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Cybersecurity · head to head

Acunetix vs Varonis Data Security Platform

Acunetix logo

Acunetix

Cybersecurity

Web application security testing made easy

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Varonis Data Security Platform logo

Varonis Data Security Platform

Cybersecurity

Data security platform that maps effective permissions, content classification and access activity across file shares, Microsoft 365 and SaaS.

From
$100/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Acunetix pricing available by quote only; no transparent pricing published online; Varonis Data Security Platform deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • They diverge on capability: Acunetix covers DAST scanning, Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Acunetix and Varonis Data Security Platform actually diverge.

Attributes where Acunetix and Varonis Data Security Platform differ
AttributeAcunetixVaronis Data Security Platform
Starting priceOn request$100/year
PlatformsDesktop, Web, ApiWeb, Desktop

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity), founded (2005).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Acunetix

  • DAST scanning
  • IAST technology
  • AcuSensor
  • JavaScript security
  • SQL injection testing
  • XSS detection
  • OWASP Top 10
  • API security testing

Only in Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Effective permissions modelling
  • Content classification
  • Access activity auditing
  • Behavioural alerting
  • Blast radius view
  • Automated remediation
  • Stale data identification
  • Ransomware detection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Acunetix

  • Scanning web applications for security vulnerabilitiesnot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • Testing APIs for exploitable weaknesses and threatsnot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • Automating dynamic application security testing (DAST)not Varonis Data Security Platform
  • Finding and validating security issues in production environmentsnot Varonis Data Security Platform

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Answering an auditor or a board asking exactly which sensitive files are reachable by every employee and who has opened themnot Acunetix
  • Cleaning up Microsoft 365 sprawl where Teams, SharePoint sites and shared links accumulated faster than governancenot Acunetix
  • Investigating an insider incident where you need a defensible record of what a departing employee accessed and whennot Acunetix
  • Reducing the blast radius of a compromised account before an incident by removing global access groups and broken inheritancenot Acunetix

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Acunetix

  • Pricing available by quote only; no transparent pricing published online
  • Requires per-application licenses for comprehensive coverage
  • Scanning speed and feature depth depend on subscription tier
  • Advanced features like API security testing may require higher-tier plans

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • The collection model requires granting the platform broad read access across the data you are trying to protect, which needs its own approval and creates a high-value target, and some change boards spend longer approving that access than approving the purchase.
  • Findings are produced far faster than remediation capacity: an initial scan routinely surfaces hundreds of thousands of overexposed objects, and fixing them means altering permissions owned by business units, so without an executive mandate it becomes a dashboard nobody acts on.
  • Licensing is driven by identity counts and connected data sources, so a directory full of stale accounts and service principals inflates the bill and every additional platform you connect adds cost, which quietly pushes organisations to leave their least-governed systems uncovered.
  • Coverage is deepest in the Microsoft estate and thinner elsewhere: connectors exist for other SaaS and database platforms but they do not all support the same classification, alerting and automated remediation, so a heterogeneous estate receives uneven protection at a uniform price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Acunetix

On request
  • StandardFree
    • Single user
    • 5 targets
    • Scheduled scans
  • PremiumFree
    • Multiple users
    • Unlimited targets
    • CI/CD integration
  • Acunetix 360Free
    • Enterprise features
    • SDLC integration
    • Custom workflows

Varonis Data Security Platform

$100/year
  • Varonis Essentials$100/year
    • Data classification
    • Access visibility
    • Permission management
  • Varonis Professional$175/year
    • All Essentials features
    • Threat detection
    • User behavior analytics
  • Varonis Enterprise$300/year
    • All Professional features
    • Advanced analytics
    • Incident response

Which should you pick?

Choose Acunetix if

  • You need dast scanning.
  • You work on Desktop, Web, Api.
  • You also want iast technology.
Acunetix review

Choose Varonis Data Security Platform if

  • You need effective permissions modelling.
  • You work on Web, Desktop.
  • You also want content classification.
Varonis Data Security Platform review

Questions people ask

Is Acunetix or Varonis Data Security Platform better?
Neither clearly leads. Acunetix starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Acunetix or Varonis Data Security Platform?
Acunetix starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year.
Does Acunetix or Varonis Data Security Platform run on more platforms?
Acunetix runs on Desktop, Web, Api. Varonis Data Security Platform runs on Web, Desktop.
What is Acunetix best used for?
Acunetix is most often used for scanning web applications for security vulnerabilities, testing apis for exploitable weaknesses and threats, automating dynamic application security testing (dast), finding and validating security issues in production environments. Of those, scanning web applications for security vulnerabilities and testing apis for exploitable weaknesses and threats are not what Varonis Data Security Platform is typically brought in for.
What can Acunetix do that Varonis Data Security Platform cannot?
Acunetix covers DAST scanning, IAST technology, AcuSensor, JavaScript security. Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling, Content classification, Access activity auditing, Behavioural alerting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Acunetix: How much does Invicti (formerly Acunetix) cost?

Invicti pricing is available by quote based on your organization's needs, application count, and required features. The platform offers 8x faster scanning compared to competitors and detects 99.98% of exploitable vulnerabilities. Contact Invicti sales for a custom pricing proposal.

Source
Varonis Data Security Platform: Is this data loss prevention?

No, and it is a common confusion. DLP watches data in motion and tries to stop it leaving. Varonis works on data at rest: where it is, who can reach it, and who touched it. They address different halves of the same problem and organisations frequently run both.

Varonis Data Security Platform: On-premises or SaaS?

It is now sold principally as SaaS, with edge collectors deployed on your network to reach on-premises file shares and directories. Older on-premises deployments with Windows collectors and SQL Server still exist in the field and are being migrated.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Does it need agents on every server?

Generally no. It collects through APIs and network protocols with service accounts, with collectors deployed near the data rather than agents on every host. That is one reason deployment is less invasive than the scale of the data suggests.

Varonis Data Security Platform: How long until it is useful?

Expect weeks to a few months depending on the size of the file estate and how quickly the service accounts and access are approved. The classification and behavioural baselining both need time before the alerts mean anything.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Can it fix the problems it finds automatically?

Yes, it can remove global access groups, repair broken inheritance and quarantine exposed files under policy. Most organisations run this in simulation first, because automatically changing permissions on live business data goes wrong loudly.

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