PatchLabs vs a manual pentest
A pentest covers your whole system, once. PatchLabs covers one risk, every week.
A penetration test is a security professional attacking your app within an agreed scope, and it covers far more than we do. PatchLabs is not a pentest. It checks one thing continuously: whether the wrong people can read your users’ data. Then it writes the fix and proves it. For a high-stakes launch, get both.
Choose a pentest when
Someone needs a report, or the stakes are high.
- A customer, investor or auditor asks for a pentest report, for example for SOC 2 or ISO 27001
- You handle payments, health records or other high-risk data
- You need business logic, login flows, APIs and infrastructure tested, not just data access
- You’re about to launch to a large audience and want a person to try to break it
Choose PatchLabs when
You need an answer today, and again after every change.
- You want to know now, not in a few weeks, whether strangers can read personal data
- Your app changes weekly, as AI-built apps do, so a one-off test goes stale fast
- You want the fix written and proven, not a recommendation to act on
- You’re pre-revenue and a pentest isn’t in the budget yet
Side by side
Different jobs, different shapes.
| PatchLabs | Manual pentest | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Our pipeline; a person reviews anything the lab can’t prove | A security professional or team |
| Scope | Database row access, plus exposed keys in code and git history | Agreed with you: app, APIs, auth, infrastructure, business logic |
| What you get | A fix as a migration, with a three-identity proof and a signed receipt | A report of findings and recommendationsA retest is often included or extra |
| Time to a result | Median 3.5 minLab study, n=20, 9 Nov 2026 | Days to weeks, plus scheduling |
| How often | Every week or month, automatically, with alerts | Usually yearly, or per major release |
| Touches your live app | Never tests it; a rebuilt copy with fake rows | Usually live or staging, with your permission |
| For compliance | Not a compliance report | Commonly used for SOC 2, ISO 27001 and security questionnaires |
| Published prices | Free for 1 appThen from £19/month | Astra lists a manual “Pentest Expert” plan at $5,999 a year. Aikido says a typical pentest is about $4,000 per app |
Last checked 10 Nov 2026. Prices are examples from public pricing pages, not quotes; scope drives the cost of any real pentest.
In between
Automated “AI pentests” sit between the two.
Several vendors now sell automated pentests of a live app, faster and cheaper than a manual engagement, with a report at the end. They test more of the running app than we do. They don’t rebuild your database and prove a fix before it ships.
| Offer | Published price |
|---|---|
| Aikido pentest for Lovable founders | $100 a test (launch pricing) |
| Intruder AI pentest | $3,500 a test; reports in hours |
| Astra Pentest Auto | $199/month; same-day report |
Use both
A realistic plan for a small team.
Close the common leaks first, cheaply. Pay a person to look for the uncommon ones. Keep checking in between.
Now
Paste your repo. Approve the proven fixes for any table strangers can read, and rotate any exposed keys.
minutesBefore a big launch
Book a pentest. You’ll pay for findings a person is good at, not for leaks a lab already closed.
days to weeksEvery week
Scheduled re-checks catch a leak that a later change reopens, and email you or post to Slack.
automaticOnce a year
Repeat the pentest, or when your app or data changes substantially.
yearly
Questions
Asked about pentests.
Can I show a PatchLabs report to an auditor instead of a pentest?
No. It’s evidence about one risk, with a signed receipt, and some people find it useful in security questionnaires. It is not a pentest report and we don’t present it as one.
Will a pentester find what PatchLabs finds?
A good one usually will, if database access is in scope. The difference is timing and cost: we check on every change, write the fix and prove it, in minutes.
Do you offer pentests, or work with someone who does?
No to both. We have no partnerships. Choose a tester based on your scope and any certifications your customers ask for.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
- Astra Security · Pentest Expert (manual, certified testers) and Pentest Auto pricingchecked 10 Nov 2026
- Aikido pricing · typical pentest about $4,000 per app; $100 Lovable launch pricechecked 10 Nov 2026
- Intruder · AI pentest at $3,500 a test, reports in hourschecked 10 Nov 2026
- PatchLabs methodology · the 3.5-minute median (n=20, 9 Nov 2026)ours
Independent
PatchLabs is independent and not affiliated with Astra, Aikido, Intruder or any penetration testing firm. Product names are used only to identify them. Facts were checked on 10 Nov 2026 and may have changed since; we update these pages when we hear about a change.
Free check
See the proof for your own app. The first one is free.
Paste your public repo. You’ll get the leaks, the fix and the proof on one page, in a few minutes.