Horizon3.ai built NodeZero to own the network. It runs autonomous internal, external, and cloud pentests, chains credential attacks into lateral movement, and proves how an attacker reaches domain admin. On that ground it is excellent, and Ares does not try to be a network pentester. Ares lives one layer up, in the application. She tests APIs, web apps, and mobile apps as the target, not as a doorway into the infrastructure. NodeZero is moving toward web testing through an early access program, but it has no API-first product and no mobile testing, and it treats the app as a pivot point rather than the prize. If your risk lives in the network, NodeZero is a strong choice. If it lives in your APIs and apps, that is the surface Ares was built to attack.