NowSecure Alternatives

Why Look for NowSecure Alternatives?

NowSecure is one of the most established mobile security testing platforms on the market. Its combination of automated SAST, DAST, and IAST analysis with deep privacy tracking has made it the default choice for enterprises in banking, telecom, and healthcare. But not every team needs what NowSecure offers, and not every team can afford it.

The most common reason teams explore alternatives is pricing. NowSecure is an enterprise-focused platform with custom pricing that puts it out of reach for smaller development teams and startups. Organizations scanning only a handful of mobile apps may find it hard to justify the investment when more affordable options cover their core needs.

Other teams run into scope mismatches. NowSecure excels at privacy and data flow analysis, but some organizations primarily need vulnerability detection without the full compliance apparatus. Teams building internal-only apps or apps that handle minimal user data may not need the depth of GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA mapping that NowSecure provides. And some security teams simply prefer open-source tools they can self-host and customize without depending on a vendor’s cloud infrastructure.

Finally, some teams want a simpler setup. NowSecure’s platform is powerful but feature-dense, and smaller teams without dedicated mobile security engineers sometimes prefer tools with a shorter learning curve and faster time to first scan.

Top NowSecure Alternatives

1. MobSF

MobSF (Mobile Security Framework) is the most widely used open-source mobile security testing tool, with over 20,300 GitHub stars and 104 contributors. It performs static and dynamic analysis on Android, iOS, and Windows app binaries.

Upload an APK or IPA, and MobSF decompiles the binary, runs security checks, and presents findings in a web dashboard. Dynamic analysis uses Frida for runtime instrumentation, monitoring network traffic, file system operations, and crypto function calls. Results map to OWASP MASVS and can be exported as PDF reports or pulled through the REST API.

MobSF runs entirely self-hosted via Docker, which means nothing leaves your network. For CI/CD pipelines, the companion tool mobsfscan provides lightweight source code scanning with SARIF output.

Best for: Teams that need a free, self-hosted mobile security testing setup with both static and dynamic analysis. License: Open-source (GPL-3.0) Key difference: Completely free with no usage caps. Lacks NowSecure’s privacy analysis, real device testing, and vendor support.

MobSF review

2. Appknox

Appknox is an enterprise mobile security platform that bundles automated scanning with manual penetration testing. The platform evaluates apps against 130+ security test cases covering SAST, DAST, and API testing, and offers expert manual pen testing with results delivered within 3-5 business days.

Recognized in the Gartner 2025 Hype Cycle for Application Security, Appknox is trusted by over 300 enterprises including Samsung, Singapore Airlines, and Paytm. The platform supports compliance reporting for GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and NIST, along with app store monitoring through its Storeknox add-on.

Appknox offers both cloud and on-premises deployment, which gives teams flexibility that NowSecure’s primarily cloud-based approach does not.

Best for: Regulated enterprises that need automated scanning plus manual penetration testing without building an in-house mobile AppSec team. License: Commercial Key difference: Includes expert manual pen testing alongside automated scanning. More accessible pricing than NowSecure for mid-market organizations.

Appknox review

3. Oversecured

Oversecured is a purpose-built mobile security scanner that focuses on detection accuracy above all else. It covers 175+ Android and 85+ iOS vulnerability categories with a reported 99.8% detection rate and just 3% false positives. Scans complete in under five minutes.

The scanner works on compiled binaries without source code access. Each finding includes highlighted code, exact file paths, and working proof-of-concept exploits where possible. Oversecured ranked first in Samsung’s mobile vulnerability detection program and supports cross-platform frameworks including React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, and Cordova.

The unlimited scan model makes it practical to test on every commit rather than only before releases.

Best for: Teams that need the highest detection accuracy with minimal false positives, especially across multiple mobile apps. License: Commercial Key difference: Pure vulnerability detection focus with proof-of-concept exploits. No privacy analysis or compliance mapping, but unmatched accuracy for finding mobile-specific bugs.

Oversecured review

4. Data Theorem Mobile Secure

Data Theorem provides full-stack mobile security, scanning everything from app binaries to third-party SDKs to backend APIs. Ranked #1 in Cloud Native Applications in the Gartner 2025 Critical Capabilities for AST, the platform protects apps serving over 2.8 billion users worldwide.

The Analyzer Engine runs SAST, DAST, SCA, and runtime analysis. It auto-triages findings and sends P1 alerts for critical issues, generates secure code suggestions, and produces one-click compliance reports. Data Theorem also monitors published apps by pulling them directly from the App Store and Google Play.

The third-party SDK firewall is particularly relevant for teams concerned about supply chain risk from embedded SDKs.

Best for: Enterprises that need to secure both mobile apps and the APIs behind them, with continuous monitoring of published apps. License: Commercial Key difference: Full-stack coverage from app binary to backend APIs. Third-party SDK firewall and runtime protection go beyond what NowSecure’s testing-focused approach covers.

Data Theorem review

5. Zimperium zScan

Zimperium zScan combines standard vulnerability scanning with security control validation. Beyond finding weaknesses, it verifies that defensive measures like anti-tampering, anti-reversing, SSL pinning, and root detection are correctly implemented. Scans finish in 15-30 minutes.

Part of the Zimperium Mobile Application Protection Suite (MAPS), zScan works standalone or alongside zShield (app hardening), zDefend (runtime protection), and zKeybox (key protection). The platform produces SARIF reports and has official plugins for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Harness, GoCD, and Bitrise.

Zimperium holds a Forrester Wave Leader position in Mobile Threat Defense and offers a free 30-day trial with unlimited app scans.

Best for: Teams that have invested in app hardening and need to verify those controls are working, not just find new vulnerabilities. License: Commercial Key difference: Security control validation sets it apart. Confirms that anti-tampering, SSL pinning, and root detection are actually implemented correctly.

Zimperium zScan review

6. Ostorlab

Ostorlab is built around OXO, an open-source scanning orchestration engine that coordinates multiple security tools (Nmap, Nuclei, ZAP, and custom agents) under one framework. The commercial platform adds managed hosting, team collaboration, attack surface discovery, and an AI copilot.

Three scan profiles cover different needs: Fast Scan for static-only checks, Full Scan for static plus dynamic analysis with backend testing, and Privacy Scan for dedicated data flow tracking and compliance verification. The agent architecture makes it easy to add custom scanning capabilities.

OXO can be self-hosted for free via pip, giving teams an open-source starting point with a clear upgrade path to the commercial platform.

Best for: Security teams that want multi-tool orchestration and the flexibility to start free with OXO before scaling to a managed platform. License: Freemium (OXO is Apache 2.0) Key difference: Open-source core with multi-tool orchestration. The agent marketplace and Docker-based architecture let teams customize their scanning pipeline.

Ostorlab review

7. esChecker

esChecker by eShard is a MAST solution that emphasizes OWASP MASVS-aligned testing and security regression prevention. The platform uses a DAST engine with IAST capabilities to run static, dynamic, and stress testing on mobile binaries.

Built by eShard, a French cybersecurity company known for hardware security and binary analysis, esChecker brings deep binary analysis expertise to mobile app testing. Results map directly to OWASP MASVS levels (L1 and L2) and MASTG test cases, making it straightforward to demonstrate compliance.

The collaborative platform lets multiple team members work on security assessments together, sharing results and tracking remediation progress.

Best for: Teams where OWASP MASVS compliance is a hard requirement and security regression testing between releases is critical. License: Commercial Key difference: Strong OWASP MASVS and MASTG alignment with clear pass/fail status per test case. Regression-focused workflow designed for pre-release verification.

esChecker review

Feature Comparison

When to Stay with NowSecure

NowSecure remains the right choice in several scenarios:

• Privacy and data flow analysis are critical. NowSecure’s privacy engine tracks exactly what user data gets collected, where it flows, and whether it is encrypted. No alternative matches this depth of data flow visibility across third-party SDKs.
• You need Google ADA MASA certification. NowSecure is an authorized lab for Google’s App Defense Alliance Mobile Application Security Assessment. Apps that pass receive a verified security badge on Google Play.
• Real device testing matters. NowSecure runs tests on actual devices rather than just emulators, which catches issues that emulator-only testing misses, particularly around hardware-specific behaviors and biometric implementations.
• You want managed penetration testing. NowSecure PTaaS provides continuous penetration testing by their security researchers, combining automated findings with human expertise.
• Regulated industries with strict compliance needs. If your organization needs comprehensive GDPR, CCPA, or HIPAA compliance reporting with detailed data flow evidence, NowSecure’s integrated compliance mapping is hard to replicate with alternatives.
• OTT application testing. NowSecure supports testing for Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android TV apps, a capability that none of the alternatives listed here offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Written by

Suphi Cankurt

Suphi Cankurt is an application security enthusiast based in Helsinki, Finland. He reviews and compares 129 AppSec tools across 10 categories on AppSec Santa. Learn more.