Cymulate vs Fortra's Cobalt Strike comparison

Cymulate and Fortra are both solutions in the Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) category. Cymulate is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3, while Fortra is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.5. Cymulate holds a 17.0% mindshare in BAS, compared to Fortra’s 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cymulate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortra users who would recommend it.

Cymulate

Read 6 Cymulate reviews

4,214 Views
2,402 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Read 2 Fortra's Cobalt Strike reviews

362 Views
337 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cymulate

Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Cymulate and Fortra's Cobalt Strike compete in the cybersecurity testing space. Cymulate seems more favorable due to its pricing and support, while Fortra's Cobalt Strike offers comprehensive features appealing to advanced security professionals.

Features: Cymulate provides automated continuous security validation, risk assessment capabilities, and rapid deployment. Fortra's Cobalt Strike offers adversary simulation, red teaming, and penetration testing with extensive customization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cymulate delivers straightforward deployment with a cloud-based approach and efficient service. Fortra's Cobalt Strike, though robust, necessitates a more involved setup due to its comprehensive nature. Cymulate's customer service is responsive, whereas Fortra's support is detailed and reflects its technical complexity.

Pricing and ROI: Cymulate offers a cost-effective solution with immediate ROI through simplified deployment and automation. Fortra's Cobalt Strike requires a higher initial investment but provides substantial ROI for deep penetration testing.

To learn more, read our detailed Cymulate vs. Fortra's Cobalt Strike Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cymulate vs. Fortra's Cobalt Strike

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cymulate

Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (9th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (10th), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (2nd)

Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Ranking in Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)

6th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) category, the mindshare of Cymulate is 17.0%, down from 22.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortra's Cobalt Strike is 2.7%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cymulate	17.0%
Fortra's Cobalt Strike	2.7%
Other	80.3%

Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)

Featured Reviews

SaarBar

Security Architec at Shikun & Binui

Support and integration enhance security posture over three years

I don't know if there's something that could be improved. They surprise me. As I mentioned, I returned a month ago. I haven't fully investigated the complete system yet. I must say that we have been with them for around three years. This is amazing because throughout these three years, they have supported us every week. We meet weekly to review results and fix issues together. Apart from occasional days off, this weekly support has been consistent for three years. It's remarkable because many products are sold and then the product teams forget about you, but this isn't the case with Cymulate.

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reviewer2519427

Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Compact, versatile, creates shell codes for bypassing antivirus and built-in report templates streamline the process

Probably its delivery methods could be improved. It might need some improvements on its spear phishing module. You can clone a web page, and then you can spear phish a target, and the target connects to your beacon. I believe that it needs to be more modernized to the current standards of multi-factor authentication bypass. Although there are already tools that actually do that, like Evilginx that’s been used as a proxy server, I truly believe Cobalt Strike could do something like that. I believe if Cobalt modernize this specific feature to try to bypass multi-factor authentication, it’s gonna be something. I’m not aware if it’s actually a feature in the latest Cobalt Strike updates, but from my version, I don’t see that it’s possible right now. I don’t think AI is at the stage where it can conduct such complex operations. AI is mostly being used to create phishing templates, very simple stuff. AI is not mature enough to do something more complex, although I truly believe that in a few years, it might have such capabilities.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Cymulate is easy to set up, install, and configure."

"The security validation feature helps my organization in assessing our security posture."

"The reporting capabilities are very good."

"The most valuable feature for us is the zero-day."

"Cymulate has positively impacted our organization by helping us to take care of the efficacy and reviewing the policies and configuration."

"With Cymulate, the best features are the capacity to test the EDR or malware, anti-malware solution."

"Cobalt Strike offers significant customization capabilities."

"It also made a lot of post-exploitation activities easier."

Cons

"The way Cymulate works for EDR could be improved, as it drops payload and requires action from the EDR console for remediation, which can block the whole process of Cymulate execution."

"The cost can be quite high, and it impacts scalability as more simulations require additional expenses."

"The product must provide consultancy for initial setup."

"I will be honest, we have it, but in the last year, I didn't maintain the system until a month ago."

"We have had some trouble with the agents."

"The reporting process requires significant improvement as it often takes longer than expected and the quality is lacking."

"The stability of the tool can be improved."

"Probably its delivery methods could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cymulate's services are expensive."

"The product is affordable."

"It's expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	3

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cymulate?

The most valuable feature for us is the zero-day.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cymulate?

I don't know if it's expensive. It depends on the modules that you want, or the time, because they give you a tenant. A tenant for you.

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What needs improvement with Cymulate?

I don't know if that helped with quick decision making for my security team because I am the security team and you must have a dedicated team to work with this tool. I don't use the analytics modul...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's Cobalt Strike?

While not inexpensive, Cobalt Strike is a comprehensive platform. Its pricing reflects the capabilities and flexibility it offers. The solution can be cost-effective when utilizing its full potenti...

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What needs improvement with Fortra's Cobalt Strike?

The stability of the tool can be improved. There are some limitations, but they tend to be more from outside of the tool rather than within it. The limitations often come from operators who may lac...

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What is your primary use case for Fortra's Cobalt Strike?

I use Cobalt Strike to emulate threat actor activities.

See all answers

Comparisons

Pentera vs Cymulate

Compared 24% of the time

Picus Security vs Cymulate

Compared 14% of the time

XM Cyber vs Cymulate

Compared 11% of the time

SafeBreach vs Cymulate

Compared 7% of the time

More Cymulate Competitors

Fortra's Outflank vs Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Compared 23% of the time

Pentera vs Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Compared 21% of the time

AttackIQ vs Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Compared 19% of the time

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai vs Fortra's Cobalt Strike

Compared 17% of the time

More Fortra's Cobalt Strike Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cymulate

January 2026

Download Cymulate product report

Buyer's Guide

Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)

January 2026

Download Fortra's Cobalt Strike product report

Overview

For companies that want to manage their security posture against the evolving threat landscape: Cymulate SaaS-based Extended Security Posture Management (XSPM) deploys within an hour, enabling security professionals to continuously challenge, validate and optimize their cyber-security posture end-to-end across the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The platform provides out-of-the-box, expert and threat intelligence-led risk assessments that are simple to deploy and use for all maturity levels, and constantly updated. It also provides an open framework to create and automate red and purple teaming by generating penetration scenarious and advanced attack campaigns tailored to their unique environments and security politices. Cymulate allowes professionals to manage, know and control their dynamic environment.

Cymulate

Cobalt Strike is red teaming software that emulates long-term attack techniques. Your red team can use real-world attack methods with covert security tools and after the red team exercise is complete, detailed reports help strengthen your blue team security.

Fortra

Sample Customers

Euronext, YMCA, Telit, Nemours

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Cymulate vs. Fortra's Cobalt Strike

December 2025

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