Netsparker vs Acunetix

Industry-leading accuracy and unmatched pedigree

Founded in 2018, Invicti brings together two application security solutions that pioneered dynamic application security testing (DAST) in the 2000s and have been under constant development ever since. While both started life as web vulnerability scanners, Netsparker and Acunetix are now comprehensive application security solutions that combine cutting-edge DAST technologies with true IAST (interactive application security testing) capabilities to maximize test coverage.

Although they use different vulnerability scanning engines, both Netsparker and Acunetix provide accurate vulnerability detection for the vast majority of exploitable security issues in modern web applications. These include not only application vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, command injection, and all of the OWASP Top 10, but also security risks caused by web server misconfigurations. A crucial Invicti advantage, automated vulnerability verification is also used in both solutions to minimize false positives and deliver actionable data to help developers fix the underlying issue in source code.

What is the difference between Netsparker and Acunetix?

Netsparker has been built with enterprise-grade automation and scalability in mind. With the explosive growth in the number of enterprise websites and applications, large organizations often need to secure thousands of sites with a small security team. The only realistic way to do this is to automate security testing as much as possible and bring actionable scan results into existing developer workflows for remediation.

Netsparker uses Proof-Based Scanning technology to automatically confirm the vast majority of direct-impact vulnerabilities, right down to providing a proof of exploit where technically possible. It also comes with dozens of out-of-the-box integrations with popular development and collaboration platforms, including Jira, Jenkins, GitLab, Slack, and many others. Netsparker is intended for use in enterprise setups where it is integrated with existing systems and workflows. Flexible deployment options allow you to use Netsparker in a way that matches your existing environment, from an all-cloud SaaS model to on-premises installations in Microsoft Windows, Linux, or even Docker.

Acunetix is aimed at smaller organizations that don’t require enterprise-level scalability but value vulnerability scanning speed and accuracy. Being extremely easy to use, it is a good match for SMBs without a dedicated application security team. To help with typical SME cybersecurity tasks, Acunetix goes beyond web application scanning to integrate with selected antivirus tools and OpenVAS, a leading open source network scanner. It also has the fastest vulnerability scanning engine on the market and provides automatic confirmation for many classes of vulnerabilities. Uniquely, Acunetix is available for Mac as well as Windows and Linux.

Which is better: Netsparker or Acunetix?

A web application security scanner is a vital tool for any modern organization that runs its own websites and web applications. As part of a systematic web security program, vulnerability scanning complements periodic penetration testing to minimize the risk of cyberattacks that can lead to data breaches or system compromise.

Netsparker and Acunetix are both based on excellent vulnerability scanning engines and are under constant development to stay on the leading edge of web application security. Each product provides vulnerability management, authentication support for scanning restricted pages, and integration with web application firewalls. Both can scan web APIs and web services as well as user-accessible sites, have an extensive internal API for custom integrations, and are available as on-premises software or SaaS solutions.

So the question is not which of these security testing tools is better, because they are both industry leaders, but which is the right fit for your organization. Try them out with no obligation and see which works best for you.