Every tool in this list is quote only, so expect a sales conversation before you see a number, and budget for an annual subscription. AttackIQ is the only option with a free forever tier, while Cymulate, Picus Security, and Horizon3.ai offer time-limited free trials. SafeBreach, Pentera, and Mandiant Security Validation target large enterprises, with demo-gated sales and no self-serve path.
Breach and attack simulation, usually shortened to BAS, answers a question that annual penetration tests cannot: do your security controls actually stop the attacks that matter right now. A BAS platform runs safe, controlled scenarios against your live environment, checks whether each control blocked, detected, or missed the activity, and tells you what to fix first. The eight tools below all map scenarios to MITRE ATT&CK, yet they differ in scope, deployment, and audience.
On this page
Best breach and attack simulation bas software: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cymulate | Enterprises wanting BAS plus exposure management in one platform | quote only | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 2 | SafeBreach | Large enterprises needing continuous, production-safe validation | quote only | No | Visit |
| 3 | AttackIQ | SOC and red teams validating detection and control effectiveness | quote only | Yes (Flex free forever for baseline tests) | Visit |
| 4 | Picus Security | Teams wanting control validation with vendor-specific fixes, including on-premises deployment | quote only | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 5 | XM Cyber | Hybrid-cloud enterprises prioritising attack paths to critical assets | quote only | No | Visit |
| 6 | Pentera | Enterprises wanting automated, exploit-based security validation with remediation | quote only | No | Visit |
| 7 | Horizon3.ai NodeZero | Teams wanting autonomous penetration testing with proof of exploit | quote only | Free trial (30 days) | Visit |
| 8 | Mandiant Security Validation | Large enterprises wanting Mandiant frontline-intelligence-backed control validation | quote only | No | Visit |
The 8 best best breach and attack simulation bas software tools, in detail
Cymulate
Best for: Enterprises wanting BAS plus exposure management in one platform
Cymulate covers the full attack kill chain, running simulations across endpoint, email, web, and cloud in one platform. That breadth suits enterprises with a patchwork of controls to check. Automated red teaming adds multi-stage attack chains on top of single-scenario tests, and validated exposure scoring ranks findings by what an attacker could actually reach.
- Results feed back into prevention and detection tuning, with remediation guidance attached to each failed test.
- The 14-day free trial is a partial simulation, not a full assessment of your environment.
- Cymulate publishes no list price and offers no free tier, so the real cost only appears after a scoping call.
- For a large enterprise that wants BAS and exposure management in one contract, that trade is often acceptable.
Pros
- Full kill-chain BAS across endpoint, email, web and cloud, plus automated red teaming and validated exposure scoring
- integrates with security controls to validate prevention and detection with remediation guidance
Cons
- No public list price and no free plan
- the free trial is only a partial simulation for 14 days
SafeBreach
Best for: Large enterprises needing continuous, production-safe validation
SafeBreach is built around the Hackers Playbook, a large library of real-world attack methods mapped to MITRE ATT&CK. New content arrives within 24 hours of CISA and FBI Flash alerts. Simulations run agentless on live networks and are designed to be production-safe, so there is no need to book maintenance windows or take systems offline.
- That combination suits large enterprises that want validation running continuously against the environment people use every day.
- There is no self-serve trial and no free tier, and pricing is only available through the vendor, so evaluation starts with a demo and a scoping discus
- That is normal for enterprise-only tools, but a small team will find the door closed before the conversation starts.
- If you run a large, always-on network and must prove control effectiveness to auditors regularly, SafeBreach fits.
Pros
- Hackers Playbook with a large library of real-world attack methods mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, new content within 24 hours of CISA/FBI Flash alerts
- production-safe, agentless simulations on live networks without maintenance windows
Cons
- Enterprise-only and demo-gated, no self-serve trial, no free tier, no public pricing
AttackIQ
Best for: SOC and red teams validating detection and control effectiveness
AttackIQ is the most accessible entry point in this list, because Flex is free forever for baseline tests. The free tier is agentless and on-demand, which lets a SOC or red team run a first set of MITRE ATT&CK-aligned scenarios without installing agents or booking a sales call. Packet-capture replay supports advanced emulations based on real incident traffic.
- The focus is detection and control effectiveness.
- The free tier covers only a selection of baseline content, and the advanced emulations and the full platform are quoted, with pay-as-you-go credits fo
- The cost of a serious deployment therefore depends on how much content you run and how often, so ask for the credit model in writing before you scale
- For a SOC that wants to start validating detection this week, AttackIQ offers the lowest-friction start of any tool here.
Pros
- MITRE ATT&CK-aligned scenarios for continuous detection and SOC performance validation
- Flex is agentless and on-demand with packet-capture replay for advanced emulations
Cons
- Free Flex covers only a selection of baseline content
- advanced emulations and the full platform are quoted, with pay-as-you-go credits
Picus Security
Best for: Teams wanting control validation with vendor-specific fixes, including on-premises deployment
Picus Security stands out for what happens after a test fails. Every failed test comes with a ready-to-apply, vendor-specific mitigation or detection rule, so the output is a fix for the exact control in question. The threat library adds new simulations within hours of disclosure, mapped to MITRE ATT&CK.
- Many integrations cover a wide range of controls, and the platform supports on-premises deployment.
- The 14-day trial has real limits: it covers a trial version only, must be used in a non-production environment, and Picus is not obligated to provide
- There is no free plan and no public pricing, so use the trial to check the mitigation guidance and the breadth of integrations.
- If your team values fixes over findings, Picus deserves a close look.
Pros
- Threat library with new simulations added within hours of disclosure, mapped to MITRE ATT&CK
- every failed test comes with a ready-to-apply, vendor-specific mitigation or detection rule, across many integrations
Cons
- No free plan and no public pricing
- the trial is for a trial version only, must be used in a non-production environment, and Picus is not obligated to provide support for it
XM Cyber
Best for: Hybrid-cloud enterprises prioritising attack paths to critical assets
XM Cyber approaches BAS through attack graphs rather than isolated scenario tests. It maps exposures into attack paths that run from the external surface, across on-premises and cloud environments, to business-critical assets. A digital twin validates whether each path is genuinely exploitable once compensating controls are taken into account.
- The platform then prioritises choke points, where one fix closes several paths at once.
- There is no public pricing and no free tier, and the subscription scope is limited to the permitted endpoints and network assets named in the order.
- Count the assets you need covered before you sign, because adding more later changes the price.
- For a hybrid-cloud enterprise that needs to know which exposures lead to its most critical systems, XM Cyber offers a clear, path-based view of risk.
Pros
- Attack graph analysis maps exposures into attack paths from the external surface, across on-prem and cloud, to business-critical assets
- digital twin validates exploitability against compensating controls and prioritises choke points where one fix closes multiple paths
Cons
- No public pricing and no free tier
- subscription scope is limited to the permitted endpoints and network assets in the order
Pentera
Best for: Enterprises wanting automated, exploit-based security validation with remediation
Pentera runs automated, exploit-based validation across internal networks, the external surface, cloud, web applications, and APIs, executing complete kill chains rather than single-step tests. A control can pass a single test yet fail when an attacker chains small weaknesses together, which Pentera is built to find. Findings flow into one workflow from discovery to fix, with automated remediation and re-testing to confirm that a fix actually closed the path.
- The platform is enterprise-only and demo-gated, with no free tier, no public pricing, and no individual or small-team plan.
- Evaluation starts with a vendor demo and a scoping exercise, priced by the size of the estate tested.
- If your organisation has the budget and the team to act on validated findings at scale, Pentera fits well.
- A small team looking for a quick self-serve check should look elsewhere.
Pros
- AI-powered adversarial testing across internal networks, external surface, cloud, web apps and APIs, executing complete kill chains
- one workflow from find to fix, with validated findings flowing into automated remediation and re-testing
Cons
- Enterprise-only and demo-gated, no free tier, no public pricing, no individual or small-team plan
Horizon3.ai NodeZero
Best for: Teams wanting autonomous penetration testing with proof of exploit
NodeZero from Horizon3.ai runs autonomous penetration testing that is agentless and designed to be production-safe. It chains real weaknesses into proven attack paths with proof of exploit, so a finding is a demonstrated route, not a theory. Mitigation guidance comes with each finding, and 1-Click Verify re-tests a fix to confirm it worked.
- Coverage spans internal and external networks, cloud, Kubernetes, and web applications, plus an Active Directory password audit, for wide coverage in
- The 30-day free trial is the longest trial here, but it has firm conditions: it requires a valid company email, can be verified only once, and the acc
- There is no individual plan, so this is a team purchase from the start.
- It suits teams wanting penetration-testing proof without an external firm each cycle.
Pros
- Autonomous, agentless, production-safe exploitation that chains real weaknesses into proven attack paths, with proof of exploit and mitigation guidance, and re-tests fixes with 1-Click Verify
- covers internal, external, cloud, Kubernetes and web-app testing plus Active Directory password audit
Cons
- Trial requires a valid company email, can be verified only once, and the account reverts to read-only when the 30 days expire
- no individual plan
Mandiant Security Validation
Best for: Large enterprises wanting Mandiant frontline-intelligence-backed control validation
Mandiant Security Validation draws on Mandiant frontline intelligence from incident-response engagements, which gives its scenarios a direct link to attacks that Mandiant teams have actually investigated. Tests map to MITRE ATT&CK and NIST, and real-world attack emulation checks whether controls hold against the techniques seen in live incidents. Automated drift detection re-tests continuously, so a change that weakens a defence is caught as a regression, not months later.
- This is an enterprise sales product with no public price, no free tier, and no trial, and cost scales with the director plus every actor deployed.
- The total depends on how widely you deploy actors, so scope the deployment carefully with the vendor.
- For a large enterprise that already trusts Mandiant intelligence and wants validation tied to real incident data, this is a natural fit.
- Smaller organisations should start with the free and trial options above.
Pros
- MITRE ATT&CK and NIST mapping using Mandiant frontline intelligence from incident-response engagements, with real-world attack emulation
- automated environmental drift detection continuously re-tests for defensive regressions
Cons
- Enterprise sales only, no public price, no free tier or trial, and cost scales with the director plus every actor deployed
How we chose
We checked each vendor pricing page and product page on 12 November 2026 and recorded the starting price and free plan exactly as published. Every tool here is quote only: no vendor in this list publishes a dollar price for its BAS platform. We kept only tools with a real BAS or security validation product, an official homepage, and MITRE ATT&CK mapping. We did not claim hands-on testing, and we did not use third-party review scores or awards. Each con comes from a real limit stated on the vendor site, such as a trial restriction, a missing free tier, or an enterprise-only sales model.
Choosing by team size
| Team size | Best starting point | What to expect | | 1 to 10 people | AttackIQ Flex | Free forever baseline tests, agentless setup, quote only for advanced emulations and the full platform | | 11 to 50 people | Horizon3.ai NodeZero trial or Picus Security trial | 30-day and 14-day trials respectively, with proof of exploit or vendor-specific fixes to evaluate | | 51 to 200 people | Cymulate or Picus Security | Full kill-chain BAS or control validation with vendor-specific mitigations, quoted per estate | | 201 to 1,000 people | XM Cyber or Pentera | Attack-graph prioritisation or automated exploit-based validation across hybrid and cloud estates | | Over 1,000 people | SafeBreach or Mandiant Security Validation | Continuous production-safe validation or frontline-intelligence-backed emulation at enterprise scale |
Frequently asked questions
What is breach and attack simulation software?
Breach and attack simulation software runs safe, controlled attack scenarios against your live environment to test whether security controls block, detect, or miss them. Scenarios usually map to MITRE ATT&CK, and results show which controls failed and what to fix first. It differs from a yearly penetration test because it runs continuously in production.
How much does BAS software cost?
No vendor in this list publishes a dollar price, and every starting price here is quote only. Expect an annual subscription priced by the size of your estate, the number of endpoints or actors, and the content included. Ask each vendor for the scoping rules.
Is there a free BAS tool I can try first?
Yes. AttackIQ Flex is free forever for a selection of baseline tests, which makes it the best place to start without a budget. Cymulate and Picus Security offer 14-day free trials, and Horizon3.ai NodeZero offers a 30-day free trial. SafeBreach, XM Cyber, Pentera, and Mandiant Security Validation offer no free tier or trial.
Do I need a BAS tool if I already run penetration tests?
A yearly penetration test gives a point-in-time view, while BAS runs continuously and checks whether controls still work after every change. Drift detection and re-testing catch regressions that a single annual test would miss. Most teams use BAS alongside penetration testing, not as a replacement for it.
Which BAS tool is best for a small team?
AttackIQ Flex is the strongest starting point for a small team because the free tier needs no sales call and no agent install. Horizon3.ai NodeZero is a good next step if you want a 30-day trial with proof of exploit. The enterprise-only tools in this list are unlikely to fit a small-team budget or buying process.
What should I ask a BAS vendor before signing?
Ask which environments the quote covers, how simulations run in production, how often new scenarios are added, and what the remediation output looks like. Also ask about trial terms, support during the trial, and what happens to your account when the trial ends. Get the answers in writing before you sign.
Sources
- https://cymulate.com/
- https://cymulate.com/pentera-competitors/
- https://www.safebreach.com/
- https://www.attackiq.com/
- https://www.attackiq.com/2023/11/07/free-adversary-emulation-and-security-control-testing-with-flex/
- https://www.picussecurity.com/
- https://www.picussecurity.com/use-case/security-control-validation
- https://xmcyber.com/
- https://xmcyber.com/platform/
- https://pentera.io/
- https://pentera.io/pentera-platform/
- https://horizon3.ai/
- https://horizon3.ai/nodezero/
- https://cloud.google.com/security/products/mandiant-security-validation
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.