Checking your app
- Automated scans and built-in checks: $0. Justin McKelvey’s price comparison lists Lovable’s scans and Supabase’s Security Advisor here.
- An audit by a person: about $199 to $1,499 at fixed-fee firms in the same comparison. Frenchy Digital lists a $1,500 to $3,500 health check.
- A penetration test: about $5,000 to $30,000 for a web app, according to Bright Defense.
A code review and a penetration test aren’t the same job. A review reads how your app works. A penetration test has someone try to break in. Compare like with like.
Fixing what’s wrong
- A freelancer, by the hour: about $25 to $50 for a junior and $95 to $160 for a senior developer, worldwide, according to goLance.
- A fixed project at a firm: Frenchy Digital lists $5,000 to $15,000 for a stabilization sprint, and $6,500 to $18,500 in total for security-only work.
- A full rescue: about $15,000 to $100,000 across the market, according to Justin McKelvey.
What moves the price
- How much is wrong: one setting costs far less than problems that run through the whole app.
- What it touches: logins, payments and personal data take more care.
- What you need at the end: a security certificate or a report for a big customer costs more than a plain answer.
What OpenKeel charges
- Free scan: $0, with no card, in about 20 seconds.
- Security audit: $199 for our first 20, then $299 with $99 off your first fix. It’s a code review, not a penetration test.
- “Fix one thing”: $99, for one small problem, fixed within 48 hours or refunded.
- Bigger fixes: one fixed price, and nothing starts until you approve it.
How to avoid overpaying
- Start with the free checks, so you know what you’re asking someone to fix.
- Ask for a fixed price, and what it includes, before anyone starts.
- Fix what matters most first. You don’t have to do everything at once.