XBOW is one of the best-known names in autonomous AI pentesting, and teams like that it proves each finding with a working exploit. As security programmes grow, though, some teams want their code checked as well as their running application, or find a quote-based contract hard to budget for. If you are weighing your options, these are the five XBOW alternatives worth a close look:
- AISafe Labs
- Hacktron
- Aikido
- Snyk
- Codex Security
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 XBOW?
XBOW is an autonomous AI pentesting platform. Its agents attack running web applications and their APIs, prove each finding with a validated exploit and reproduction steps, and retest fixes once you deploy them. You can upload source code, API specs and documents as optional context, which XBOW uses to guide its testing.
Findings come with mitigation guidance, and a Jira Cloud app is in preview. Teams can trigger a pentest through the API, for example on merge, or re-run assessments on a schedule they manage themselves. Self-hosted deployment is available through sales.
XBOW is priced by usage: an organisation buys a package of Attack Credits, and each assessment draws credits down as agents test the target. Retesting a deployed fix is free and unlimited. Pricing is quoted per environment, and XBOW is also sold through the AWS, Google, Oracle and Microsoft marketplaces.
Why organizations look for XBOW alternatives
XBOW does a lot well, but teams usually start looking elsewhere for one of three reasons.
1. Pricing is not published, and there is no free plan. XBOW does not list prices on its website, and new customers start with a demo request. Its AWS Marketplace listing shows one package, 12 months of Attack Credits for $50,000, without saying how many credits it contains or how many an assessment uses. Smaller teams, or teams that want to try a tool on their own application first, can find this hard to plan around.
2. It tests the running application only. XBOW does not scan code. Source code you upload guides the pentest, but there is no code audit, SAST, dependency, secrets or IaC scanning. It checks live applications for known CVEs and exposed tokens, which is useful, but teams that also want to find flaws in code before it ships need a second tool.
3. It sits outside the pull request workflow, and the fix stays with you. XBOW does not review pull requests; the API can start a pentest on merge, after the code has landed. Findings come with mitigation guidance, without a patch or pull request. Continuous testing means calling the API from your own scheduler, and issue tracker sync is limited to a Jira Cloud app in preview, with no Linear support.
Top 5 XBOW 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 XBOW, AISafe Labs runs AI pentests that prove issues against your live application. The difference is that it also reads your code. 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 before release. A separate triage pass then confirms each finding, merges duplicates that share a root cause and shows its reasoning.
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 an XBOW alternative
- It covers your code and your live application. Code audits and the free SAST suite find flaws in source code, and pentests confirm issues against your running application, so you do not need separate tools for each.
- It catches issues before they merge. Pull request security review checks every change for security defects, using what earlier audits learned about the project.
- It checks the fix before you deploy. Fix verification tests a patched source revision against the original finding, and endpoint monitoring re-runs the proof of each fixed finding on a schedule without a scheduler of your own.
- 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 that want more than a pentest: 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 Hacktron
Hacktron is an AI security platform with three products. Review checks each pull request for exploitable vulnerabilities, Whitebox runs AI pentests from source code with optional testing of the deployed app, and Red is continuous red teaming of a whole organisation. Researchers validate Whitebox and Red findings.
Whitebox is priced per pentest by lines of code, at about $500 per 100,000 lines, and Review Pro starts at $40 per developer a month.
Key features
- Pull request review for exploitable vulnerabilities, leaked secrets and IaC exposures
- Whitebox AI pentests from source code, with optional dynamic testing
- Red, continuous red teaming priced per organisation
- Proof for each Whitebox and Red finding
- Tested fix pull requests, paid in automation credits
- Two-way Jira and Linear sync
Ideal for: Teams that want AI pentests driven by source code with published per-pentest prices, and pull request review priced per developer.
#3 Aikido
Aikido is an all-in-one security platform that covers code, dependencies, cloud and runtime from one dashboard. It adds AI pentests and AI Code Analysis, where agents audit selected repositories for security issues, both billed in credits at $1 each.
Key features
- AI SAST, dependency, secrets and IaC scanning on the free plan
- AI pentests per assessment, per deploy or on a schedule
- AI Code Analysis of selected repositories, paid in credits
- AutoFix pull requests, with 10 a month on the free plan
- Deep Review of pull requests from the Basic plan
- Jira and Linear sync from the Basic plan
Ideal for: Teams that want one vendor for code, cloud and runtime security, with pentests available in the same platform.
#4 Snyk
Snyk is a developer security platform best known for dependency scanning with Snyk Open Source. Snyk Code scans your own source code with its DeepCode AI engine, and the platform also covers containers and infrastructure as code. Enterprise customers can add API and web DAST, secrets scanning and Evo, Snyk's AI pentesting.
Key features
- Snyk Open Source for known vulnerabilities in dependencies
- Snyk Code SAST, powered by the DeepCode AI engine
- Pull request checks and Agent Fix patch suggestions
- API and web DAST and Evo AI pentesting on Enterprise
- A free plan with 5 projects and 100 Snyk Code tests a month
- Team plan at $25 per contributing developer a month
Ideal for: Teams whose main concern is open-source dependencies, and larger organisations that want scanning and AI pentesting from one Enterprise contract.
#5 Codex Security
Codex Security is OpenAI's code security agent. It scans connected GitHub repositories in Codex, and a plugin, an open-source CLI and an SDK scan code locally or in CI and propose patches.
It focuses on code rather than live testing, though custom validation can test a running app. Scans are billed by token usage, and eligible accounts get $500 in free scanning credits.
Key features
- Scans of whole repositories, with a suggested patch or a draft pull request
- Pull request security reviews on Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise plans
- A proof of concept or reproducer when practical
- Export to Jira, Linear and GitHub Issues
- Open-source CLI and SDK that run locally or in CI
Ideal for: Teams that already use ChatGPT and Codex and want an AI security agent for their code that they can run in their own CI.
How to choose the right XBOW 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:
- 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.
- When issues are caught. Look at whether the tool reviews pull requests before they merge, or only tests the application after it is deployed.
- How findings are proven. Ask each vendor how findings are validated, and run a trial on your own application 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 developer, per line of code, per credit or by quote, and whether you can see a price before you talk to sales.
Make the switch from XBOW to AISafe Labs
XBOW is a strong choice for autonomous pentesting of running web applications, with exploit-backed findings and free retests. When you also want your code covered, 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.
