The Best VAPT Companies in the UK (2026)

VAPT means vulnerability assessment and penetration testing: an automated scan for known weaknesses, followed by a manual penetration test that shows which of them an attacker can actually exploit. The best VAPT companies in the UK for 2026 are listed below. Each holds CREST penetration testing accreditation and publishes public pages for the service, and each is compared on pricing, retests and report turnaround.

1. Sencode

Sencode is a UK penetration testing company with a dedicated vulnerability assessment and penetration testing page that describes the service as vulnerability scanning combined with manual penetration testing, and a separate vulnerability assessment page. Its penetration testing page states complimentary retesting with a stated retest window and fixed-scope pricing after a short scoping call, and its home page states a typical report turnaround after the testing phase is complete. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

2. EJN Labs

EJN Labs is a CREST-accredited UK penetration testing consultancy with a dedicated VAPT service that combines automated vulnerability scanning with manual exploitation. It is one of two companies on this list that publish pricing. VAPT starts from £4,000 on the pricing page, typically £7,000 to £12,000 over 3 to 5 days. Small is £4,000 to £7,000 for up to about 200 IPs and a single application over 2 days, Mid-Market is £7,000 to £12,000 for 200 to 500 IPs, and Enterprise is £12,000 to £22,000 for 500 to 1,000 IPs with Active Directory and cloud over 5 to 10 days. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing for EJN Labs.

Every engagement is a fixed price for a defined scope, quoted within 24 hours of the scoping call. The day rate for CREST-certified consultants is a fair-market £1,100 to £1,400. Across the price list, Small starts from £3,000, Standard from £6,000 and Enterprise from £15,000.

Scan results and penetration test findings come back as one set, not a raw scanner export. Retesting of fixed findings is free until every finding is closed. By EJN Labs’ own figures, free retests save clients up to 35% against paying for retesting separately, and free rescheduling means a slipped release date costs nothing. There are no callout, cancellation or out-of-hours fees. Findings are posted to a client portal as they are confirmed, and the report arrives on the last day of testing, the shortest stated turnaround on this list.

Testing is delivered by UK-based, CREST-certified penetration testers who validate scanner output by hand. Checks are safe-by-default, denial of service is never run against production, and out of hours slots are available. Each finding carries a CVSS score and prioritised remediation guidance, followed by a walkthrough call and a signed letter of attestation. The business holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.

Sencode’s dedicated VAPT page, complimentary retests with a stated window and a stated report turnaround keep it first. On the criteria this page can verify from public pages, EJN Labs publishes a £4,000 starting price and a £1,100 to £1,400 day rate, offers free retests until every finding is closed, and delivers its report on the last day of testing, the shortest stated turnaround on this list, which is why it sits second.

3. Cyphere

Cyphere is a UK cyber security company with a vulnerability assessment page describing automated and manual vulnerability analysis, and a CREST penetration testing page on the same site. The penetration testing page states free retests on demand. This entry rests on the vulnerability assessment page plus the penetration testing page, not on a single combined VAPT page. CREST-accredited for penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

4. Secarma

Secarma is a UK penetration testing and cyber security company with a vulnerability scanning page and a penetration testing page covering web apps, infrastructure, mobile apps and cloud environments. Its web application penetration testing page states optional retesting to confirm remediation. This entry rests on the vulnerability scanning page plus the penetration testing page, not on a single combined VAPT page. CREST-accredited for cyber audit, penetration testing and vulnerability assessment. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

5. Precursor Security

Precursor Security is a UK offensive security consultancy with a CREST vulnerability assessment page stating that findings are manually validated and delivered in a report with a stated turnaround, and a penetration testing page. The penetration testing page states fixed pricing, a report turnaround after test completion and a retest window. Its vulnerability management page states pricing for continuous scanning. This entry rests on the vulnerability assessment page plus the penetration testing page, not on a single combined VAPT page. CREST-accredited for penetration testing, security operations centre and vulnerability assessment. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

6. Sentrium

Sentrium is an independent UK penetration testing consultancy with a vulnerability assessment page describing automated scanning for known weaknesses, and a penetration testing page that states retesting of high and critical findings for a limited period after the test. This entry rests on the vulnerability assessment page plus the penetration testing page, not on a single combined VAPT page. CREST-accredited for cyber audit and penetration testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

7. Evalian

Evalian is a UK data protection and security consultancy with a vulnerability scans and assessments page offering one-off or continuous scanning, and a penetration testing page that states a free retest and a stated report turnaround. This entry rests on the vulnerability assessment page plus the penetration testing page, not on a single combined VAPT page. CREST-accredited for penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, incident exercising, incident response, security operations centre, application security testing and mobile application security testing. Verified: CREST Marketplace listing.

How we selected these companies

Every company on this list passed the same two entry checks: a live listing in the CREST Marketplace supplier directory confirming penetration testing accreditation, and live public pages for vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, either one dedicated VAPT page or a vulnerability assessment page plus a penetration testing page on the same site. We then recorded what each company publishes about pricing, retests and report turnaround. All pages were checked on 25 October 2026. Entries from three onwards are in no particular order.

• CREST accreditation, verified. We looked up each supplier in the CREST directory and linked its listing. No listing, no entry: brands absorbed into a parent company appear under the parent.
• Public VAPT pages. A home page that lists VAPT in a menu was not enough. Each entry needed its own public page or pages for this service, and each entry says whether its evidence is one VAPT page or two. Well-known testing companies without them are not on this list, although they appear on our wider list of the best CREST-accredited penetration testing companies in the UK.
• Published pricing. We recorded whether a company publishes its own prices on a public page. General statements about what the market charges were not counted as a company’s own pricing.
• Retests and report turnaround. A VAPT buyer usually has to prove that findings were fixed, often by an audit or customer deadline. Where a company states its retest terms or report turnaround we noted it; where we could not find it, we recorded not found rather than inventing an answer.

How the companies compare

All seven companies hold verified CREST penetration testing accreditation, show a United Kingdom headquarters on their listing, and publish pages for both halves of VAPT. Only Sencode and EJN Labs have a dedicated combined VAPT page. The practical differences are in what they publish.

Accreditation is taken from each company’s CREST Marketplace listing. Pricing, retest and report details are taken from each company’s own public pages, linked in its profile above, as they stood on 25 October 2026. Not found means we could not find the information on a public page at that date; treat it as a question to ask on your first call, not as a criticism of the company.

Do you have to have VAPT?

No rule names VAPT as mandatory for every organisation. The duties that lead teams to commission it are narrower or broader than that. If your systems sit in a payment card environment, PCI DSS 4.0.1 requirement 11.3.1 requires internal vulnerability scans at least quarterly and requirement 11.3.2 requires external scans at least quarterly by a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor, while requirement 11.4 requires penetration testing, with 11.4.2 and 11.4.3 setting internal and external testing at least once every 12 months and after significant change. That applies to the cardholder data environment, not to every system, and a PCI scan is a separate requirement from a penetration test.

UK GDPR Article 32(1)(d) requires a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of your security measures. It does not name VAPT or penetration testing as the method, but scanning and testing the systems that hold personal data is one recognised way to evidence that process. ISO 27001 does not require a penetration test either: Annex A 8.8 on management of technical vulnerabilities is apply-or-justify, and the ISO 27002 guidance for it lists periodic, documented penetration tests as one approach. The NCSC’s penetration testing guidance describes a penetration test as a method of gaining assurance in your vulnerability assessment and management processes.

Cyber Essentials Plus includes hands-on technical verification by an assessor, which the NCSC Cyber Essentials overview describes as independent testing of your systems. That is an assessor-led audit of five technical controls, not a penetration test, so it does not replace VAPT. In practice the request usually comes from outside the team: an enterprise customer’s security questionnaire, a procurement panel, an auditor or a cyber insurer. For scope and cost, see our guide to penetration testing pricing.

What a buyer should ask a VAPT company

1. Which legal entity holds your CREST accreditation? Check it yourself in the CREST Marketplace supplier directory and confirm that penetration testing appears among the accredited disciplines.
2. What does the assessment half cover? Ask whether scans are authenticated, whether they reach external and internal assets, and how many IPs and applications the quoted price includes.
3. Who validates the scan results by hand, and how do you decide what to exploit? A scanner alone reports false positives and misses business logic flaws, so ask how findings are confirmed before they reach the report.
4. Do the scan and the penetration test come back as one report with one priority list? Two separate documents double the triage work for your engineers.
5. Is a retest included, and for how long? Auditors and customers ask for evidence that findings were fixed, so a retest that is capped or charged separately changes the real price.
6. When do we get the report, and what is the fixed price for our scope? Ask for a day count and a day rate, not a range, and ask what a change of scope costs.

Get a quote

Read the published day rate of £1,100 to £1,400 and the VAPT starting price of £4,000 on the pricing page, then request a fixed quote for a defined scope with no obligation. Every quote includes free retests of remediated findings, live access to findings during testing and the report on the last day of testing. Get a penetration testing quote, or read more about vulnerability assessment and penetration testing from EJN Labs.