How much does an external security review cost in 2026?
> TL;DR: Price comparison in France: external review, pentest, and automated scanning. A realistic budget view for lean SaaS teams.
3 security review formats and their costs
Automated scan: €0-€500/month
Tools like Nessus, OWASP ZAP. Detect generic vulnerabilities. Limitation: they miss business-logic flaws.
External review: €1,900-€4,200
Human review by an expert. No privileged access required. Short delivery cycle. Often the right first step for lean SaaS teams.
Full pentest: €5,000-€35,000
Active intrusion testing. 2-6 weeks. Requires technical coordination.
ROI: cost of an undetected flaw
Average breach cost for a smaller company: €120,000-€1.24M (IBM 2025). A review at €4,200 that prevents one serious exposure still has a strong ROI.
Key Takeaways
Building HR, payroll, or recruiting software? CleanIssue performs security audits for HR SaaS in real-world conditions, no source code access needed. For a first read of your exposure, start with an external review of your application.
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Sources
Editorial analysis based on official vendor, project, and regulator documentation.
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