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Pentera vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentera
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
4th
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (1st)
The NodeZero Platform by Ho...
Ranking in Penetration Testing Services
1st
Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
2nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (13th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Penetration Testing Services category, the mindshare of Pentera is 10.3%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai is 11.5%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Penetration Testing Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai11.5%
Pentera10.3%
Other78.2%
Penetration Testing Services
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd
Comprehensive attack surface coverage and real-world threat emulation strengthen security while licensing models need improvement
Comprehensive Attack Surface includes several features. Omni Attack Surface discovers, assesses, and exploits vulnerabilities across both internal networks and external assets, including cloud environments from a single platform. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Internal Network Validation test internal security controls and identify weaknesses within the internal network. Automated Penetration Testing features are provided through the Pentera Surface module. Surface provides automated validation and penetration testing features with a proactive, continuous, and highly realistic approach to cybersecurity validation, helping organizations understand and reduce their true cyber exposure. They have AI-based reporting that leverages AI to identify patterns of exploitability over time, aggregate results across sites, and highlight recurring weaknesses. They offer two types of reports: an elaborate technical report for CTOs and an Executive Summary for management. When customers see the reports after completing the POC, they are impressed by how detailed the technical report is, while management can understand what actions need to be taken to protect their network and infrastructure. Recent Gartner reports indicate that traditional VAPT companies perform vulnerability testing at specific times, which creates security gaps. Pentera provides continuous validation, running 24/7 in the infrastructure. This means when any vulnerability appears due to firmware upgrades, OS updates, or software changes, it can be automatically identified in real-time.
SH
Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has unified our IT teams by providing clear visibility into network vulnerabilities and accelerated remediation with real-world attack testing
One of the things that we've shared with Horizon is just the reporting. They've made a lot of changes over time, but when examining computers, most average normal people don't look at a computer and identify it as 114.82.117.180. They identify it as 'the printer for accounting.' When many of the reports give the very detailed technical IP address or serial number, that's really not helpful for anyone other than the person, the hands-on person that's trying to remediate it. All the managers, all the leaders, having information in that format isn't helpful. Being able to have information about what those devices are would be very helpful. There's a technical reason they can't just have an easy button because some people have really complicated networks. When examining things for the average company, the average executive, that 114 number, there's only one of those. But if examining an AT&T or a Walmart, it isn't unique. They haven't solved that problem. But for the 90% of companies, being able to have just a human readable name for all devices on your network in all of the reports all of the time would be the most beneficial.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Maybe there are some remediation steps on the website, we can mask sensitive information on the website better."
"Surface provides automated validation and penetration testing features with a proactive, continuous, and highly realistic approach to cybersecurity validation, helping organizations understand and reduce their true cyber exposure."
"The most valuable feature of Pentera is that you can do continuous vulnerability assessment, which is automated."
"The product is easy to use."
"The platform's most valuable features are credential management and vulnerability management."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"Pentera has many authentic features."
"The tool showed us that our ransomware protection wasn’t working on some machines."
"Overall, I'd rate NodeZero at nine to 9.5 out of ten."
"We experienced a threat that could have severely crippled us, but we were able to shut it down before it escalated, thanks to internal vulnerability testing and addressing critical vulnerabilities using their tool."
"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help in identifying vulnerabilities on our on-prem systems because it provides actual vulnerabilities by attacking our systems."
"After the third party conducts the pen test, The NodeZero Platform is run, and it finds the same things they found and sometimes a few other things that they did not even identify."
"I rate the stability of the NodeZero Platform a ten out of ten."
"Honestly, it's one of the most transformational technologies we've implemented in our company."
"Penetration testing and scans are useful features."
"For us, The NodeZero Platform is literally the single best security solution we have because the way that it works is we're able to scan every part of our network, both internally and externally, and then get completely actionable feedback that doesn't matter if it's for an application developer or a network admin."
 

Cons

"The licensing and IP management need improvement. When the IP is imported into a system, we cannot withdraw or revoke the license."
"Maybe scalability. I know that the Pentera right now is high level in order to scan big deals over 500 IPs and not less, and not less. That can be more granular. This will be useful."
"There is room for improvement in virtualization compatibility."
"One area for product improvement could be the inclusion of a dashboard to cover multiple branches and subsidiaries, allowing for centralized monitoring."
"The vulnerability scanner, exploit achievements, and remediation actions are all great."
"The licensing and IP management need improvement."
"The price could be improved."
"The automated penetration testing features must be improved."
"The speed of the scans takes some time, but in my opinion, it is not surprising for what it is doing."
"I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good."
"One of the areas where improvement is needed is in the visibility and reporting for large enterprises."
"You need to be cautious about what it scans, as it could potentially cause issues."
"The reports are quite useless."
"Sometimes even their support doesn't know why we're seeing certain issues."
"The areas for improvement for The NodeZero Platform involve integration and automation. It would be beneficial if it could integrate directly with vulnerability management tools that would allow the platform to automatically import data, identify vulnerable systems, and test targets immediately, potentially even enabling automated feedback loops for rescanning since the process is currently manual."
"The only issue we’ve encountered is that sometimes the scans take a long time to complete."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's not that expensive, but it could be more cost-effective."
"The tool is relatively cheap."
"We have to pay a yearly licensing cost for Pentera."
"The product's cost is reasonable. I rate the pricing a three out of ten."
Information not available
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
9%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pentera?
What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach.
What needs improvement with Pentera?
The licensing model has changed from earlier versions. Previously, there was a 500 IP cap, and customers needed to buy a minimum of 500 IP and consider 500 domains. In Bangladesh, many large organi...
What is your primary use case for Pentera?
Common use cases include several features. The POC is completed before any customer goes for procurement. Once the POC is done, customers appreciate features such as comprehensive attack surface co...
What do you like most about Horizon3.ai?
Penetration testing and scans are useful features.
What needs improvement with Horizon3.ai?
I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good.
What is your primary use case for Horizon3.ai?
We use The NodeZero Platform for control validation and we are also looking for the likelihood of vulnerabilities.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Horizon3.ai
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blackstone Group Caterpillar Apria Healthcare Taylor Vinters Sandler Capital Management Drawbridge BNP Paribas British Red Cross
Government agencies, Defense Industrial Base organizations, and enterprises in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and criticalinfrastructure rely on NodeZero to meet rigorous security and compliance requirements with continuous, scheduled, and on-demand testing.
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentera vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.