Best alternative to Probely

middleBrick positions itself as a direct alternative to Probely for teams that need a self-service API security scanner with minimal operational overhead. The scanner operates in black-box mode, requiring no agents, SDKs, or code access, and returns a risk score on an A–F scale with prioritized findings. Scan duration is under one minute, and the read-only methodology ensures no destructive payloads are ever sent. For CI/CD and platform teams, the product provides a CLI, an MCP server for AI-assisted workflows, a web dashboard for tracking trends, and optional continuous monitoring. Compared to Probely, middleBrick emphasizes faster setup (no instrumentation), broader framework compatibility, and flexible deployment options while maintaining clear scope and documented limitations.

The scanner evaluates 12 security categories aligned to the OWASP API Top 10 (2023), and findings map directly to this framework as well as PCI-DSS 4.0 and SOC 2 Type II controls. Detection capabilities include authentication bypass attempts, JWT misconfigurations such as alg=none or expired tokens, BOLA and IDOR via sequential and adjacent ID probing, BFLA and privilege escalation indicators, over-exposed properties and mass-assignment surfaces, input validation issues like CORS wildcard usage and dangerous HTTP methods, rate-limiting behavior, data exposure patterns including PII and Luhn-validated card numbers, API key leaks across AWS, Stripe, GitHub, and Slack, encryption misconfigurations, SSRF indicators involving internal IP probing, and inventory issues such as missing versioning. An LLM security module conducts 18 adversarial probes across Quick, Standard, and Deep tiers to identify system prompt extraction, jailbreak attempts, data exfiltration patterns, and token smuggling.

middleBrick parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 files with recursive $ref resolution, cross-referencing spec definitions against runtime observations to surface undefined security schemes, deprecated operations, missing pagination, and sensitive field exposure. Authenticated scans are available from the Starter tier upward and support Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic authentication, and cookies. Domain verification is enforced through DNS TXT records or an HTTP well-known file to ensure only domain owners can submit credentials. A strict header allowlist permits only Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers, reducing noise and potential side-channel leakage.

The scanner adheres to a strict read-only posture, with destructive payloads never sent and internal infrastructure elements blocked at multiple layers. Customer data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation, and it is never sold or used for model training. For compliance framing, findings map to PCI-DSS 4.0 and SOC 2 Type II, and validate controls from OWASP API Top 10 (2023). For other regulations, the product helps you prepare for audits and supports audit evidence collection without asserting certification or compliance guarantees. Known limitations include no active exploitation (e.g., SQLi or command injection), no business logic validation, no blind SSRF detection, and no replacement of a human pentester for high-stakes engagements.

The web dashboard centralizes scan management, report generation, score trend analysis, and branded compliance PDF downloads. The CLI, distributed as an npm package, supports commands such as middlebrick scan https://api.example.com with JSON or text output. A GitHub Action enables CI/CD gating, failing builds when scores drop below configurable thresholds. The MCP server allows integration with AI coding assistants like Claude and Cursor, and a programmable API supports custom workflows. Continuous monitoring (Pro tier) offers scheduled rescans every 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, diff detection across scans, hourly-rate-limited email alerts, HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks, and auto-disable after five consecutive failures.

Free tier provides three scans per month with CLI access. Starter at 99 dollars per month supports 15 APIs, monthly scans, dashboard access, email alerts, and the MCP server. Pro at 499 dollars per month covers 100 APIs, with additional instances billed at 7 dollars each, adding continuous monitoring, GitHub Action gates, CI/CD integration, Slack and Teams alerts, compliance reports, and signed webhooks. Enterprise at 2000 dollars per month offers unlimited APIs, custom rules, SSO, audit logs, SLAs, and dedicated support. For teams seeking a focused, low-overhead scanner with clear scope and transparent pricing, middleBrick represents a practical alternative to Probely, while runners-up may suit niche requirements differently.