Cobalt
Cobalt is a Pentest as a Service platform that combines SaaS efficiency with a global community of security experts to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in your applications.
Guardsquare
Guardsquare provides comprehensive mobile application security through advanced code obfuscation, encryption, and real-time threat monitoring to protect your Android and iOS apps from reverse engineering and tampering.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Cobalt | Guardsquare |
|---|---|---|
| Website | cobalt.io | guardsquare.com |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Custom |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Custom Pricing |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2013 | 2014 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | Leuven, Belgium |
Overview
Cobalt
Cobalt transforms traditional penetration testing into a dynamic, tech-enabled experience through its Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) platform. You can move away from slow, static PDF reports and instead launch comprehensive security assessments in days rather than weeks. The platform connects you directly with a vetted community of on-demand security researchers who test your web applications, APIs, and cloud infrastructure in real-time.
You can manage the entire testing lifecycle from a single dashboard, allowing your developers to communicate directly with testers for faster vulnerability remediation. It integrates with your existing development workflows to ensure security keeps pace with your release cycles. Whether you need to meet compliance requirements like SOC2 or harden your external attack surface, you get actionable data and on-demand retesting to stay secure.
Guardsquare
Guardsquare offers a specialized security suite designed to protect your mobile applications from the inside out. By focusing on the binary level, you can shield your intellectual property and sensitive data from hackers who attempt to reverse engineer or repackage your software. The platform integrates directly into your development lifecycle, ensuring that security is a continuous part of your build process rather than an afterthought.
You can use these tools to harden your Android and iOS apps against static and dynamic analysis. Whether you are protecting financial transactions, healthcare data, or gaming logic, the software provides multiple layers of defense including code obfuscation and runtime self-protection. This approach helps you maintain compliance with industry standards while preserving the performance and user experience of your mobile applications.
Overview
Cobalt Features
- On-Demand Pentesting Launch a manual pentest in as little as 24 hours to meet tight production deadlines or compliance windows.
- Real-Time Reporting View vulnerabilities as testers find them so your team can start fixing critical bugs before the test even finishes.
- Direct Researcher Access Chat directly with your assigned security experts to clarify findings and get specific guidance on complex remediation steps.
- SDLC Integrations Push findings automatically to Jira, GitHub, or Slack so your developers can manage security fixes in their existing tools.
- Complimentary Retesting Request a free retest once you've applied a fix to ensure the vulnerability is fully resolved and verified.
- Compliance Reporting Generate audit-ready reports for SOC2, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS with a single click to satisfy your stakeholders and auditors.
Guardsquare Features
- Polymorphic Obfuscation. Rename classes, fields, and methods into meaningless strings to make your source code virtually impossible for hackers to read.
- Runtime Self-Protection. Detect if your app is running on a rooted device or under a debugger and trigger automatic defensive actions.
- Arithmetic Obfuscation. Hide your application's logic by transforming simple mathematical calculations into complex, convoluted sequences that foil automated analysis tools.
- Resource Encryption. Encrypt your assets, strings, and configuration files so unauthorized parties cannot extract sensitive information from your app package.
- Real-time Threat Alerts. Gain immediate visibility into security events across your entire user base with a centralized dashboard for monitoring attacks.
- CI/CD Integration. Automate your security workflows by plugging protection directly into your existing build pipelines like Jenkins, Azure, or GitHub.
Pricing Comparison
Cobalt Pricing
Guardsquare Pricing
Pros & Cons
Cobalt
Pros
- Significantly faster setup time than traditional consulting firms
- Direct communication with testers speeds up remediation
- Clean dashboard replaces messy PDF report management
- High-quality, vetted researchers provide deep manual insights
Cons
- Credit-based pricing can be complex to forecast
- Platform focus is primarily on manual testing over automation
- Premium pricing reflects the high-touch expert service
Guardsquare
Pros
- Industry-standard protection for high-stakes mobile applications
- Minimal impact on final application performance
- Comprehensive documentation makes implementation straightforward for developers
- Excellent support for both Android and iOS platforms
- Regular updates to counter the latest hacking techniques
Cons
- Significant price jump from free to enterprise versions
- Initial configuration requires deep technical knowledge
- Debugging protected builds can be time-consuming