Side by side
Core Impact vs w3af
Both stand on penetration testing software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free trial APISelf-hostedWindows
Core Impact combines guided automation, exploit testing, and remediation reporting across several environments. Its Windows deployment and substantial annual pricing make the trial useful for evaluating fit.
Visit Core Impact Free plan APILinuxMac+2
w3af offers a free, self-hosted-capable scanner with plugin-based assessment, graphical and console interfaces, and API automation. Its API's default lack of encryption is an important deployment consideration, particularly when it is publicly reachable.
Visit w3afThe facts
| Core Impact | w3af | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | A free trial | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Self-hosted, Windows | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | Core Impact Basic: $9,450 a year | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | coresecurity.com | w3af.org |
| On penetration testing software | #21 of 34 | #17 of 34 |
Core Impact: what it does well
- Multi-vector penetration testing
- Guided Rapid Penetration Tests
- Commercial-grade exploit library
- Compliance-mapped remediation reports
- 30-day trial available
What to know first
- No free plan
- Runs on Windows systems
- Basic costs $9,450 a year
- Listed prices apply to the United States
w3af: what it does well
- Identifies more than 200 vulnerability types.
- Provides crawl, audit, and attack plugin stages.
- Includes GTK and console interfaces.
- REST API can run in Docker.
- Free plan costs nothing.
What to know first
- REST API traffic is unencrypted by default.
- Public API deployments need additional transport protection.
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