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Penetration testing as a service · October 2026 Edition

Cobalt vs Synack

Nine of fourteen models named Cobalt first on the direct prompt; zero named Synack. Both were named by all fourteen models and Cobalt carries 41 labels and Synack 29, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Cobalt

endorsed leader

Named in one category this edition.

Synack

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

First-choice share45%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.

Negative rate2%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.

Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.

Labels4129A count; the two differ.

The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Cobalt reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.BreachLock was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Cobalt vs BreachLock · Cobalt vs Astra Security · Cobalt vs UnderDefense

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the penetration testing as a service page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.

CobaltFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSynack

Direct901 against Cobalt

Paraphrase1103 against Synack

Comparative11

Budget-constrained12

Scale-constrained00

Negative00

Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Cobalt and Synack were named in the same answer sixty-six times, of the 120 answers naming Cobalt and the 105 naming Synack. In those answers Synack took the first choice fourteen times and Cobalt nineteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Cobalt and Synack stood in it.

Model	Direct	Paraphrase	Comparative	Budget-constrained	Scale-constrained	Negative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B

Cobalt

Synack

first choice

named as an alternative

argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cobalt on the left and Synack on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Cobalt and Synack stood in it.

Cobalt first, Synack an alternative

9 of 14 modelsSynack was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.

Claude Haiku 4.5BreachLock, Cobalt alternatives: Packetlabs, Raxis, Stingrai

GPT-5.4 miniCobalt alternatives: Cognisys, Trava Security

Gemini 3.5 FlashCobalt alternatives: BreachLock, NetSPI, UnderDefense

Mistral SmallBreachLock, Cobalt alternatives: NetSPI, Stingrai, Synack

DeepSeek V4 FlashCobalt, Raxis alternatives: BreachLock, Packetlabs, UnderDefense

Kimi K2Cobalt alternatives: BreachLock, Coalfire, Praetorian

GLM 4.7 FlashXCobalt, UnderDefense alternatives: BreachLock, NetSPI, Packetlabs

GPT-6 LunaCobalt alternatives: Bishop Fox, NetSPI

Muse Glimmer 30BCobalt alternatives: Astra Security, HackerOne, Netragard, Red Siege, UnderDefense

Neither was the first choice, one was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.

Perplexity SonarBreachLock alternatives: Cobalt, Raxis, Stingrai

MiniMax M2.5BreachLock, UnderDefense alternatives: Raxis, Synack

Neither was named

3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.

Grok 4.1 FastBreachLock alternatives: Bright Defense, NetSPI, Packetlabs, Prescient Security

Llama 4 Maverickno first choice

Qwen 3.7 FlashRed Siege Security alternatives: Astra Security, BreachLock, Lumina.io, Netragard

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.

Small business

Cobalt leads by seventeen points.

Cobalt#1 of 8

Synack#– of 8

The full small business standing →

Mid-marketThe figures above

Cobalt leads by forty points.

Cobalt#1 of 10

Synack#3 of 10

The full mid-market standing →

Enterprise

The order flips: Synack leads at enterprise.

Synack#2 of 11

Cobalt#3 of 11

The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Cobalt

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.

“crowdsourced like HackerOne/Cobalt work for speed but less for deep compliance” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · soft negative

“I would recommend considering Cobalt or Software Secured, as they are specifically highlighted as top choices for mid-market organizations” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice

“For Growing Tech Companies: Go with Cobalt. The ability to run frequent tests on your API and web app helps you ship faster” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice

“For compliance-driven mid-market: Cobalt, Packetlabs, or BreachLock are the most frequently recommended choices.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice

What the models said about Synack

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of six in this category shown.

“Choose Synack if you want a crowdsourced model and are willing to validate scope and pricing more carefully” Perplexity Sonar · paraphrase prompt · soft negative

“often more suited to larger enterprises or those with more complex needs” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · soft negative

“More enterprise-focused, higher cost/complexity.” Grok 4.1 Fast · paraphrase prompt · soft negative

“The best penetration testing service for a company with a limited budget is Synack, which offers penetration testing as a service starting at $119/month.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice

“Offers continuous AI-driven penetration testing starting at $119/month, making it one of the most affordable options” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice

“Synack tops the list because it combines an elite human red team with agentic AI inside a single platform” Claude Haiku 4.5 · comparative prompt · first choice

Also compared

Cobalt vs BreachLock Cobalt vs Astra Security Cobalt vs UnderDefense Cobalt vs HackerOne Cobalt vs Bugcrowd BreachLock vs Synack Synack vs Astra Security Synack vs UnderDefense Synack vs HackerOne Synack vs Bugcrowd All twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full ptaas standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.