Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Pen test annual cost
$50,000
Bug bounty annual cost
$52,000
Cost difference
$2,000
Expected bounty payouts (excl. platform fee)
$22,000
Lower cost option
Pen test
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How to use this
- 1Enter cost per pen test engagement.
- 2Enter pen test engagements per year.
- 3Enter bug bounty platform management fee/year.
- 4Enter expected critical findings/year.
- 5Enter expected high findings/year.
- 6Enter payout per critical.
- 7Enter payout per high.
- 8Read your pen test annual cost on the right — it updates as you type.
- 9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Penetration testing and bug bounty programs solve overlapping but distinct problems, and the cost structures are fundamentally different. A pen test is a fixed-price, time-boxed engagement (typically 1-3 weeks) that gives point-in-time assurance and a formal report useful for compliance (SOC 2, PCI DSS) but stops testing the moment the engagement ends. A bug bounty program is continuous and pay-per-result, scaling cost with actual findings rather than calendar time, and typically costs more in a bad month with several critical findings but far less in quiet months. This calculator compares annual all-in cost for a pen test cadence (per engagement cost times frequency per year) against a bounty program (platform management fee plus expected payouts based on your bounty tiers and estimated finding rate), so you can see which structure actually fits your budget and risk profile, and it's common for mature security programs to run both rather than choosing one.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Cost per pen test engagement: 25000
- Pen test engagements per year: 2
- Bug bounty platform management fee/year: 30000
- Expected critical findings/year: 2
- Expected high findings/year: 8
- Payout per critical: 5000
- Payout per high: 1500
Results
- Pen test annual cost: $50,000
- Bug bounty annual cost: $52,000
- Cost difference: $2,000
- Expected bounty payouts (excl. platform fee): $22,000
- Lower cost option: Pen test
What each field means
Inputs
- Cost per pen test engagement
- The cost per pen test engagement used in the calculation. Starts at 25000 so you have a working example on load.
- Pen test engagements per year
- The pen test engagements per year used in the calculation. Starts at 2 so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–12.
- Bug bounty platform management fee/year
- The bug bounty platform management fee/year used in the calculation. Starts at 30000 so you have a working example on load.
- Expected critical findings/year
- The expected critical findings/year used in the calculation. Starts at 2 so you have a working example on load.
- Expected high findings/year
- The expected high findings/year used in the calculation. Starts at 8 so you have a working example on load.
- Payout per critical
- The payout per critical used in the calculation. Starts at 5000 so you have a working example on load.
- Payout per high
- The payout per high used in the calculation. Starts at 1500 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Pen test annual cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Bug bounty annual cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cost difference
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Expected bounty payouts (excl. platform fee)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Lower cost option
- Returned as a plain value. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Which one satisfies compliance requirements like PCI DSS or SOC 2?
Pen testing is what auditors ask for by name; PCI DSS explicitly requires annual penetration testing with a formal report, and SOC 2 auditors typically expect the same. A bug bounty program is a good complement but generally doesn't replace the compliance-mandated pen test line item.
Why would a bounty program ever cost more than a pen test?
If your application has a lot of exploitable surface area and researchers find many critical and high severity issues in the first few months, payouts can spike well above a fixed pen test fee. This is actually a signal the investment is working, since it means real, exploitable vulnerabilities are getting found and fixed rather than sitting undiscovered.
Can I run both, and does that double the cost unnecessarily?
Many mature programs do run both because they cover different things: pen tests give deep, structured coverage of a specific scope in a defined window (useful before a major release or compliance audit), while bounty programs provide continuous, broad coverage from a large pool of researcher skill sets between pen tests.
How do I estimate 'expected findings per severity' if I've never run a bounty program?
Look at your last two pen test reports for a rough finding rate baseline, then expect a public or private bounty program to surface a similar or higher volume of lower-severity issues in month one as more eyes look at the same surface, tapering off substantially after the initial launch period as low-hanging fruit gets fixed.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Pen Test vs. Bug Bounty Cost Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pen-test-vs-bug-bounty
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pen-test-vs-bug-bounty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pen Test vs. Bug Bounty Cost Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Pen Test vs. Bug Bounty Cost Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pen-test-vs-bug-bounty) (2026).