How much does a Pentest cost? Realistic Security Costs in Belgium, the Netherlands and the EU

Intro - The question behind the question

When companies ask, “how much does a pentest cost?”, they rarely mean only the price of a security test. What they really want to know is:

• What does it cost to stop real attacks?
• What does it cost to pass audits without surprises?
• What does it cost to be demonstrably compliant?
• What does it cost to avoid an incident that hits the business?

In 2026, penetration testing is no longer an optional IT check. It is a structural part of risk management and audit readiness.

Organizations that test only once a year are almost always behind. Attackers work year-round. Auditors expect clear evidence that security is continuously tested, tracked, and adjusted.

TL;DR — Pentest costs today

Across Europe, the picture typically looks like this:

• Professional external pentests usually start around €3,000
• Very complex applications and enterprise environments quickly move toward €10,000 to €15,000+
• Cloud, identity, and API-driven architectures increase complexity and therefore cost
• Compliance requirements such as NIS2 and DORA make testing more frequent and deeper

The biggest price differences between providers rarely come down to tools. They come down to how much real manual analysis and exploit validation is performed.

Why pentest pricing in 2026 is no longer simple

Penetration testing used to be treated as a one-off project. That model no longer fits reality. Modern business environments are a mix of cloud, SaaS, identity platforms, APIs, and third-party integrations. Every integration creates new attack paths.

As a result, pentesting is less about “can we find vulnerabilities?” and more about “can a real attacker actually get in, and move further once they do?”

That takes experience, context, and manual analysis. And that’s what drives the price.

The 3 major factors that determine cost

Scope and attack surface

A simple external perimeter test is relatively predictable. An identity-driven cloud environment with SaaS integrations is not.

The more identities, APIs, and integrations you have, the more potential attack paths exist, and the more complex the test becomes.

Methodology: theory vs realistic attacks

This is where the biggest difference lies between cheap tests and high-quality pentests.

Scan-based testing can reveal potential vulnerabilities. But potential vulnerabilities are not the same as vulnerabilities that are actually exploitable.

Realistic pentesting focuses on questions like:

• Can this be exploited in practice?
• Can an attacker move further through the environment?
• What is the real business impact?

This is also where you see a clear gap with purely AI-driven pentesting. AI is excellent at processing large datasets and spotting patterns. But real attackers combine technical skill with context, timing, and creativity. In real business environments, human validation remains essential to determine which risks are truly dangerous and which are mainly theoretical.

Reporting and compliance evidence

Pentesting is rarely done only for security. It is also used as evidence for auditors, insurers, customers, and regulators.

After a professional Sectricity pentest, companies receive a formal report and, if requested, an official attestation confirming the test was performed by an independent third party. This type of documentation is commonly used in audit contexts for ISO 27001, NIS2, DORA, and other compliance frameworks.

In audits, what often makes the difference is not just that testing happened, but how it was done and how clearly you can demonstrate that risks were tracked, fixed, and verified.

Realistic pentest costs in Europe (2026)

For professional pentesting with manual validation and audit-usable reporting, you typically see:

This is about realistic attacker simulation, not just scanning.

Why NIS2 and DORA are structurally changing security budgets

The biggest change is not the price per test. It’s how often and how deep testing is performed.

Security testing is shifting from an annual exercise to a continuous process where organizations regularly verify whether controls still work as expected.

The cost companies still underestimate

The biggest cost in cybersecurity is rarely the pentest itself. It’s:

• Incident response
• Business downtime
• Compliance penalties
• Reputational damage
• Loss of customers

A good pentest often costs less than the impact of one serious incident.

The most common mistake when selecting a pentest

Many companies compare prices without comparing methodology. But the real questions should be:

• Are vulnerabilities actually exploited, or only reported?
• Are real attack paths tested?
• Is the reporting usable for audits?
• Is retesting evidence included?

When continuous testing becomes the logical choice

Continuous testing often makes more sense when organizations:

• Are cloud-first
• Release changes frequently
• Depend heavily on SaaS
• Operate under heavy compliance pressure
• Manage complex identity structures

Frequently asked questions

How much does a pentest cost in Belgium or the Netherlands?

Professional pentesting typically starts around €3,000 for a small scope. Complex enterprise environments can exceed €20,000 depending on scope, complexity and required manual validation.

Can a penetration test be used for compliance (ISO 27001, NIS2, DORA, GDPR)?

Yes. Pentesting is commonly used as audit evidence within ISO 27001, NIS2 and DORA programmes. After a professional Sectricity pentest, organisations receive formal reporting and, if required, an attestation confirming the test was performed by an independent third party. Audits typically focus on proof of testing, remediation tracking and retesting validation.

Can AI pentesting fully replace human testers?

AI significantly accelerates discovery and analysis, but in complex enterprise environments human expertise remains essential to validate realistic attack paths, exploitability and real business impact.

Why do pentest prices vary so much between providers?

The biggest differences come from scope, depth of manual exploit validation, reporting quality and the ability to provide audit-ready evidence including remediation follow-up and retesting.

Conclusion

Many companies focus on the price of a pentest. But in practice, that’s rarely the point. The real question is whether the pentest helps you understand real risks, fix them, and prove they are under control.

In 2026, mature organizations don’t use pentesting only to find vulnerabilities. They use it to prove their security actually works, that risks are tracked and reduced, and that they are ready for audits and real incidents.

Want to understand which testing strategy makes the most sense for your environment and compliance context? Request a security scope analysis or maturity assessment.