Fortra BeSTORM vs w3af: side-by-side comparison (2026)
Fortra BeSTORM is a commercial dynamic application security testing solution by Fortra. w3af is a free dynamic application security testing solution. Features, integrations, deployment and the company behind each one, side by side.
Black box fuzzer and DAST product for application security testing
w3af is an open source web application security scanner that identifies over 200 types of vulnerabilities including XSS, SQL injection, and OS commanding in web applications.
Side-by-side comparison
Feature
Fortra BeSTORM
w3af
Pricing model
Commercial
Free
Category
Dynamic Application Security Testing
Dynamic Application Security Testing
Deployment and fit
Deployment type
Hybrid
On-Premises
Company size fit
Mid-Market, Enterprise
Startup, SMB, Mid-Market
Open source
GitHub stars
–
4,852
Last commit
–
Jun 2020
Company
Company
Fortra
–
Use cases and capabilities
DAST
Yes
No
Fuzzing
Yes
No
Black Box Testing
Yes
No
Protocol Analysis
Yes
No
Critical Infrastructure
Yes
No
SQL Injection
No
Yes
Web Security
No
Yes
Security Scanning
No
Yes
Open Source
No
Yes
XSS
No
Yes
Core features
- Black box fuzzing without source code access
- Automated malformed input generation and injection
- Protocol and API security testing
- Vulnerability detection including buffer overflows and format string errors
- Support for a wide range of protocols and application interfaces
- Pre-release application security validation
No features listed
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