PortSwigger offers Burp Suite family of tools, while Rapid7 provides a full suite of solutions for security testing, vulnerability management and cyber defense. The tools that Portswigger and Rapid7 offer are different to serve different security requirements.
What is PortSwigger?
Burp Suite from PortSwigger is a widely used, one of the two or three most prevalent, web vulnerability scanning and penetration-testing tools to date. Burp Suite’s developers are clearly focused on the task of web application security – their product is designed for security professionals who want to skulk about in the shadows, looking for, identifying and analyzing, and exploiting vulnerabilities in the web obstacle course.
Key Features of PortSwigger:
- Burp Suite: Comprehensive toolset for web vulnerability scanning.
- Web Security Academy: Free learning platform with labs to practice attacking web vulnerabilities like SQL injection and XSS.
- Interactive Testing: Designed for security professionals and developers to test and fix web vulnerabilities during development.
- Customization: Custom workflows using extensions and automation.
- Versions: Free and paid versions (Pro) with advanced features like automated scanning.
What is Rapid7?
Rapid7 offers a broader collection of cybersecurity solutions to help with vulnerability management, incident detection, and automation products including Nexpose and InsightVM. As the name suggests, Nexpose is geared toward enabling security teams to identify, assess and resolve vulnerabilities that exist in the organization’s entire network infrastructure in one view. Rapid7 addresses the organization’s endpoint security challenges as well as threats related to cloud and web applications.
Key Features of Rapid7:
- Nexpose/InsightVM: Continuous vulnerability management across multiple environments (cloud, on-premise).
- Metasploit: Penetration testing framework used to simulate real-world attacks.
- Incident Detection and Response (IDR): Focus on threat detection and alerting.
- Automation: Enables quicker response to security threats and vulnerabilities.
- Security Analytics: Covers network, endpoint, and cloud vulnerabilities.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Focus Areas:
- PortSwigger: Focuses on web application security tools, especially Burp Suite.
- Rapid7: Provides comprehensive vulnerability management across networks, endpoints, and cloud environments.
User Experience:
- PortSwigger: Customizable for penetration testers with hands-on learning via the Web Security Academy.
- Rapid7: Automated enterprise-level management, with dashboards for real-time vulnerability detection.
Target Audience:
- PortSwigger: Ideal for penetration testers, web developers, and security engineers.
- Rapid7: Suited for larger enterprises needing broader cybersecurity coverage, including networks and endpoints.
Pricing:
- PortSwigger: Offers a free Community version of Burp Suite and a Pro version for $399/year.
- Rapid7: Pricing varies based on services and deployment size, typically catering to larger enterprises.
Pros and Cons:
PortSwigger Pros:
- Effective for web application security.
- Customizable with robust extensions.
- Free Web Security Academy for hands-on learning.
PortSwigger Cons:
- Limited to web application security.
- Best suited for users with prior web security knowledge.
Rapid7 Pros:
- Comprehensive vulnerability management.
- Real-world attack simulation through Metasploit.
- Extensive cloud, network, and endpoint protection.
Rapid7 Cons:
- Higher cost, more suited for enterprises.
- Complex configuration for smaller teams.
Which Platform is Right for You?
- PortSwigger: Ideal if you focus on web security and penetration testing, especially if you’re new to web vulnerabilities.
- Rapid7: Better for organizations needing comprehensive vulnerability management, spanning networks, cloud, and endpoints.
Conclusion: PortSwigger vs. Rapid7
So while you may love one over the other comparison between the two authorities: PortSwigger is best in class for web application security tools, and Rapid7 is best in class for vulnerability detection for everything except web application security. If you are interested in defending against web application security attacks, and need a live tool for doing web penetration testing, get Burp Suite. If you want a (very) comprehensive vulnerability management, detection and response solution for covering network infrastructure, endpoints, cloud and web applications, then get Nexpose and/or InsightVM.
It all depends, really, on the size of your organization: for penetration testing of websites, give your vote to PortSwigger, but if you want an enterprise-wide vulnerability management solution, Rapid7 is the better bet.