Application security engineer vs penetration tester and red team
The two jobs set against each other on the security roles open right now: how many there are, the salaries their postings give, how many can be done from home, and the employers hiring for both.
Side by side
Today's openings for each
| Application Security Engineer | Penetration Tester and Red Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles | 128 | 57 |
| Middle salary | $205k/yr | $213k/yr |
| Typical salary | $164k–$347k/yr | $178k–$320k/yr |
| Remote | 40% (51) | 46% (26) |
| Employers hiring | 90 | 34 |
| Top employer | SpaceX | Thales |
| Top area | San Francisco Bay Area | San Francisco Bay Area |
A role counts under the most specific job its title names, the rule the salary ranking uses, so the two lists never share a role.
Getting into either: How to Become an Application Security Engineer in 2026 and How to Become a Penetration Tester: Skills, Certs and Pay.
Questions
Application security engineer or penetration tester and red team?
Application security engineer or penetration tester and red team: which pays better?
Penetration tester and red team roles, on today's postings: the open application security engineer postings that state a salary sit at a middle of $205k/yr (typically $164k–$347k/yr), the penetration tester and red team postings at $213k/yr (typically $178k–$320k/yr).
Which of the two has more openings right now?
Application security engineer: 128 open roles against 57 at the board's last read, across 90 and 34 employers.
Which is more often remote?
40% of application security engineer roles (51) and 46% of penetration tester and red team roles (26) are listed as remote.
Do the same employers hire for both?
13 employers have both open right now, among them SpaceX, Anduril Industries, OpenAI, Thales, Anthropic, so a move from one to the other inside the same company is a real option there.
Other pairs: SOC analyst vs security engineer, security analyst vs security engineer, SOC analyst vs penetration tester and red team, security architect vs security engineer, cloud security engineer vs security engineer, GRC and compliance vs security analyst, detection engineer vs SOC analyst, threat intelligence analyst vs SOC analyst, security manager vs security architect.
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