Hi HN!
I created Bugbop over the last year now I'm officially releasing it! It’s a platform for teams that want to run their first bug bounty without expensive contracts. I come from a SaaS technical founder background where I ran our program for years. Now I've decided to make something better suited to that niche.
The model is simple: only pay when valid vulnerabilities are found. No ongoing subscriptions. Set budgets to avoid going over. The app's still in the early days but it's working: security bugs are getting paid and bug hunters are getting bounties.
It's using AI to review check if it's in scope, detect duplicates, and set severity (the app doesn't ask reporters because everyone just says "Critical").
I’m interested in feedback from people who’ve run bug bounties, stopped running them, or considered them and decided against it.
What’s worked well for us Cost structure makes sense for smaller products. We explored some of the bigger players, but running an open program there wasn’t really viable for a company our size.
No subscription overhead. There aren’t ongoing monthly fees — you just top up credits and those funds stay available for bounty payouts.
Fewer low-value submissions. You still get the occasional low-quality report, but the volume of noise is noticeably lower compared to what we expected elsewhere.
AI-assisted triage is genuinely useful. It makes it quick to sort and prioritise reports without spending unnecessary time on the junk.
Fast feedback loop with the team. The founders have been approachable and responsive when we’ve shared ideas or improvement suggestions.
Privacy-friendly disclosure approach. There’s no built-in push to publicly publish findings after they’re resolved, which is a plus from the company side.
Improvements we’d love to see
A private/internal notes area within reports (so teams can leave internal-only comments).
More controls around restricting participation based on geography.
The ability to invite or allowlist specific researchers/hunters.