# Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs Pacu: side-by-side comparison (2026)

[Ironwood Cyber Enlight](https://cybersectools.com/tools/ironwood-cyber-enlight) is a commercial [penetration testing](https://cybersectools.com/categories/pentesting-tools) solution by [Ironwood Cyber](https://cybersectools.com/companies/ironwood-cyber). [Pacu](https://cybersectools.com/tools/pacu) is a free [penetration testing](https://cybersectools.com/categories/pentesting-tools) solution. Features, integrations, deployment and the company behind each one, side by side.

## Side-by-side comparison

| | Ironwood Cyber Enlight | Pacu |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Commercial | Free |
| Category | Penetration Testing | Penetration Testing |
| Verified | No | No |
| Deployment type | Hybrid | On-Premises |
| Company size fit | SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise | Mid-Market, Enterprise |
| GitHub stars | – | 4,883 |
| Last commit | – | Jul 2025 |
| Company | Ironwood Cyber | – |
| Headquarters | – | – |

### Use cases and capabilities

| | Ironwood Cyber Enlight | Pacu |
|---|---|---|
| Attack Paths | Yes | – |
| Lateral Movement | Yes | – |
| Privilege Escalation | Yes | Yes |
| Continuous Testing | Yes | – |
| AI Pentesting | Yes | – |
| Lambda | – | Yes |
| AWS | – | Yes |

### Core features

**Ironwood Cyber Enlight**

9 features listed. Sign in on the page to see them.

**Pacu**

No features listed.

### Integrations

**Ironwood Cyber Enlight**

1 integration listed. Sign in on the page to see them.

**Pacu**

No integrations listed.

## Which one fits you

Based on what each listing shows: deployment, company size, price and open source.

- [Ironwood Cyber Enlight](https://cybersectools.com/tools/ironwood-cyber-enlight) fits if you need both cloud and on-premises options and you are a small business.
- [Pacu](https://cybersectools.com/tools/pacu) fits if you need to run it on your own servers, you need a free product and you want an open-source product.

## Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs Pacu FAQ

Common questions when comparing Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs Pacu for penetration testing.

### What is the difference between Ironwood Cyber Enlight and Pacu?

**Ironwood Cyber Enlight**: Autonomous pentesting platform that discovers, exploits & maps attack paths. Built by Ironwood Cyber.

**Pacu**: Pacu is an open-source AWS exploitation framework designed for offensive security testing against cloud environments through modular attack capabilities.

The table above shows where their features, integrations, deployment and company size fit differ.

### Who makes Ironwood Cyber Enlight and Pacu?

**Ironwood Cyber Enlight** is made by Ironwood Cyber. **Pacu** is open-source with 4,883 GitHub stars. The vendor behind a product decides its roadmap, support, and longevity, so check each company's profile before you commit.

### Is Ironwood Cyber Enlight a good alternative to Pacu?

Often, yes. Ironwood Cyber Enlight and Pacu are both Penetration Testing products, and both cover Privilege Escalation. Key differences: Ironwood Cyber Enlight is Commercial while Pacu is Free, Pacu is open-source. Use the table above to see where features, deployment and company size fit differ.

## Related comparisons

- [Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs ORDAL Continuous Pentesting Engine](https://cybersectools.com/compare/ironwood-cyber-enlight-vs-ordal-continuous-pentesting-engine)
- [Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs Managed Autonomous Pentesting (MAP)](https://cybersectools.com/compare/hackurity-art-stack-vs-ironwood-cyber-enlight)
- [Ironwood Cyber Enlight vs AI Pentest Copilot](https://cybersectools.com/compare/ai-pentest-copilot-vs-ironwood-cyber-enlight)
- [Pacu vs ORDAL Continuous Pentesting Engine](https://cybersectools.com/compare/ordal-continuous-pentesting-engine-vs-pacu)
- [Pacu vs Managed Autonomous Pentesting (MAP)](https://cybersectools.com/compare/hackurity-art-stack-vs-pacu)
- [Pacu vs AI Pentest Copilot](https://cybersectools.com/compare/ai-pentest-copilot-vs-pacu)

## Alternatives to each

- [See all Ironwood Cyber Enlight alternatives](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/ironwood-cyber-enlight)
- [See all Pacu alternatives](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/pacu)

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Source: https://cybersectools.com/compare/ironwood-cyber-enlight-vs-pacu

For AI agents: each product above has its own Markdown page (add .md to its URL, for example https://cybersectools.com/tools/ironwood-cyber-enlight.md). Every CybersecTools shortlist is listed at https://cybersectools.com/shortlists.md.

More on Ironwood Cyber Enlight and Pacu: funding, momentum, hiring and news, plus the full product and company record, are available through the Mandos MCP Server (paid plans), which connects to AI assistants: https://mandos.io/mcp?utm_source=cybersectools.com&utm_medium=compare-md