Shannon Pricing 2026: Plans, Costs & Free Options
Last Updated: May 2026
Aggressive autonomous AI exploitation tool. Finds SQLi, XSS, SSRF, Auth bypass and provides proof-of-concept evidence automatically. This page breaks down Shannon's Free/OSS pricing model, what it includes, and how it compares to free alternatives in the Penetration Testing & Red Team category.
Pricing Overview
Pricing Model
Free/OSS
This means the tool is free to use and typically open-source — you self-host it, customize it, and pay nothing for the software itself.
Is Shannon Free?
Yes, Shannon is completely free and open-source. You can download, use, and modify it without paying any license fees.
Is Shannon Worth It?
Shannon is rated 4/5 in our Penetration Testing & Red Team directory and is completely free, which makes it an easy recommendation for any team that can self-host and manage their own deployment. You get full functionality without licensing costs, though you trade vendor support for community forums and documentation. For Penetration Testing & Red Team workflows, Shannon delivers strong value, especially for individuals, students, and budget-conscious teams. The main consideration is operational overhead — you own the install, updates, and tuning. If your team has the technical capacity, Shannon is well worth adopting.
Cheaper Alternatives
If Shannon's pricing is out of budget, these Penetration Testing & Red Team tools offer free or freemium options:
-
Metasploit
Freemium
Industry-standard exploitation framework with massive exploit database. Community free and Pro commercial editions available.
-
BloodHound AD
Free/OSS
Active Directory attack path mapping tool revealing hidden relationships and privilege escalation paths.
-
Impacket Toolkit
Free/OSS
Python collection for working with network protocols targeting Windows credential extraction and lateral movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Shannon cost?
Shannon uses a Free/OSS pricing model. This means the tool is free to use and typically open-source — you self-host it, customize it, and pay nothing for the software itself. For exact current pricing, visit the Shannon website directly — vendors update tiers and quotas regularly.
Is there a free version of Shannon?
Yes, Shannon is completely free and open-source. You can download, use, and modify it without paying any license fees.
What are cheaper alternatives to Shannon?
In the Penetration Testing & Red Team category, the most popular free or freemium alternatives are Metasploit, BloodHound AD, Impacket Toolkit. Each offers a comparable feature set at lower or zero cost — see our /alternatives page for full breakdowns.