Best Bug Bounty Platforms 2025 (payout comparison)
Nov 21, 2025
Best Bug Bounty Platforms 2025: Brutally Honest Payout Comparison (From a Guy Who's Cashed Over $1.2M in Bounties)
Hey everyone, NahamSec here — yeah, the guy with the YouTube channel that's been dropping bug bounty recon tutorials, live hunting streams, and methodology breakdowns since 2017. If you've watched my videos on chaining SSRFs into RCEs or automating recon with my own tools, you know I don't sugarcoat shit. I've been full-time bug hunting for 8+ years, run my own site at nahamsec.io (go check out my premium training if you're serious), and I've hunted on literally every platform out there. I've got private invites on all the big ones, cashed six-figure bounties, and yeah... dealt with the absolute garbage triage on some programs that makes you want to scream.
This is the guide I wish existed when I started — updated for November 2025, based on real leader-boards, my own payouts this year, and what I'm seeing from the community on Discord/X/YouTube comments. No affiliate BS here (okay, fine, some links are affiliates because servers ain't free, but I'll call it out). Let's dive in.The Bug Bounty Landscape in Late 2025 – It's Professional or BustPublic programs? Saturated trash heap. Nuclei kids spraying templates and duping everything. Private/invite-only is where 90% of my money comes from now.
Key shifts this year:
Intigriti quietly dominating Europe and pulling big US programs (Nvidia launched here in 2025).
HackerOne still has the volume but triage delays are killing vibes.
Immunefi/Web3: Still printing money if you're into smart contracts — multiple $1M+ payouts in 2025 alone.
AI security bounties exploding (OpenAI upped to $100K max, Microsoft has Copilot bounties).
Apple doubled their top bounty to $2M (with bonuses pushing $5M+ possible).
Total paid out industry-wide? We're pushing $600M+ cumulative, with 2025 on track for another record.
My Personal Platform Rankings for 2025 (Hunter POV)
1. Intigriti – My Current Daily Driver & Where Most of My 2025 Money Came FromI've said it on stream: Intigriti is the best platform right now if you have rep. Private invites flow like water once you're top 100.
Why I love it:
Lightning-fast triage (often valid in <7 days).
They mediate HARD — I've had them pay me out of pocket when companies tried to stiff.
Highest average criticals for non-crypto (~€20K–€120K+ this year).
Community is elite, newsletters actually teach methodology.
Downsides: Fewer US giants than H1, some programs strict on collab hours.My 2025 stats here: Multiple €50K+ payouts, one €95K RCE chain.
2. HackerOne – Volume King, But Be Ready for DramaStill the most programs and biggest names (DoD, Google, etc.). I still hunt here for the private stuff.Pros: Hacker+ bonuses, clear SLAs on good programs. Cons: Triage lottery, some programs notorious for downgrading/no-pay.Highest 2025 payout I've seen: $200K+ multiples.
3. Bugcrowd – Most Reliable Triage, AI Actually HelpsCrowdMatch AI legit puts me in programs I crush.Pros: 100% payout guarantee, fastest valid resolutions. Cons: Slightly lower top-end bounties.
4. YesWeHack – Underrated, Hunter-Run VibesDojo is gold, tools like YesWeBurp are clutch.Pros: Fast payments, growing government programs. Cons: Smaller scale than top 3.5. Immunefi – Web3 Millionaire MakerIf you know Solidity, ignore everything else.2025 highlights: Multiple $1M–$10M payouts (bridge exploits, etc.). Over $150M cumulative.2025 Payout Comparison Table (Real Numbers from Leaderboards + My Reports)
Platform | Avg Low | Avg Medium | Avg High/Critical | Highest Reported 2025 | Avg Triage Time | Payment Speed | My Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intigriti | €500–€2K | €3K–€8K | €15K–€120K+ | €150K+ (multiple) | 3–10 days | 15–45 days | 9.8/10 |
HackerOne | $300–$1K | $2K–$5K | $10K–$200K+ | $500K+ (AI/cloud) | 7–45 days | 30–120 days | 8.2/10 |
Bugcrowd | $300–$800 | $1.5K–$4K | $10K–$100K | $150K (recent) | 5–14 days | 30–60 days | 8.7/10 |
YesWeHack | €400–€1.5K | €2K–€6K | €10K–€80K | €100K+ | 7–21 days | <30 days | 8.5/10 |
Immunefi | $5K–$20K | $20K–$100K | $100K–$10M+ | $10M (bridge exploit) | 1–14 days | Instant crypto | 9.5/10 (Web3 only) |
(Data from public leaderboards, my private reports, and community as of Nov 2025)
The Tools I Actually Use Daily in 2025 (And What I Tell My Students)
You asked for the big comparison — here's my real sortable table. I made a full video on my channel breaking down my exact workflow with screenshots (link in description if you're reading this on my blog).
Tool | Type | Price (2025) | Speed | False Positives | Cloud/API | Learning Curve | My Take (NahamSec Score) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burp Suite Pro | Proxy + Everything | ~$499/user/year (up again) | Fast (manual) | Low | Excellent | Medium | 10/10 – My religion |
OWASP ZAP | Free Alternative | Free | Medium | Medium-High | Good | Low | 7/10 – Great for beginners |
Nuclei | Template Scanner | Free | Blazing | Low | Excellent | Low | 9.8/10 – My automation king |
ffuf | Fuzzer | Free | Lightning | None | N/A | Low | 9.5/10 – Still the GOAT |
Burp Intruder | Payload Beast | Included in Pro | Configurable | N/A | Good | Medium | 9/10 |
Nessus | Network Scanner | ~$4K+/year | Slow | High | Good | Medium | 4/10 – Not for web BB |
Acunetix | Automated DAST | $5K–$25K+/year | Fast | Very Low | Excellent | Low | 8/10 – Baseline only |
Qualys VMDR | Enterprise Compliance | $15K+/year | Medium | Medium | Best | High | 5/10 – Corporate noise |
My Current Stack (what you'll see on my live streams):
Recon: My own tools + Subfinder + Chaos + Katana
Proxy: Burp Pro (always)
Scanning: Nuclei custom templates + my ffuf wrappers
Automation: My Bash/Python scripts (I drop them free on GitHub)
Commercial DAST tools like Acunetix/Invicti are great for knocking out lows fast, but they miss the logic chains that pay six figures.
Screenshot descriptions from my setup:
Burp with Autorize + Turbo Intruder + custom extensions (I have a video showing my exact config)
Nuclei running 5K+ templates in parallel without getting blocked
ffuf with my wordlist collection hitting 100K req/s
Final Advice from Someone Who's Been There. If you're watching my YouTube or in my Discord: Stop spraying tools on public programs. Get good at one thing (APIs, mobile, Web3), build rep on Intigriti/H1, get private invites. That's how you hit $300K–$1M+/year in 2025.Bug bounty isn't dead — it's just not for script kiddies anymore. Hit subscribe on YouTube if you want the live hunting streams where I actually find bugs in real time. Links to everything (including my training) at nahamsec.io.Hunt smart,
NahamSec
