Claymont, Delaware, Nov. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Astra Security, a leading autonomous pentesting company, announced today that it has been named the best autonomous pentesting tool of 2026 by CIO Times in its article “The 10 Best Autonomous Pentesting Tools Compared (October, 2026).”
Astra Pentest from Astra Security, named the best autonomous pentesting tool of 2026.
The comparison ranks the company’s Astra Pentest platform first among ten platforms and names it the top pick for breadth with proof. CIO Times sorted the field into capability groups and placed Astra at the head of its autonomous web and API pentesting category, which the outlet listed first because application and API testing is where most software risk sits.
CIO Times wrote that Astra “spans web and API autonomous testing and hands auditors compliance-ready evidence, where most rivals cover one surface or one use case.” Explaining the top ranking, the outlet added that “its two agent modes plus a standalone validation layer prove which flaws attackers can exploit across web and API.”
Astra Pentest runs two AI agents in parallel. A Structured Pentest agent maps every role and endpoint in an application, while a Bounty Hunter agent chases high-impact attack paths the way an experienced researcher would. A separate AI validation layer then exploits each finding before it reaches the dashboard, so engineering teams receive proven vulnerabilities with reproduction steps instead of unconfirmed alerts. Reports arrive in ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA and SOC 2 formats that auditors can check.
“Security teams have stopped trusting findings they can’t reproduce,” said Shikhil Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Astra Security. “Astra Pentest proves each finding by exploiting it before a developer ever sees it, and expert pentesters stay involved for the judgment calls an agent shouldn’t make alone. Taking the top spot in a field this crowded shows buyers now judge autonomous pentesting on the evidence it hands over.”
The autonomous agents draw on lessons from more than 5,000 real-world pentests and, according to the company’s own benchmark, reach a first finding up to 80x faster than a manual engagement. They cover web applications and APIs today, with cloud infrastructure testing on the roadmap. Astra Security pairs that continuous coverage with human-led penetration testing for high-context scenarios, an approach built to augment expert pentesters rather than replace them.
The CIO Times ranking follows Astra Security’s recognition as the best autonomous pentesting tool for 2026 by HackerNoon in September. The company also co-authored the OWASP Autonomous Penetration Testing Standard (APTS) and publishes the annual State of Continuous Pentesting report. Astra Security is CREST-accredited, CERT-In empanelled, a PCI DSS Approved Scanning Vendor and ISO 27001-certified.
Security and engineering teams comparing the best autonomous pentesting tools can see how Astra Pentest works on the company’s autonomous pentesting page.
About Astra Security
Astra Security is a cybersecurity SaaS company that makes otherwise chaotic penetration tests a breeze with its one-of-a-kind Pentest Platform. Astra’s continuous vulnerability scanner emulates hacker behavior to scan applications for 15,000+ security tests. CTOs & CISOs love Astra because it helps them fix vulnerabilities in record time and move from DevOps to DevSecOps with Astra’s CI/CD integrations. Every day, Astra uncovers 5000+ vulnerabilities for its customers. Astra is loved by 1000+ companies across the globe. Last year, Astra uncovered 6,800,000+ vulnerabilities for its customers, saving customers $2.37B+ in potential losses due to security vulnerabilities. We’ve been awarded by the President of France, Mr. François Hollande, at the La French Tech program, with the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, at the Global Conference on Cyber Security.
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