CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

42Crunch vs Astra Security

42Crunch sells a platform for governing the security of MCP servers, APIs and AI agents at enterprise scale. 42Crunch says it helps enterprises bring AI security under control. 42Crunch describes the job as discovering every MCP server that AI agents expose or consume, securing each one against attack, and assessing compliance with AI regulations and security frameworks. Astra Security sells a platform that performs continuous offensive pentests across apps, APIs and cloud. CISO Tribune files both under API security and Dynamic application security testing. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • 42Crunch
  • Astra Security
42Crunch vs Astra Security: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
42Crunch42Crunch sells a platform for governing the security of MCP servers, APIs and AI agents at enterprise scale. 42Crunch says it helps enterprises bring AI security under control. 42Crunch describes the job as discovering every MCP server that AI agents expose or consume, securing each one against attack, and assessing compliance with AI regulations and security frameworks.42crunch.comAstra SecurityAstra Security sells a platform that performs continuous offensive pentests across apps, APIs and cloud.getastra.com
What it sells
  • AI Regulatory Compliance[5]Evaluates every MCP server against regulatory and industry frameworks. Maps each finding to the control it breaches.
  • DAST Scanner[3][7]Dynamic vulnerability scanning with authenticated scans behind login screens.
Categories
Headquarters
London, United KingdomNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2018[2]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesPrivately held[6][7]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • September 23, 202642Crunch announced the general availability of its MCP Security Governance solution.[8]
  • January 19, 202642Crunch announced the availability of API Contract Generator in developer IDEs.[9]
Not stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, 42Crunch sells mainly to enterprise security and platform teams that govern MCP servers, APIs and AI agent security at scale. Its pricing is sized to the number of APIs, MCP servers and users in an organization. Individual developers who use its AI coding agent plugins have a separate self-serve pricing option.Not written yet
Last verified
November 9, 2026November 13, 2026

Where they overlap

  • 42Crunch and Astra Security are both filed under API security and Dynamic application security testing.

Where they differ, field by field

  • 42Crunch's primary category is API security; Astra Security's is Penetration testing and red team services.
  • 42Crunch is also filed under AI model and agent security. Astra Security is also filed under Vulnerability management.
  • 42Crunch lists AI Regulatory Compliance. Astra Security lists DAST Scanner.
  • 42Crunch is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
  • Astra Security was founded in 2018.
  • Astra Security is privately held.

What it sells: 42Crunch

What AI Regulatory Compliance does[5]
42Crunch continuously evaluates every MCP server against the regulatory and industry frameworks an organization answers to. It maps each finding to the specific control it breaches. The page says compliance posture is computed by the control on every audit and every scan, not assembled from documents afterward. Its headline refers to real-time compliance reporting mapped to five frameworks.

What it sells: Astra Security

What DAST Scanner does[3][7]
DAST Scanner is dynamic vulnerability scanning. Its scans cover CVEs and access control flaws. Authenticated scans run behind login screens. Integrations include CI/CD, Slack and Jira. Scan results and security posture can be shared with the Trust Center.

Questions about 42Crunch and Astra Security

What do 42Crunch and Astra Security sell?
42Crunch sells AI Regulatory Compliance. Astra Security sells DAST Scanner.
Are 42Crunch and Astra Security in the same category?
They share API security and Dynamic application security testing. 42Crunch's primary category is API security and Astra Security's is Penetration testing and red team services.
Where are 42Crunch and Astra Security headquartered?
42Crunch is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
When were 42Crunch and Astra Security founded?
Astra Security was founded in 2018.
Who owns 42Crunch and Astra Security?
Astra Security is privately held.
Who are 42Crunch and Astra Security sold to?
From its own pages, 42Crunch sells mainly to enterprise security and platform teams that govern MCP servers, APIs and AI agent security at scale.
What have 42Crunch and Astra Security announced recently?
September 23, 2026: 42Crunch announced the general availability of its MCP Security Governance solution.

About 42Crunch

42Crunch sells a platform for governing the security of MCP servers, APIs and AI agents at enterprise scale. 42Crunch says it helps enterprises bring AI security under control. 42Crunch describes the job as discovering every MCP server that AI agents expose or consume, securing each one against attack, and assessing compliance with AI regulations and security frameworks.[4][10]

42Crunch says AI coding agents ship MCP servers faster than any manual inventory process can track. 42Crunch discovers every MCP server across an organization automatically, both sanctioned and shadow alike, audits each one and ranks it by risk. 42Crunch says every request from an AI agent passes through the MCP server before it ever reaches an enterprise system or the API behind it. 42Crunch also says an MCP tool is only as secure as the API it wraps.[4]

42Crunch says its deterministic contract-driven model applies equally to the MCP and API layer. Every MCP server and every API behind it gets a machine-readable contract of its declared surface. In the 42Crunch model, discovery writes the contract, testing measures against it, and runtime enforces it. 42Crunch says the model it uses to secure APIs now extends to the MCP servers AI agents call and expose.[4][6]

On the MCP side, 42Crunch sweeps registries, gateways and repos to surface the shadow servers agents are already calling, then reads each server's advertised tools, resources and prompts and emits a contract. Every finding carries severity, evidence and the fix. 42Crunch fails the build when a server leaves its approved contract, then keeps watching the one in production for new tools, rewritten descriptions and widened permissions.[4]

Tests are generated from the OpenAPI definition and run in the pipeline, covering broken object-level authorization, broken auth, mass assignment and unrestricted resource consumption. All AI generated code is automatically fixed by 42Crunch. For runtime, 42Crunch describes a positive-security firewall assembled from the contract itself, where unknown paths, extra parameters, malformed payloads and over-sharing responses are rejected before they reach the backend.[4]

For compliance, 42Crunch says the EU AI Act, ISO 42001, NIST AI RMF, CSA AICM and OWASP are all tagged automatically on every audit. A security review doubles as compliance evidence without extra work. Each finding arrives already tied to the control it answers, so the audit trail for an AI estate is a by-product of the scan. 42Crunch computes compliance posture control by control on every audit and every scan, not assembled from documents afterward. Each audit and scan checks a server against all applicable frameworks at the same time.[4][5][11]

A server below the threshold does not reach production.[12]

42Crunch is built for enterprise security and platform teams governing MCP servers, APIs and AI agent security at scale. 42Crunch pairs API Audit, Scan and Protection with MCP Contract, Audit, Scan and Protect on one platform, with one set of SQG policies and one CI/CD pattern. Pricing includes a dedicated encrypted tenant, SSO and a dedicated support manager, sized to the number of APIs, MCP servers and users. Individual developers who use the 42Crunch AI coding agent plugins have a self-serve pricing option.[2][3][4][5][6][7][10][12]

42Crunch on the record

Sources

42Crunch full record

  1. [1]42crunch criticalblue announce partnership42Crunch · 42crunch.com · published November 21, 2018 · Tier A
  2. [2]42crunch.com42Crunch · 42crunch.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]42crunch publishes state of api security 202642Crunch · 42crunch.com · published February 11, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]42Crunch — AI Security Platform for MCP42Crunch · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]AI Regulatory Compliance | 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Management der MCP-Server-Sicherheitslage | 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]About 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]42Crunch Launches MCP Security Governance, Giving Enterprises Detailed AI Exposure Management and Compliance with AI Regulatory Frameworks42Crunch · published September 23, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]42Crunch Launches API Contract Generator in Developer IDEs42Crunch · published January 19, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Pricing | 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]KI-Regulierungskonformität | 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Management der MCP-Server-Sicherheitslage | 42Crunch42Crunch · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A

Astra Security full record

  1. [1]getastra.comAstra Security · getastra.com · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Astra Security Raises Funding to Simplify Cybersecurity With AI Driven PentestingBusiness Wire · businesswire.com · published February 5, 2025 · Tier A
  3. [3]Astra Security - AI Powered Continuous Pentest PlatformAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Top VAPT Companies in DelhiAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]The State of Cloud Security 2026 | Astra WebinarAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Fintech Penetration Testing | Secure Your Financial Platform with AstraAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]InsuranceAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Security research and credentials of Astra's world-class security engineers & pentesters.Astra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]SaaS Security Audit & Pentest Checklist | AstraAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]International SOS Secures 200+ Apps with AstraAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]SmartWinnr is Security Smart With Astra SecurityAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]ServerGuy Case Study | Astra PentestAstra Security · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A

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