Pentest Costs and Daily Rates
What is this about?
Penetration testing costs are driven by effort, not by the number of findings.
The basis of our pricing is a fair daily rate of €1,160 net.
Combined with the scope we define together, that results in a fixed package price
agreed in writing before the project starts.
What drives the cost:
- Number and complexity of the test objects: a lean web app or a platform with APIs, role models, and a cloud setup
- Testing approach: blackbox, greybox, or whitebox
How we bill:
- Fixed package price before the project starts, no renegotiation, no hidden extras
- Time-based billing, not per-vulnerability pricing
- No surcharges for reporting and project management
- Effort estimated upfront, justified by the defined scope
Daily rates compared:
There is no official price statistic for penetration testing in Germany.
The only reliable figures are the ones providers publish themselves.
The providers below do exactly that, all prices net, retrieved directly on October 28, 2026:
| Provider | Daily rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hackeroo | €1,160 | Manual greybox pentests across the DACH region, fixed package price based on the daily rate |
| yatesh | €1,200 | Two project days minimum, engagements start at €2,400 |
| AWARE7 | €1,350 | Basis of a fixed-price configurator, first assessment from a single person-day |
| Nica Systems | €1,400 | Reduced rate of €1,000 only under specific conditions, fixed price after scoping |
| binsec GmbH | €1,470 to €1,960 | Range by provider and industry, as stated on binsec's own cost page |
| Exfilion | €2,600 | Premium brand for manual elite pentests with no automated scan share |
Among the published fixed daily rates, ours is the lowest. Nica Systems bills at a daily rate of €1,400, the reduced rate of €1,000 is only available under specific conditions. Below €1,000 we are not aware of any pentest provider publishing an open daily rate for manual penetration testing; under that line, the market typically delivers automated scans rather than manual pentests. The competitor Matproof confirms the daily rates we, AWARE7 and binsec publish on its cost page (checked August 2026). Exfilion sits deliberately above that range as a premium brand. Price lists change without notice, check the linked source if in doubt.
How a daily rate breaks down:
A salaried senior pentester on a €90,000 salary costs the employer roughly €108,000 a year once
payroll taxes are included. Add equipment, licences, certifications and administration and total
cost per analyst quickly exceeds €200,000. After holidays, sick leave and a realistic 75 percent
utilisation, roughly 165 billable project days remain per person per year. Divided by those days,
classic consulting structures break even at around €1,300 per day. Hackeroo runs leaner on
purpose: smaller structures, no account layers, tooling built in-house, and mixed teams. Every
project is led by senior pentesters who verify every finding, sharing the testing hours with
junior pentesters. All testers on the team are OSCP-certified. That lowers the average cost per billable day compared to a
pure-senior calculation. That is why €1,160 covers the cost without cutting the manual share of
the work. Well below €1,000 manual testing stops
being sustainable, that is where automated scans with manual cleanup start. The full calculation
with all assumptions is published in the article
Pricing in Penetration Testing
in binsec.wiki.
What this means for your budget:
The total price is the daily rate multiplied by the person-days your scope requires. As a guideline:
- Small object (one application or a clearly defined API): 3 to 4 project days, roughly €3,500 to €4,600
- Standard project (internal or external network, core application with roles and interfaces): 5 to 10 project days, roughly €5,800 to €11,600
- Larger environments (multiple systems, cloud, several locations): from around €20,000
Flat-rate offers below €3,000 rarely cover more than two full days of manual testing on paper. Ask specifically how much of the assessment is actually done by hand.
Qualifications
The testers at Hackeroo know what they are doing and they can prove it. Our team consists of experienced ethical hackers with hands-on certifications such as the OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) or the BACPP (Binsec Academy Certified Pentest Professional). Both stand for real attacks against real systems under realistic conditions and not for theory or multiple choice exams.
For our customers this means manual security testing on an equal footing with real attackers. No pure tool scans and no checklist audits, but in-depth analysis with technical depth, experience and clear results. We think like attackers, and that is exactly how we test.
Penetration Testing Based on Standards. Best Practices. And Where It Is Truly Required.
Penetration testing is no longer a “nice to have.” Many standards and regulatory frameworks clearly expect that security measures are not only documented but technically validated. International norms require regular effectiveness checks and verifiable security assessments and not just well-written policies, but proof that controls actually work.
In addition, numerous security standards and best-practice publications either explicitly require penetration testing, define concrete security objectives, or provide methodological guidance for implementation. If you take compliance seriously, you need to demonstrate that your security controls can withstand a real attack and not just an audit conversation.
A structured penetration test connects these normative requirements with real-world attack simulation. It does not merely confirm that a control exists, but verifies whether it can actually withstand a targeted technical attack.
Your provider for professional penetration tests starting at €1,160 a day
Hackeroo is the emerging talent team of binsec group GmbH and is operated under Pentest Collective GmbH, a subsidiary of binsec group GmbH. Our team brings together experienced Senior Penetration Testers and carefully developed junior talent. Unlike binsec GmbH, Hackeroo also actively involves Junior Penetration Testers in client projects. All Penetration Testers assigned to these projects hold the internationally recognized OSCP certification, regardless of their level of experience. This allows us to combine fresh perspectives with proven technical expertise, extensive experience, and the group’s established quality standards. Our focus is on professional penetration testing: technically in-depth, manual, and practical, without unnecessary overhead, buzzword bingo, or inflated daily rates. Hackeroo is the specialized provider in Germany for a professional yet competitively priced penetration test. Through lean processes and an efficient project structure, we are able to offer pentests with an outstanding price-performance ratio. Ideal for startups, SaaS providers, and companies preparing for a product release or audit. We are happy to provide you with a tailored offer for a professional pentest. If you would like to commission a penetration test, Hackeroo provides direct communication with experienced testers and transparent project pricing. We are happy to prepare a customized proposal for your professional penetration test.
Our daily rate starts at €1,160 per day. The total cost of a project depends on the actual time required as well as the scope and complexity of the systems to be tested. Hackeroo deliberately positions itself as a competitively priced provider of professional penetration testing in Germany. Despite the attractive daily rate, we exclusively conduct manual and technically in-depth tests and deliver clearly prioritized and easy-to-understand results. At Hackeroo, lower pricing does not mean lower quality, but more efficient processes and a strong focus on what truly matters: real security.
Typical Questions
The Hackeroo team consists of young, highly motivated ethical hackers with a strong technical background and high personal standards. We are driven by the ambition to uncover vulnerabilities that others overlook and to clearly demonstrate real attack paths.
The Hackeroo team is part of the Pentest Collective and operates within this network according to shared quality standards and proven methodologies. At the same time, we act as an independent, focused team with short decision paths and direct execution.
We work hands-on, with deep technical focus and a strong emphasis on manual analysis. Rather than relying solely on tool output, we analyze applications, infrastructures, and processes in detail and challenge assumptions like a real attacker would.
Through clear structures, an efficient way of working, and the targeted use of PTDoc, we are able to test in a focused manner while offering an attractive daily rate.
Hackeroo performs manual penetration tests for modern applications, infrastructures, and cloud environments. The objective is to identify realistic attack paths and uncover technical vulnerabilities from an attacker’s perspective.
Web
Web applications represent one of the most common attack surfaces in modern IT environments. Hackeroo analyzes applications and APIs for vulnerabilities such as broken access control, injection attacks, or insecure authentication mechanisms.
Mobile Apps
Mobile applications for Android and iOS often process sensitive data and interact with backend APIs. Hackeroo tests mobile apps for insecure storage, authentication weaknesses, and vulnerabilities in backend communication.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure pentests assess networks, systems, and core services of an organization. This includes internal tests simulating an attacker within the network and external tests targeting publicly exposed systems.
- Internal network pentesting
- External infrastructure pentesting
- Active Directory pentesting
- Kubernetes pentesting
- Remote desktop testing
- Firewall pentesting
- WiFi / WLAN pentesting
Cloud
Many organizations run critical workloads in cloud platforms. Hackeroo analyzes cloud environments for misconfigurations, exposed resources, and potential attack paths.
Our daily rate is €1,160 net.
Based on that, we agree on a fixed package price upfront, derived from the scope we define together. No surprise invoices, no last-minute renegotiation.
Then the total cost depends on what we’re testing and how deep we go. A lean web app is very different from a complex platform with APIs, authentication flows, role models, and a cloud setup. Black box vs. grey box, one target vs. ten, a few days vs. multiple weeks — that’s what drives the effort.
We price by time, not by findings. Automated tools are the starting point, not the deliverable. The meaningful findings come from manual analysis, experience, and thinking like a real attacker.
Bottom line: A clear scope, transparent effort, a fixed price and results that are more than a compliance checkbox.
The Pentest Collective is an alliance of experienced ethical hackers and penetration testers who work according to shared quality standards and openly share their know-how. Instead of relying on rigid teams or traditional consulting structures, the Pentest Collective brings together specialized expertise exactly where it is needed.
Hackeroo is the young team within the Pentest Collective. Driven by ambition and strong technical standards, we aim to identify vulnerabilities that often remain undiscovered in conventional tests. Our motivation is to make real attack paths visible and deliver measurable security improvements.
Hackeroo specifically works with price-sensitive customers such as startups and public sector organizations. Through a lean structure, focused testing approaches, and the use of structured processes and tools such as PTDoc from binsec systems GmbH, the German pentesting system provider, we are able to offer an attractive daily rate while maintaining a high level of technical depth.
The results are comparable to those of significantly more expensive providers because methodology, testing depth, and reporting standards are identical. The difference lies not in the quality of the tests, but in the avoidance of unnecessary overhead. Our time is invested in analysis, manual testing, and high-quality documentation rather than internal coordination or sales processes.
Yes. Hackeroo uses selected tools and platforms from binsec systems GmbH as a technical service provider. This includes structured processes and systems such as PTDoc, which enable efficient, consistent, and traceable penetration testing.
The operational execution of penetration tests is carried out entirely by the Hackeroo team. Planning, test execution, analysis, and evaluation of the results are fully handled by Hackeroo. The collaboration with binsec systems GmbH is limited to technical support and the use of proven systems and tools.
This clear division of responsibilities and the use of efficient, proven platforms allow Hackeroo to operate with lean processes and offer an attractive daily rate. Customers benefit from the fact that the majority of the effort is invested directly in analysis, manual testing, and meaningful results.
PTDoc is a structured platform for penetration testing documentation and reporting. It was developed from real-world practice to make the entire pentest process efficient, transparent, and consistent.
PTDoc supports methodical test planning, clean result capture, and standardized risk rating. This ensures clear structures, reproducible quality, and reports that are understandable for technical teams as well as management and decision makers.
For customers, using PTDoc means less overhead and a stronger focus on what matters most. Instead of spending time on manual documentation or post-processing, the effort goes directly into analysis, manual testing, and identifying real attack paths. This results in high-quality outcomes that are comparable to those of significantly more expensive providers while maintaining attractive pricing.
PenPI stands for Pentesting Physical Interface. It is a dedicated pentesting system that is deployed directly within the customer’s internal network for internal penetration tests. It serves as a controlled attack point and enables realistic testing from the perspective of an internal attacker. Using PenPI allows Hackeroo to conduct internal tests remotely, eliminating on-site visits and travel costs without compromising test depth or realism.
With PenPI, internal networks, Active Directory environments, and connected systems can be tested efficiently and transparently. Unlike traditional VPN access, PenPI is located directly inside the internal network. VPN-based testing is technically limited, as it does not allow certain attack techniques such as man-in-the-middle attacks.
