CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Assail vs StackHawk

Assail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach. StackHawk sells two plans, Wingman and StackHawk Scale, that run on HawkScan, a runtime testing engine for running applications. CISO Tribune files both under API security. 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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  • Assail
  • StackHawk
Assail vs StackHawk: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
AssailAssail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach.assailai.comStackHawkStackHawk sells two plans, Wingman and StackHawk Scale, that run on HawkScan, a runtime testing engine for running applications.stackhawk.com
What it sells
  • Ares[1][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]Continuous autonomous red teaming across web applications, APIs, and mobile apps.
  • Reaper[3]Autonomous offensive cyber operations built for military, federal, and intelligence missions.
  • Assail Anywhere[3]Deployment option for the entire platform, including the AI model.
  • Wingman[15][16]Runs inside a coding agent and tests the running app.
  • StackHawk Scale[15][16]The plan for security teams covering every app in the organization.
  • HawkScan[3][15]The runtime testing engine that tests the running application with real requests.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately heldNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • November 4, 2026Assail, Inc. announced Cassandra, a proactive AI agent integrated into its Ares platform, along with expanded threat modeling capabilities tied to autonomous security testing.[11]
  • July 7, 2026Assail Inc. launched Sidewinder, a rebuilt second-generation version of its Ares offensive security platform running on a new 31 billion-parameter model.[12]
  • April 30, 2026StackHawk connected its scan findings to Wiz, where they are synced automatically and shown as enrichment data on the Attack Surface Findings page.[12]
  • December 16, 2025StackHawk launched Business Logic Testing, automated multi-user authorization testing aimed at BOLA, BFLA and privilege escalation vulnerabilities.[14]
  • November 20, 2025StackHawk announced an integration that correlates findings from Endor Labs' SAST with StackHawk DAST findings.[13]
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, Assail sells mainly to security teams in manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. Its industry pages address manufacturers, banks and fintech firms, government agencies, vehicle makers, retailers, and defense programs. Assail also says it supports on-premises, air-gapped, own-cloud, and SaaS deployment for organizations that need to keep data under their control.Application security and product security teams that need coverage across every app and API are named as buyers, and the Scale plan is for security teams covering every app in the organization. The industries named are financial services, health tech, insurance, media, transportation, education technology, and cloud analytics. Scans are described as fitting into any pipeline and any environment, with no vendor cloud.
Last verified
October 21, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Assail and StackHawk are both filed under API security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Assail's primary category is Breach simulation and automated pen-testing; StackHawk's is Dynamic application security testing.
  • Assail is also filed under Mobile security.
  • Assail lists Ares, Reaper and Assail Anywhere. StackHawk lists Wingman, StackHawk Scale and HawkScan.
  • Assail is privately held.

What it sells: Assail

What Ares does[1][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]
Ares uses coordinated AI agents to discover weaknesses and validate what an attacker could actually reach. It tests authenticated applications through the existing identity provider and tracks changes across known and shadow APIs. Ares delivers the evidence behind each confirmed risk.
What Reaper does[3]
Assail describes Reaper as built for military, federal, and intelligence missions. Assail has expanded Reaper's sovereign deployment architecture to AWS GovCloud and Google Cloud Assured Workloads.

What it sells: StackHawk

What Wingman does[15][16]
Wingman runs inside the coding agent that engineers already use. When the agent finishes a feature, Wingman tests the running app with HawkScan, hands the findings to the same agent, and rescans after the fix.
What StackHawk Scale does[15][16]
StackHawk Scale adds attack surface discovery and program reporting for security teams. StackHawk Scale is priced by team, not by usage.
What HawkScan does[3][15]
HawkScan tests the running application with real requests. StackHawk scans run as a CLI or Docker container that spins up and shuts down per scan. StackHawk scan configuration is YAML config-as-code, versioned alongside the app.

Questions about Assail and StackHawk

What do Assail and StackHawk sell?
Assail sells Ares, Reaper and Assail Anywhere. StackHawk sells Wingman, StackHawk Scale and HawkScan.
Are Assail and StackHawk in the same category?
They share API security. Assail's primary category is Breach simulation and automated pen-testing and StackHawk's is Dynamic application security testing.
Who owns Assail and StackHawk?
Assail is privately held.
Who are Assail and StackHawk sold to?
From its own pages, Assail sells mainly to security teams in manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. Application security and product security teams that need coverage across every app and API are named as buyers, and the Scale plan is for security teams covering every app in the organization.
What have Assail and StackHawk announced recently?
November 4, 2026: Assail, Inc. announced Cassandra, a proactive AI agent integrated into its Ares platform, along with expanded threat modeling capabilities tied to autonomous security testing. April 30, 2026: StackHawk connected its scan findings to Wiz, where they are synced automatically and shown as enrichment data on the Attack Surface Findings page.

About Assail

Assail sells Ares, an autonomous offensive security platform that tests applications, APIs, mobile apps and AI systems and shows what an attacker could actually reach.[1]

Assail says Ares continuously tests applications, APIs, mobile apps, and AI systems as they change. Ares follows attack paths, exploits weaknesses, and proves what an attacker could actually reach. Coordinated AI agents extend testing capacity, and Ares tests authenticated applications through the customer's existing identity provider. Ares also tracks changes across known and shadow APIs and delivers the evidence behind each confirmed risk.[3]

Assail describes Ares as combining autonomous red teaming, attack surface management, and Shadow AI discovery across web, API, mobile, and supported AI environments, with applicable MITRE ATLAS coverage. The Ares platform is powered by Assail's domain-adapted model for security reasoning and tool use.[3][7]

On deployment, Assail says Ares can run within the customer's own infrastructure, even in disconnected environments. With Assail Anywhere, the entire platform, including the AI model, deploys on-premises, inside isolated and air-gapped networks, in the customer's own cloud, or through Assail's SaaS. Assail has also announced that it expanded Reaper's sovereign deployment architecture to AWS GovCloud and Google Cloud Assured Workloads.[3]

Assail names Ares, Reaper, and Scorpion as the products taken to the fight. Reaper is described as autonomous offensive cyber operations built for military, federal, and intelligence missions.[3]

Assail publishes industry pages for manufacturing, financial services, federal and state government, automotive, retail, and defense. In manufacturing, Ares validates systems such as ERP, MES, PLM, supplier portals, industrial APIs, and connected products. In financial services, Ares validates APIs, payment rails, mobile banking apps, and open banking integrations. For retail, Ares validates e-commerce web apps, mobile shopping apps, loyalty APIs, and gift card platforms. In automotive it covers telematics APIs, OTA infrastructure, and mobile companion apps.[4][5][6][9][10]

Assail says its team brings 26 years of offensive security experience. Assail also publishes original research on attack techniques and the exploitation of AI and API surfaces. A customer, Branch, says Ares helps its security team increase penetration testing frequency and validate remediations faster.[1][2][3][4][5][6][8]

Assail on the record

Sources

Assail full record

  1. [1]assailai.comAssail · assailai.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Press releasesAssail · assailai.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Automotive | AssailAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Assail | Autonomous Offensive AI for the modern application stackAssail · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Assail Introduces Cassandra, a Proactive AI Agent Connecting Threat Modeling with Autonomous Security TestingPR Newswire · published November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Assail launches Sidewinder, an offensive security AI that fixes its own mistakesSiliconANGLE · published July 7, 2026 · Tier B

StackHawk full record

  1. [1]stackhawk.comStackHawk · stackhawk.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Stackhawk launches sensitive data identification to help security teams protect high risk apis 302476776StackHawk via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published June 12, 2025 · Tier A
  3. [3]AI Coding Agent Security Platform | StackHawk, Inc.StackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]AI Coding Agent Security for Modern Security Teams | StackHawk, Inc.StackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]API Security Testing Trusted by HealthTechStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]API Security that keeps pace with FinTech InnovationStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Getting Started | Delivering Secure Applications, SimplifiedStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]OWASP Top 10 Solution Page with StackHawk InsightsStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]StackHawk: Your AppSec Intelligence PlatformStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Secure Vibe Coding with StackHawkStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Runtime Application Business Logic Testing for API-Driven AppsStackHawk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]StackHawk and Wiz: One Risk Picture Across the Application and Cloud LayerStackHawk · published April 30, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]StackHawk + Endor Labs: Correlating and Prioritizing SAST and DAST FindingsStackHawk · published November 20, 2025 · Tier A
  14. [14]Introducing Intelligent Business Logic Testing: Find Authorization Flaws Pre-ProductionStackHawk · published December 16, 2025 · Tier A
  15. [15]About StackHawk | Security Feedback for Coding AgentsStackHawk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Pricing for StackHawk's AI Coding Agent Security PlatformStackHawk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Modern DAST | StackHawk Dynamic Application Security TestingStackHawk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]The Developer-First Alternative to Bright SecurityStackHawk · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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