How Much Does Penetration Testing Cost in Australia? 2026 Pricing Guide
Penetration testing cost Australia ranges from around $5,000 for a simple web application test to $60,000+ for complex red team engagements. The final price depends on what you are testing, how deep the testing needs to go, and what level of assurance you need. Understanding these variables helps you budget realistically and choose the right testing approach for your organisation.
This guide breaks down what penetration testing actually involves, what factors drive the cost, and how often you should be testing based on Australian compliance requirements and industry best practice.
What Is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is an authorised simulated attack on your systems to identify security weaknesses before real attackers find them. Testers use the same tools, techniques, and methods as malicious hackers to discover vulnerabilities in your network, applications, APIs, cloud infrastructure, or physical security.
The goal is not just to find vulnerabilities but to demonstrate how an attacker could exploit them and what the business impact would be. A penetration test delivers a detailed report that identifies each vulnerability, explains its risk, and provides clear recommendations for remediation.
Penetration testing differs from vulnerability scanning, which is automated and identifies known weaknesses. Penetration testing is manual, adversarial, and tests whether those vulnerabilities can be chained together to achieve real-world attack objectives like accessing sensitive data, escalating privileges, or moving laterally through your network.
Types of Penetration Testing and Their Costs
Different types of penetration testing have different scopes, complexity, and pricing. Here is what you can expect for the most common types.
Web application penetration testing evaluates the security of a web-based application or SaaS platform. Testers look for common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, authentication bypass, session management flaws, and API security issues. A single web application test typically costs between $5,000 and $20,000 depending on the size and complexity of the application.
External network penetration testing simulates an attack from the internet, targeting your public-facing infrastructure like firewalls, mail servers, VPNs, and web servers. This type of test identifies how an external attacker could gain access to your environment. External tests generally range from $7,000 to $20,000.
Internal network penetration testing assumes an attacker has already gained access to your internal network, either through a compromised user account, physical access, or a supply chain attack. Testers assess whether an attacker could escalate privileges, move laterally to other systems, or access sensitive data. Internal tests are more complex and typically cost between $10,000 and $30,000.
API and microservices testing focuses on the security of APIs that connect your applications, mobile apps, or third-party integrations. This includes authentication, authorisation, data validation, and access control testing. API tests usually cost between $5,000 and $25,000 depending on how many endpoints exist and their complexity.
Cloud infrastructure testing evaluates the security of your cloud environments, including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. This involves testing identity and access management, storage bucket permissions, misconfigured services, and container security. Cloud penetration tests range from $10,000 to $35,000+ depending on the architecture.
Red team engagements are adversary simulations that test your organisation’s detection and response capabilities over a longer period. These engagements combine technical testing with social engineering, physical security testing, and custom attack scenarios. Red team exercises are the most comprehensive and expensive, typically costing between $30,000 and $60,000 or more.
What Drives Penetration Testing Costs?
Several factors influence penetration testing cost Australia beyond just the type of test. Understanding these variables helps explain price differences between providers and allows you to make informed decisions.
Scope and complexity are the biggest cost drivers. Testing a single web application with five pages is cheaper than testing a complex SaaS platform with dozens of API endpoints, user roles, and integrations. The more systems, applications, or infrastructure included in scope, the higher the cost.
Testing depth and methodology also matter. Black-box testing, where the tester has no prior knowledge of the system, takes longer and costs more than grey-box testing, where the tester receives credentials or documentation to guide the engagement. White-box testing, which includes full access to source code and architecture, allows deeper analysis but requires more time and expertise.
Tester capability and experience directly affect quality and price. Senior penetration testers with certifications like OSCP, OSCE, or CREST charge more but deliver higher-quality findings and better reporting. Junior testers or automated tools may cost less but miss critical vulnerabilities that require manual testing and creative thinking.
Compliance and reporting requirements add cost when testing needs to meet specific regulatory frameworks like PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, or APRA CPS 234. Compliance-driven tests require detailed evidence, specific testing procedures, and reports formatted to auditor expectations.
If you are not sure what scope or depth makes sense for your organisation, Siege Cyber can help you define a testing plan that balances cost, risk, and compliance requirements. Visit siegecyber.com.au/services/penetration-testing to discuss your specific environment and get a fixed-price quote with no hourly billing.
How Often Should You Conduct Penetration Testing?
How often penetration testing is required depends on your industry, compliance obligations, and risk profile. Australian organisations subject to specific regulations face different testing frequencies.
APRA CPS 234 requires APRA-regulated entities like banks, insurers, and superannuation funds to conduct penetration testing at least annually, and again after any significant system changes. Organisations with high-risk profiles may need more frequent testing, such as semi-annually or quarterly.
PCI DSS mandates external and internal penetration testing at least annually for any organisation that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data. Additional testing is required after any significant change to the cardholder data environment, such as new infrastructure, application deployments, or changes to segmentation.
ISO 27001 recommends annual penetration testing or more frequently depending on risk assessments and changes to your organisation’s infrastructure. While ISO 27001 does not prescribe specific testing frequency, auditors expect evidence of regular security testing as part of your Information Security Management System.
SOC 2 requires annual penetration testing at minimum, with additional testing after major changes. Many organisations conducting SOC 2 Type 2 audits schedule penetration tests to align with their observation period to demonstrate that security controls are tested and effective.
Essential Eight does not explicitly mandate penetration testing but recommends aligning testing frequency with risk levels. Most organisations pursuing Essential Eight maturity conduct annual penetration tests to validate that mitigation strategies are effective and vulnerabilities are managed.
Even if you are not subject to specific compliance requirements, annual penetration testing is widely recognised as best practice. However, fast-changing environments, high-value targets, or organisations that deploy new code frequently should consider more frequent testing such as quarterly or continuous testing for critical systems.
What You Get from a Penetration Test
A professional penetration test delivers more than just a list of vulnerabilities. You receive a comprehensive report that includes an executive summary, detailed technical findings, proof-of-concept demonstrations, risk ratings for each vulnerability, and actionable remediation guidance.
The report explains how vulnerabilities could be exploited, what data or systems could be compromised, and what business impact could result from a successful attack. This context helps you prioritise remediation based on risk, not just severity scores.
Most engagements include a retest after you have fixed critical and high-risk vulnerabilities, ensuring that patches and configuration changes are effective. This retest is often included in the initial price or offered at a reduced rate.
Siege Cyber Penetration Testing Pricing
Siege Cyber offers fixed-price penetration testing with transparent pricing and no hourly billing. Our pricing covers the full engagement including scoping, testing, reporting, and one retest. You can see detailed pricing at siegecyber.com.au/#pentest-pricing.
If you prefer to spread the cost and maintain ongoing protection, we can structure a 12-month testing plan that includes quarterly or annual engagements tailored to your requirements and budget. Every test is conducted by certified penetration testers with real-world experience across Australian industries including SaaS, finance, healthcare, logistics, and managed services.
We work with businesses across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and nationwide, delivering hundreds of penetration tests that help organisations identify and fix vulnerabilities before they become incidents. Whether you need testing to meet compliance requirements, satisfy customer due diligence, or proactively strengthen your security posture, we provide thorough, professional testing with clear, actionable results.
When to Schedule Your Penetration Test
The best time to schedule penetration testing depends on your compliance deadlines, development cycles, and risk tolerance. If you are pursuing ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification, schedule testing early in your observation period so you have time to remediate findings before the external audit.
If you operate in a regulated industry like finance, healthcare, or payments, plan testing to align with your annual compliance cycle and budget for additional tests after significant changes.
For organisations without specific compliance obligations, consider scheduling penetration testing after major deployments, during annual security reviews, or as part of your broader risk management activities.
Siege Cyber has been helping businesses across Australia with penetration testing, compliance, and cyber risk for over 20 years. If you’d like to discuss what type of testing makes sense for your organisation, or if you’re preparing for an ISO 27001 or SOC 2 audit and need testing as part of that process, get in touch.
You can reach us at siegecyber.com.au or email [email protected] directly. We’re based in Brisbane but work with clients across the country.