HEAD-TO-HEAD · FACTS ONLY
CyCognito vs IONIX: exposure management facts side by side
SHORT ANSWER
CyCognito describes 5 of the five tool types on the pages we read and IONIX describes 5 and their tool-type coverage matches. On proof, CyCognito describes attack-style testing and IONIX describes safe checks but not 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?
- CyCognito
- IONIX
- 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 | CyCognito | IONIX |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | 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. | An ASM and exposure management platform that maps subsidiaries and the digital supply chain, validates exploitability with non-intrusive tests, and invokes compensating controls such as WAF rules, with humans approving what agents do. |
| Deployment | Unauthenticated black-box testing from outside, with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | SaaS with a customer portal at portal.ionix.io; discovery uses 13 techniques and reaches third- and fourth-party assets. Source: IONIX attack surface discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| EASM discovery | 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 | Described Discovery with 13 techniques, including third- and fourth-party assets in the digital supply chain. Source: IONIX attack surface discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure validation | 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 | Described Non-disruptive active exploitability testing; for new CVEs, safe, non-intrusive validation tests built from public proof-of-concept exploits. Source: IONIX Live Exposure Defense · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Exposure management platforms | 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 | Described Describes a six-stage workflow for external exposure; internal vulnerability or identity data are not described on the pages we read. Source: IONIX homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| CTEM programme support | 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 | Described Describes a six-stage workflow (discovery, inventory, assessment, validation, prioritization, remediation) and a CTEM use case "that detects and acts in real time". Source: IONIX homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| WAF posture | 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 | Described WAF Posture Management identifies WAFs across Akamai, Cloudflare, AWS, Azure, Imperva, Barracuda, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Fastly and 50+ others, and turns a CVE into a deployable WAF rule within 12 hours of publication. Source: IONIX WAF Posture Management · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Subsidiary and owner attribution | 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 | Matches Describes agentic corporate, subsidiary and brand discovery and attributes each asset to a subsidiary or business owner, including assets that arrive through M&A. Source: IONIX homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Internal as well as external assets | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Cloud connections namedDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Names Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud among its integrations. Source: IONIX exposure validation · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exploitability checked | Matches Active black-box tests with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Non-intrusive exploit simulations. Source: IONIX exposure validation · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Attack-style testingDiffers | 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 | Partly Validation uses safe, non-intrusive tests built from public proof-of-concept exploits; attack-agent or red-team style testing is not described. Source: IONIX Live Exposure Defense · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Works through your WAF or edgeDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Delivers WAF rules for new CVEs into remediation workflows. Source: IONIX WAF Posture Management · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| WAF coverage across several vendorsDiffers | 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 | Matches Finds unprotected assets, checks enforcement status and detects configuration drift across WAF deployments from 50+ vendors. Source: IONIX blog: WAF Posture Management launch · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Retests after a fix | Matches Retests after each fix. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches IONIX's homepage lists "Instant re-validation of remediated items". Source: IONIX homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Routes findings to owners and tickets | Matches Owner-linked workflows with ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Integrations with Jira, ServiceNow, Slack, Splunk and Cortex XSOAR. Source: IONIX exposure validation · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Applies a compensating controlDiffers | Not in our sources | Matches Describes agentic mitigation that "automatically invoke[s] compensating controls": WAF rules deployable via Akamai, Cloudflare or other supported WAF vendors, and Active Protection for dangling assets and DNS hijacking targets. Source: IONIX Live Exposure Defense · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Price or pricing basis published | 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 | Matches AWS Marketplace lists Silver, Gold and Platinum plans at $25,000, $35,000 and $45,000 a month on a 1-month contract. Source: AWS Marketplace: IONIX Attack Surface Management · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
| Trial or self-serve start | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Platform it extends | None | None |
| Integrations | ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk for remediation workflows. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Names Jira, ServiceNow, Splunk, Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Cortex XSOAR, Slack, Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, plus an API, on its validation page. No integrations list is published: ionix.io/integrations returned a 404 in September and the partners page lists none. Source: IONIX exposure validation · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Price | 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 | AWS Marketplace, 1-month contract, per month: Silver Plan (monthly monitoring) $25,000; Gold Plan (weekly monitoring) $35,000; Platinum Plan (continuous monitoring) $45,000. 12-, 24- and 36-month contracts are offered, with savings of up to 10% (24 months) and 20% (36 months). Sold as SaaS by IONIX.IO. Source: AWS Marketplace: IONIX Attack Surface Management · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
Where do they differ?
- Cloud connections named: CyCognito is not in our sources; IONIX matches.
- Attack-style testing: CyCognito matches; IONIX partly matches.
- Works through your WAF or edge: CyCognito is not in our sources; IONIX matches.
- WAF coverage across several vendors: CyCognito partly matches; IONIX matches.
- Applies a compensating control: CyCognito is not in our sources; IONIX matches.
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
Choose IONIX if
- You have many subsidiaries or acquisitions and need each asset tied to an owner
- Your fastest fix is usually a WAF rule rather than a patch
Which limits should you check?
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.
IONIX
- Validation uses safe, non-intrusive tests; CyCognito, Hadrian and watchTowr describe more aggressive attack-style testing.
- Internal (behind the firewall) assets are not described on the pages we read.
- No integrations list is published, and the lowest AWS Marketplace plan is $25,000 a month.
Questions readers ask
Is CyCognito or IONIX better?
Neither is scored on this site. CyCognito describes 5 of five tool types and IONIX 5 on the pages we read, and they differ on 5 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?
CyCognito: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Matches. IONIX: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Partly.
Do CyCognito or IONIX publish prices?
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. IONIX: AWS Marketplace, 1-month contract, per month: Silver Plan (monthly monitoring) $25,000; Gold Plan (weekly monitoring) $35,000; Platinum Plan (continuous monitoring) $45,000. 12-, 24- and 36-month contracts are offered, with savings of up to 10% (24 months) and 20% (36 months). Sold as SaaS by IONIX.IO.