HEAD-TO-HEAD · FACTS ONLY
Censys vs CyCognito: exposure management facts side by side
SHORT ANSWER
Censys describes 3 of the five tool types on the pages we read and CyCognito describes 5; they differ on exposure management platforms and WAF posture. On proof, Censys describes exploitability checks but not attack-style testing and CyCognito describes attack-style testing. We do not score either; the right choice depends on your estate, current platform, WAFs and capacity to fix.
By The Exposure Desk · Exposure Management Finder · Published 2026-10-11
Desk research from public vendor pages read in September 2026, updated 2026-10-11. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.
How do their shapes compare?
- Censys ASM
- CyCognito
- Outer point: described on the vendor's pages we read
- Inner point: not in our sources (it may exist; we did not find it)
What are the facts, side by side?
| Fact | Censys ASM | CyCognito |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map. | An external exposure management platform that starts from your organisation's name, attributes each asset to a subsidiary or brand, and runs more than 100,000 active security tests. |
| Deployment | Discovery expands from seeds the customer adds in the console or through the API; assets found beyond the seeds appear under a Found by Censys tab. Source: Censys docs: seed your attack surface · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Unauthenticated black-box testing from outside, with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| EASM discovery | Described First-party scanning across all 65K ports finds services on nonstandard ports and hosts with self-signed certificates. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described Starts from the organisation's name with no IP ranges or asset lists, and attributes assets to subsidiary, brand or business unit. Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure validation | Described Confirms reachability and applies EPSS and KEV; active exploitation testing is not described. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described More than 100,000 tests across 30+ categories, unauthenticated and designed not to change state. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure management platformsDiffers | Not in our sources | Described CyCognito calls its product an exposure management platform; internal assets are not described on the pages we read. Source: CyCognito press release: Continuous AI Pentesting · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| CTEM programme support | Described Discovery, prioritisation with EPSS and KEV, rapid response alerts and remediation tasks; exploit validation is not described. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described Describes CTEM as "discovery to remediation" and "what ties the platform together": discovery, context, prioritisation, validation and remediation, with a retest after each fix. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| WAF postureDiffers | Not in our sources | Described Its Application Security use case includes ensuring WAF coverage; producing or deploying WAF rules is not described. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Subsidiary and owner attributionDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Every finding carries a trace of how it was found and why it belongs to the subsidiary, brand or business unit. Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Internal as well as external assets | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Cloud connections namedDiffers | Matches Names AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among its integrations. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Not in our sources |
| Exploitability checkedDiffers | Partly Reachability confirmation and EPSS and KEV scoring, not exploitation. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Active black-box tests with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Attack-style testingDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches More than 100,000 active tests, and Continuous AI Pentesting announced on 16 June 2026. Source: CyCognito press release: Continuous AI Pentesting · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Works through your WAF or edge | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| WAF coverage across several vendorsDiffers | Not in our sources | Partly Its Application Security use case includes ensuring WAF coverage; producing or deploying WAF rules is not described. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Retests after a fixDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Retests after each fix. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Routes findings to owners and tickets | Matches Auto-creates, routes and tracks remediation tasks. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Owner-linked workflows with ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Applies a compensating control | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Price or pricing basis publishedDiffers | Partly ASM is contact sales; a free platform account exists and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches AWS Marketplace lists CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) at $30,000 for 12 months. Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Trial or self-serve startDiffers | Partly A free Censys platform account exists; ASM itself is sold through sales. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Not in our sources |
| Platform it extends | None | None |
| Integrations | Webex, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow ITSM, Tenable VM, Google Security Operations, Microsoft Sentinel, ServiceNow CMDB, Axonius, Brinqa, AWS, Google Cloud and Azure. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026 | ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk for remediation workflows. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Price | ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000; 24- and 36-month contracts save up to 8% and 11%. Direct pricing basis: total asset volume (ASM); active IPs and web applications (exposure validation), by quote. Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
Where do they differ?
- Exposure management platforms: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito describes it.
- WAF posture: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito describes it.
- Subsidiary and owner attribution: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito matches.
- Cloud connections named: Censys matches; CyCognito is not in our sources.
- Exploitability checked: Censys partly matches; CyCognito matches.
- Attack-style testing: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito matches.
- WAF coverage across several vendors: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito partly matches.
- Retests after a fix: Censys is not in our sources; CyCognito matches.
- Price or pricing basis published: Censys partly matches; CyCognito matches.
- Trial or self-serve start: Censys partly matches; CyCognito is not in our sources.
Choose Censys if
- Your team hunts threats and wants raw internet scan evidence
- You need findings in ServiceNow CMDB, Microsoft Sentinel or Tenable VM
Choose CyCognito if
- You want to start from a company name and see the attribution trail for each asset
- You need proof that a fix worked, through a retest
Which limits should you check?
Censys
- Discovery starts from seeds you supply.
- No exploit validation or mitigation is described on the pages we read.
CyCognito
- No automated mitigation is described: remediation is guidance, owner-linked tickets and retests.
- WAF coverage is checked, but producing or deploying WAF rules is not described.
Questions readers ask
Is Censys or CyCognito better?
Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 3 of five tool types and CyCognito 5 on the pages we read, and they differ on 10 recorded facts. Which fits depends on your estate, current platform, need for proof, WAFs and capacity to fix; the finder checks those.
Which of the two proves exploitability?
Censys: exploitability checked: Partly; attack-style testing: Not in our sources. CyCognito: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Matches.
Do Censys or CyCognito publish prices?
Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. CyCognito: AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000; 24- and 36-month contracts save up to 8% and 11%. Direct pricing basis: total asset volume (ASM); active IPs and web applications (exposure validation), by quote.