Cost guide
Internal Network Penetration Testing Cost
Internal network penetration testing starts at $6,000, fixed in writing before any testing begins. From an assumed foothold, senior testers work toward Domain Admin through your Active Directory, segmentation, and lateral-movement paths, mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, and deliver full reporting with a free retest of the fixes.
Small
A single site or one Active Directory domain of up to a few hundred hosts, tested from an assumed foothold on the internal network.
Medium
A larger network across a few sites or VLANs, more hosts, and additional segmentation and services to work through toward Domain Admin.
Large
A large estate with multiple domains or forests, many sites, thousands of hosts, and hybrid identity linking on-premises Active Directory to the cloud.
What moves the number
What drives the cost of internal network penetration testing
Number of hosts and subnets
The size of the internal estate drives the effort: more hosts, servers, and subnets means more to enumerate and more paths to check. A single small site is far quicker than a sprawling network.
Active Directory complexity
One domain is simpler than several domains or a multi-forest estate. More domains, trusts, GPOs, and privileged groups create more escalation paths to Domain Admin that we have to find and prove.
Segmentation to test
Flat networks are quick to traverse; heavily segmented networks need reachability testing between every zone. The more VLANs and access rules you run, the more segmentation checks the scope has to include.
Hybrid identity
Active Directory Certificate Services and the bridge to Entra ID add newer escalation paths, including cloud-to-on-premises pivots. A hybrid identity estate is more to test than an isolated on-premises domain.
Number of sites
One location tested remotely through an appliance is straightforward. Several sites, or a requirement for a tester on-site, adds logistics and time, though most internal tests run remotely to keep the cost down.
In the price
What every internal network penetration testing price includes
- ✓Assumed-breach testing from a foothold on your internal network, run remotely, and also sold as a ransomware readiness assessment at the same starting price
- ✓Active Directory, lateral-movement, and privilege-escalation testing toward Domain Admin
- ✓Segmentation testing between network zones, mapped to MITRE ATT&CK, with the evidence PCI DSS 11.4.5 asks for (see network segmentation testing)
- ✓A fixed price agreed in writing before work begins, with no hourly billing
- ✓An executive summary for leadership and a full technical report with reproduction steps (see a sample penetration testing report)
- ✓A free retest of remediated findings, with the report updated to show them closed
- ✓An attestation letter and findings platform access at no extra cost
- ✓Senior in-house testers, no subcontractors or crowdsourced testers
Keep it tight
How to keep the price down
- 01Host the small appliance or virtual machine we provide rather than requiring an on-site tester. Remote assumed-breach testing keeps logistics and cost down and covers the same ground.
- 02Scope to one representative site or domain when several are near-identical. Testing one well and applying the findings across the estate is cheaper than testing every location.
- 03Provide a standard domain user account for the assumed-breach start. It reflects how a real intrusion begins and saves us the time of engineering an initial foothold ourselves.
- 04Tell us which systems are fragile or off-limits during scoping. Clear rules of engagement avoid mid-test pauses and let us plan the fastest safe path toward the objective.
Timeline
Onboarding begins within 24 hours of a signed proposal, and testing typically starts within a week of scoping, once the appliance or virtual machine is in place. A single-site network runs about a week of testing followed by reporting; multi-domain estates take longer. Critical findings are escalated the day we confirm them, and the free retest confirms the fixes held.
FAQ
Questions about internal network penetration testing cost
01How much does an internal network penetration test cost?
It starts at $6,000, fixed before work begins, with a free retest. Larger environments with more hosts or additional Active Directory forests start at $9,200 for medium and $14,500 and up for large. Most tests run remotely to keep costs down. Every price is on the pricing page.
02What drives the price of an internal test?
The number of hosts and subnets, how complex your Active Directory is, and how much segmentation there is to test. One domain on a single site is quicker than a multi-forest estate across several sites with hybrid identity linking on-premises AD to the cloud. Our guide to internal infrastructure penetration testing shows how that scope is counted.
03Do you have to come on-site, and does that cost more?
Usually not. Most internal tests run remotely through a small appliance or virtual machine we provide, which keeps cost and logistics down. On-site testing is available where you require it or where physical access is in scope, and we agree the approach during scoping.
04Will you try to reach Domain Admin as part of the price?
Yes, unless you tell us not to. Reaching Domain Admin, or the equivalent tier-zero control, is the clearest proof that one foothold becomes a full compromise, and the path we took is the most valuable part of the report. Off-limits systems are agreed in the rules of engagement.
05How can we keep an internal test affordable?
Host the appliance we provide instead of requiring an on-site tester, scope to one representative site or domain when several are near-identical, and provide a standard domain user account for the assumed-breach start. Flagging fragile systems up front avoids mid-test pauses.
06Can we test internal and external networks together?
Yes, as one engagement. External starts at $4,200 and internal at $6,000. The two prices add, with no bundle markup. Scoping and onboarding happen once, and one report chains the perimeter findings to the internal paths. External shows what an outsider can reach. Internal shows how far one foothold gets. See network penetration testing, or our guide to external vs internal penetration testing.
07Assumed breach: internal test or red team?
Both start from access you give us. They answer different questions. The internal test, from $6,000, starts from a standard user account and finds every path to Domain Admin and your sensitive systems. Your IT team knows it is running, and you get a full findings list and a free retest. A red team, from $12,500, can start from the same foothold but pursues one agreed objective quietly, to test whether your team detects and stops it. If you want every path found and fixed, buy the internal test.
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From $5,200Get the exact number for your scope
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