, quoted per environment, and retesting a deployed fix is free.
Key features
- Black-box pentests of web apps and their APIs
- Optional source code upload to guide white-box testing
- A validated exploit and reproduction steps for each finding
- Free, unlimited retests of deployed fixes
- An API that can start a pentest, for example on merge
- Self-hosted deployment through sales
Ideal for: Teams that want autonomous pentesting focused on running web applications, with exploit-backed findings and free retests.
#4 Ethiack
Ethiack is an autonomous ethical hacking platform. Its AI agent, Hackian, continuously maps your attack surface, tests web apps, APIs and exposed services, and proves each confirmed finding with a non-destructive exploit. Human ethical hackers join for Expert pentests.
Ethiack publishes its prices: a one-off Pentest On-Demand starts at €3,000 per test, and the Core continuous plan costs €12,000 a year for up to 50 assets. Internal network testing through its Beacon agent is part of custom Enterprise plans.
Key features
- Continuous attack surface mapping and testing by the Hackian AI agent
- Evidence and steps to reproduce for each confirmed finding
- Unlimited retesting on the Core plan and up
- A CI/CD step that tests the deployed URL
- Two-way Jira Cloud sync
- A 30-day free trial
Ideal for: Teams that want continuous external testing at a published price, with human-led pentests available when they need them.
#5 MindFort
MindFort is an autonomous AI pentesting platform whose agents attack running web apps, APIs and networks, prove findings with a working exploit, open patch pull requests and retest after the fix. Linking a GitHub repository adds white-box code assessment, and a GitHub app reviews each pull request.
MindFort is billed monthly with a credit allowance: Starter costs $499 a month and Scale $999 a month.
Key features
- Black-box pentests of web apps, APIs, MCP servers and IPs
- White-box assessments with a linked GitHub repository
- Patch pull requests on GitHub, then a retest
- Pull request review through a GitHub app
- Scheduled assessments, from daily to monthly
- Jira and Linear integrations
Ideal for: Teams on GitHub that want AI pentesting and patch pull requests on a monthly plan with a published price.
How to choose the right Horizon3.ai alternative for you
The right choice depends on what you need your security tooling to catch and how your team works. When you compare options, check:
- Where your biggest risk sits. If it is lateral movement through your internal network, look for a tool that tests from inside it. If it is your own applications, look for one that understands your code and tests the running app.
- Whether you need code and live testing. Pentests and code analysis find different problems. Decide whether you want both, and whether one tool can cover them.
- How findings are proven. Ask each vendor how findings are validated, and run a trial on your own systems to see how many are real.
- How fixes get done. Look at whether the tool writes patches, guides your own coding agent, and verifies that a fix works before you deploy it.
- What it costs as you grow. Compare billing models: per asset, per app, per credit or by quote, and whether you can see a price before you talk to sales.
Make the switch from Horizon3.ai to AISafe Labs
NodeZero is a strong choice for autonomous pentesting of internal networks, external attack surfaces and cloud environments, and AISafe Labs does not replace it there. For your applications, AISafe Labs helps you go further: AI agents that find the logic and access-control flaws in your source code, pentests that prove them on your live application, pull request review, and fix verification that closes the loop.
You can start on the free Basic plan, which includes the full SAST suite, and run your first code audit in minutes. Start for free.
