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.
Spider AF
Spider AF is an automated ad fraud prevention software that identifies and blocks invalid traffic across your digital advertising campaigns to ensure your marketing budget reaches real human customers.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Cobalt | Spider AF |
|---|---|---|
| Website | cobalt.io | spideraf.com |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Subscription |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | $200/month |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✓ 14 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2013 | 2011 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, USA | Tokyo, Japan |
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.
Spider AF
Spider AF helps you protect your advertising budget by identifying and blocking sophisticated ad fraud in real-time. You can automatically detect bot traffic, click farms, and hidden ads that drain your spend without delivering real results. By integrating directly with your existing ad platforms, it provides a transparent view of your traffic quality so you can stop paying for fake engagement and focus on genuine growth.
You can use the platform to monitor multiple accounts from a single dashboard, making it ideal for agencies and internal marketing teams alike. It provides detailed evidence for refund claims against ad networks and helps you optimize your bidding strategies by excluding non-human traffic. Whether you are running search, display, or video ads, you can ensure your message reaches actual people rather than automated scripts.
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.
Spider AF Features
- Automated IP Blocking. Sync your Google and Meta Ads accounts to automatically block fraudulent IP addresses from seeing your ads in real-time.
- Invalid Traffic Detection. Identify sophisticated bot patterns and non-human behavior across your campaigns using advanced signal analysis and machine learning.
- Unified Dashboard. Monitor all your advertising channels in one place to see exactly where your traffic is coming from and which sources are risky.
- Refund Claim Reports. Generate detailed data logs and evidence reports to request credits from ad networks for identified invalid traffic.
- Site Placement Analysis. Review the specific websites where your ads appear and exclude low-quality or fraudulent domains that harm your brand safety.
- Real-time Alerts. Receive immediate notifications when the system detects a sudden spike in suspicious activity so you can take action quickly.
Pricing Comparison
Cobalt Pricing
Spider AF Pricing
- Up to $10,000 monthly ad spend
- 1 domain included
- Automated Google Ads blocking
- Automated Meta Ads blocking
- Real-time fraud detection
- Email support
- Everything in Starter, plus:
- Up to $50,000 monthly ad spend
- Up to 3 domains
- Advanced bot detection
- Custom exclusion lists
- Priority customer support
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
Spider AF
Pros
- Setup is quick and integrates easily with Google Ads
- Dashboard provides clear visibility into traffic quality
- Automated blocking saves hours of manual work
- Helps recover budget through detailed refund reports
Cons
- Starting price may be high for very small budgets
- Interface can feel data-heavy for beginners
- Limited features on the entry-level tier