HEAD-TO-HEAD · FACTS ONLY
Censys vs Hadrian: exposure management facts side by side
SHORT ANSWER
Censys describes 3 of the five tool types on the pages we read and Hadrian describes 4; they differ on exposure management platforms. On proof, Censys describes exploitability checks but not attack-style testing and Hadrian 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
- Hadrian
- 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 | Hadrian |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map. | An agentic AI platform for attack surface management and penetration testing, with continuous external exposure management (ATLAS) and priced agentic penetration tests (NOVA). |
| 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 | Scans run hourly or when an event triggers them. Source: Hadrian technology · 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 Continuous discovery with hourly or event-triggered scans; machine learning confirms asset ownership. Source: Hadrian technology · 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 Agentic AI that, by Hadrian's account, proves exploitability within 15 minutes. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure management platformsDiffers | Not in our sources | Described ATLAS is priced as continuous external exposure management; internal assets are not described. Source: Hadrian pricing · 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 Discovery, prioritisation, exploit validation, remediation guidance, automatic tickets and automatic regression testing. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| WAF posture | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Subsidiary and owner attributionDiffers | Not in our sources | Partly Hadrian lists a mergers and acquisitions assessment add-on for Atlas; ownership is confirmed by machine learning. Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 Oct 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 Proves exploitability with agentic testing. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Attack-style testingDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Agentic AI simulates attacks to prove impact. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Works through your WAF or edge | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| WAF coverage across several vendors | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Retests after a fixDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Automatic regression testing after fixes. Source: Hadrian technology · 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 Automatic ticket creation, with Jira, ServiceNow, GLPI, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SentinelOne, Datadog and Zendesk. Source: Hadrian integrations · 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 NOVA agentic penetration tests cost from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 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 | Jira, ServiceNow, GLPI, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SentinelOne, Datadog, Zendesk and HubSpot, plus an API. Source: Hadrian integrations · 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 | NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: up to 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000. Source: AWS Marketplace: Atlas External Attack Surface Management · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
Where do they differ?
- Exposure management platforms: Censys is not in our sources; Hadrian describes it.
- Subsidiary and owner attribution: Censys is not in our sources; Hadrian partly matches.
- Cloud connections named: Censys matches; Hadrian is not in our sources.
- Exploitability checked: Censys partly matches; Hadrian matches.
- Attack-style testing: Censys is not in our sources; Hadrian matches.
- Retests after a fix: Censys is not in our sources; Hadrian matches.
- Price or pricing basis published: Censys partly matches; Hadrian matches.
- Trial or self-serve start: Censys partly matches; Hadrian 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 Hadrian if
- You want attack-style proof and a price you can see before a call
- You need fixes retested automatically
Which limits should you check?
Censys
- Discovery starts from seeds you supply.
- No exploit validation or mitigation is described on the pages we read.
Hadrian
- Hadrian lists a mergers and acquisitions assessment add-on for Atlas; ownership is confirmed by machine learning.
- No WAF or edge mitigation is described.
Questions readers ask
Is Censys or Hadrian better?
Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 3 of five tool types and Hadrian 4 on the pages we read, and they differ on 8 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. Hadrian: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Matches.
Do Censys or Hadrian publish prices?
Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Hadrian: NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: up to 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000.