Alternatives to Akto for Solo founders

Try middleBrick free

What middleBrick covers

  • Black-box API scanning with a risk score in under a minute
  • 12 OWASP-aligned security categories with prioritized findings
  • OpenAPI 3.0/3.1 and Swagger 2.0 parsing with $ref resolution
  • Authenticated scans with Bearer, API key, Basic, and Cookie support
  • LLM/AI adversarial probe testing across multiple depth tiers
  • Continuous monitoring with diff detection and HMAC-SHA256 webhooks

Purpose-built for solo founders and small engineering teams

Akto targets enterprise workflows with complex onboarding and large-scale API catalogs. This tool is designed for small teams that need fast, low-friction insight into their public and partner APIs. Scan submission is a single URL input, and results surface a risk score with prioritized findings within under a minute. Black-box scanning requires no agents, SDKs, or code access, removing integration burden from development workflows.

Coverage aligned to OWASP API Top 10 and mapped compliance evidence

The scanner covers 12 security categories aligned to OWASP API Top 10 (2023), including authentication bypass, BOLA and BFLA, property over-exposure, input validation, rate limiting, data exposure, encryption misconfigurations, SSRF, inventory issues, unsafe consumption, and LLM/AI security probes. Findings map directly to OWASP API Top 10 and support audit evidence for SOC 2 Type II and PCI-DSS 4.0. The tool also helps you prepare for frameworks such as ISO 27001 and aligns with security controls described in relevant standards.

Authenticated scanning and safe detection methods

Authenticated scanning is available from the Starter tier onward, supporting Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies. Domain verification via DNS TXT record or HTTP well-known file ensures only the domain owner can scan with credentials. The scanner uses read-only methods (GET and HEAD) plus text-only POST for LLM probes, with private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints blocked at multiple layers. It does not fix, patch, block, or remediate, and it does not perform active SQL injection or command injection testing.

OpenAPI analysis and continuous monitoring

The scanner parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 with recursive $ref resolution, cross-referencing spec definitions against runtime findings such as undefined security schemes and deprecated operations. For ongoing visibility, the Pro tier offers scheduled rescans every 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, with diff detection for new findings, resolved findings, and score drift. Alerts are rate-limited to 1 per hour per API, and webhooks are HMAC-SHA256 signed, auto-disabling after 5 consecutive failures.

LLM/AI security testing and actionable reporting

The scanner includes 18 adversarial probes across 3 scan tiers (Quick, Standard, Deep) to test LLM and AI security, covering system prompt extraction, instruction override, DAN and roleplay jailbreaks, data exfiltration, cost exploitation, encoding bypasses, translation-embedded injection, few-shot poisoning, markdown injection, multi-turn manipulation, indirect prompt injection, token smuggling, tool-abuse, nested instruction injection, and PII extraction. Reports provide prioritized remediation guidance and can be downloaded as branded compliance PDFs from the web dashboard.

See how middleBrick compares See all use cases

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this replace a human pentester for high-stakes audits?
No. The tool detects and reports findings with remediation guidance, but it does not replace a human pentester for high-stakes audits.
What happens to my scan data after cancellation?
Customer scan data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation. Data is never sold and is not used for model training.
Which authentication methods are supported for authenticated scans?
Supported methods include Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies. Domain verification is required before authenticated scans are permitted.
Does the tool perform active injection attacks like SQL injection?
No. The scanner does not perform active SQL injection or command injection, as those require intrusive payloads outside its scope.

Related Pages

API security for SREsThe API security playbook for SREs: what to check, how often, and what to automate.API security for CTOsThe API security playbook for CTOs: what to check, how often, and what to automate.API security for VP of EngineeringsThe API security playbook for VP of Engineerings: what to check, how often, and what to automate.Alternatives to DetectifyViable alternatives to Detectify for API security — including middleBrick.Alternatives to Noname SecurityViable alternatives to Noname Security for API security — including middleBrick.Alternatives to Salt SecurityViable alternatives to Salt Security for API security — including middleBrick.