What does a penetration test include — and why it matters for pricing

A penetration test is a controlled attack on a company’s systems, carried out by security professionals to identify vulnerabilities before real attackers do. The output is a technical report listing the findings, their severity level, and remediation recommendations.

The issue is that ‘pentesting’ covers a wide range of things. Testing a single web application is very different from auditing an entire infrastructure. And that difference has a direct impact on the budget.

The most common types of penetration test

• Web application pentest: OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, broken authentication, etc.) in one or more applications
• Network / infrastructure pentest: servers, firewalls, VPNs and network devices
• Mobile app pentest: iOS and Android — communications, local storage, APIs
• Red team engagement: full attack simulation combining technical exploitation and social engineering
• Cloud security review: AWS, Azure or GCP configurations, access controls, exposed storage

What a professional pentest deliverable looks like

A proper penetration test includes a reconnaissance phase, vulnerability exploitation, privilege escalation where applicable, and a report classifying findings by severity (critical, high, medium, low, informational). Most engagements also include a results presentation and a remediation meeting.

What drives the cost of a penetration test

• Scope: number of applications, IP ranges or domains in scope. More assets = more time = higher cost
• Methodology: black-box (no credentials), grey-box (user-level access) or white-box (full code access). White-box is the most thorough and most expensive
• Depth: automated scanning plus basic manual review costs less than a full red team engagement with social engineering
• Certifications: CREST-accredited or CHECK-approved providers typically charge more, but the technical standard is higher
• Retest: some quotes include a verification round after vulnerabilities are fixed; others do not

Penetration testing prices in the UK in 2026

The UK market in 2026 shows the following price ranges:

These are indicative figures. Any serious provider will ask for scope details before quoting. If someone gives you a fixed price without seeing the scope, that’s a red flag.

In-house team vs. external provider: which costs more

Building an internal security team makes sense at a certain company size. But for most mid-sized businesses, the cost of a dedicated team — salaries, tools, continuous training to stay current — comfortably exceeds the cost of one or two external pentests per year.

A senior cybersecurity analyst in the UK earns between £55,000 and £90,000 per year. A full external pentest covering web and infrastructure typically costs between £15,000 and £35,000. And the external provider brings fresh perspective that an internal team inevitably loses over time.

The typical setup for mid-sized UK companies: one or two internal people for monitoring and day-to-day management, plus annual or bi-annual external pentests with a specialist provider.

What to look for before hiring a penetration testing company

• Ask to see a sample report (anonymised). A good report includes evidence for each finding, CVSS scores and reproduction steps
• Check certifications: OSCP, CEH, CREST, or CHECK panel approval. Not mandatory, but a signal of technical rigour
• Clarify whether a retest is included: verifying that vulnerabilities were fixed is part of the service with serious providers
• Sort the NDA before testing begins: the provider will have access to sensitive systems
• Be cautious with very low prices: a quality manual pentest cannot cost £300

How Yeeply can help

At Yeeply, we work with certified cybersecurity companies that carry out penetration tests following OWASP and PTES methodology. If you need a team in the UK, we connect you with local providers with a proven track record.

For projects with tighter budgets, we also work with specialist offensive security teams that deliver the same technical rigour at 30 to 40% lower cost.

You can request a no-commitment quote using the Request a quote button at the top right of yeeply.com/en, or by writing to sales@yeeply.com with your scope details.