Core Impact vs w3af
Core Impact
coresecurity.comw3af
w3af.orgSide by side
| Figure | Core Impact | w3af |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $787.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Penetration Testing Software | 8.2 (#10) | 8.2 (#11) |
| Automation | Rapid Penetration Tests are preconfigured sequences that automate common testing scenarios and include step-by-step guidance. | The guide includes automation using scripts and a REST API. |
| Deployment | Core Impact runs on Windows with an integrated SQL database on a physical or virtual system. | The installation guide documents running w3af in Docker and provides installation instructions for Mac OS X. |
| Integrations | Named integrations include Cobalt Strike, Metasploit, PowerShell Empire, Plextrac, and vulnerability scanners such as Fortra VM, Nessus, and Burp Suite. | The documentation describes Metasploit integration and suggests sending vulnerabilities to an internal issue tracker through its REST API. |
| Purpose | Core Impact is penetration testing software for safely uncovering and exploiting security weaknesses. | w3af is an open-source web application security scanner for developers and penetration testers to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. |
| Support | Basic and Pro include customer portal and email support; Enterprise includes phone, customer portal, and email support. | For installation issues, the guide directs users to create a ticket and include their Linux distribution, dependency-install script, pip freeze output, and Python version. |
Plans
Core Impact
- Core Impact Basic$9,450 a year
- Core Impact Pro$12,600 a year
- Core Impact EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Core Impact
Core Impact has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
w3af
w3af is a free, open-source web application security scanner for vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. It can identify more than 200 vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and OS command injection. Its workflow starts with crawler plugins that find URLs and injection points, continues with audit plugins that check for vulnerabilities, and can use attack plugins to exploit findings. Other plugin types cover infrastructure detection, request and response analysis, output, brute force, request modification, and evasion.
Users can scan and analyze results in a GTK graphical interface or a console. Web application payloads can interact with Metasploit when an exploit provides exec() capability. Developers can use the REST API from development languages and run it in Docker; scripts and the API also support automation. The project documents Linux and macOS installation, including running in Docker without installing w3af dependencies. It is available for Linux, macOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployment. REST API traffic over HTTP is unencrypted, so the documentation recommends added protection such as an SSL proxy for publicly reachable deployments.