Weighing other options? See our guide to vulnerability scanning tools and our comparison of SecureSlate vs Detectify.
The short version
SecureSlate and Censys both help you see what you expose to the internet, from very different starting points. Censys continuously scans the entire public internet and turns that data into products: a search engine for hosts, services, and certificates, attack surface management that maps an organization's internet-facing assets, and threat hunting for security researchers. SecureSlate is a compliance and security platform. It monitors your own domains and subdomains, scans them for application weaknesses, and ties findings to the controls your SOC 2 or ISO 27001 auditor reviews.
- Choose SecureSlate if you want your known domains and subdomains scanned continuously for weaknesses, with code, cloud, and compliance in the same platform at a published price.
- Choose Censys if you need to discover unknown assets across a large organization, investigate internet-wide exposure, or run threat research using global scan data.
- The honest split: SecureSlate does more with the assets you own: it scans them, maps findings to controls, and tracks the fix. Censys sees far more of the internet. Details below, including where Censys wins.
How we compare these platforms
This comparison is published by SecureSlate, so read it with that in mind. Capability is rated in three states:
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| 🟢 | Built in and usable without add-ons |
| 🟠 | Present but limited or partial, or dependent on tier or a separate module |
| 🔴 | Not available natively |
- Censys gets credit where it earns it. Categories where Censys is stronger are named in the tables and collected in one section.
- Pricing is directional. Censys offers limited free access with paid and enterprise tiers. Verify against current terms.
- Claims map to documentation. SecureSlate capabilities link to product or documentation pages you can check.
SecureSlate vs Censys at a glance
| Category | SecureSlate | Censys |
|---|---|---|
| Internet-wide scan data, search, and threat hunting | 🔴 | 🟢 Core strength |
| Unknown asset discovery across an organization | 🟠 Subdomains of known domains | 🟢 |
| Subdomain discovery | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Exposed services and certificate visibility | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Application weakness scanning (DAST) | 🟢 CWE-classified findings | 🟠 Exposure and risk detection |
| Code, secrets, and cloud scanning | 🟢 Included | 🟠 Cloud connectors for discovery |
| Compliance frameworks and controls | 🟢 Full program | 🔴 |
| Remediation guidance per finding | 🟢 Recommended solution | 🟢 Risk context |
| Pricing transparency | 🟢 Published list pricing | 🟠 Free tier, enterprise by quote |
Start with asset discovery and compliance.
Asset discovery and internet visibility
Censys built its business on scanning the whole internet repeatedly and indexing what it sees: hosts, open ports, running services, software versions, and TLS certificates. Its attack surface management product uses that dataset to find assets that belong to your organization, including ones your team does not know exist, such as a subsidiary's forgotten server or a cloud instance spun up outside the usual process. For large organizations with sprawling footprints, that discovery is the main value.
SecureSlate approaches the surface from your side. You add the domains you own, your primary domain is scanned automatically at signup, and subdomain discovery finds what sits underneath them, so forgotten staging and legacy hosts get scanned too. It does not search the wider internet for assets you have never registered with it.
If your concern is "what do we own that we do not know about" across many brands and business units, Censys is the stronger tool. If your concern is "is what we run secure, and can we prove it", SecureSlate goes further.
| SecureSlate | Censys | |
|---|---|---|
| Discover subdomains of your domains | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Discover assets with no known domain link | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Open port and service inventory | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Certificate monitoring | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Cloud account connection | 🟢 Misconfiguration scanning | 🟢 Asset discovery |
Finding and fixing weaknesses
Knowing an asset exists is step one. Knowing whether it is vulnerable is step two. Censys flags risky exposures it can see from the internet, such as exposed services, outdated software, and misconfigurations.
SecureSlate's DAST scans each monitored domain from the outside and reports what the running application exposes: error pages disclosing internal paths, missing or permissive security headers, content security policy weaknesses, and source code or configuration served by the web server. Every finding carries a CWE, severity, confidence score, instance count, and a recommended solution that can become an instruction for your AI coding agent. Monitored domains are rescanned on a recurring interval.
SecureSlate also covers what external scanning cannot see: code security and SAST, secrets detection, cloud misconfiguration scanning, end-of-life software, and dark web monitoring for leaked credentials.
| SecureSlate | Censys | |
|---|---|---|
| Web application weakness scanning | 🟢 | 🟠 |
| Exposed service and version risks | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Recommended fix per finding | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| SAST and secrets scanning | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Cloud misconfiguration checks | 🟢 | 🟠 |
| Dark web credential monitoring | 🟢 | 🔴 |
Compliance and audit evidence
Censys is a security data and exposure management company. It does not run compliance programs.
SecureSlate does. Multi-framework control mapping, automated evidence collection, policies, access reviews, vendor risk, risk management, a trust center, and audit management are in the platform. Scan findings sit next to the controls they satisfy, so your asset inventory and vulnerability record double as audit evidence.
| SecureSlate | Censys | |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR controls | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Asset inventory as audit evidence | 🟢 | 🟠 Exportable inventory |
| Policies, vendor risk, access reviews | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Audit management and trust center | 🟢 | 🔴 |
Pricing
Censys offers limited free access to its search data, with paid credits and enterprise plans for broader access, API use, and attack surface management. Enterprise attack surface management is quote-based. Check Censys for current terms.
SecureSlate publishes pricing. Vulnerability scanners are included from the Pro plan at $4,788 per year, alongside a compliance framework, automated control testing, and access reviews. Ultra at $8,500 per year adds a penetration test and a framework audit. See pricing or the savings calculator.
| SecureSlate | Censys | |
|---|---|---|
| Published list pricing | 🟢 | 🟠 Free and credit tiers, enterprise by quote |
| Free access | 🟢 Trial | 🟢 Limited search |
| Compliance program included | 🟢 | 🔴 |
Where Censys wins
Internet-wide visibility. Censys sees hosts, services, and certificates across the public internet. SecureSlate only sees the domains you give it and their subdomains.
Unknown asset discovery. For large organizations with many brands, acquisitions, and teams, finding assets nobody registered is a hard problem Censys is built to solve.
Threat research. Security researchers and threat hunters use Censys data to track infrastructure and investigate incidents. SecureSlate does not offer this.
Data access. Censys search and API access let teams build their own workflows on top of global scan data.
Who each platform is for
Choose SecureSlate if
- You know your domains and want them and their subdomains scanned continuously for weaknesses.
- You need SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA and want scanning to count as evidence.
- You want code, cloud, secrets, and dark web coverage in the same platform.
Choose Censys if
- You run a large organization and need to find internet-facing assets nobody tracked.
- You need internet-wide data for threat hunting or research.
- Compliance is handled elsewhere and discovery is the priority.
FAQ
Is SecureSlate a Censys alternative?
For teams that want their known domains monitored and scanned as part of a compliance program, yes. For internet-wide asset discovery and threat research, Censys has capabilities SecureSlate does not.
Does SecureSlate discover subdomains?
Yes. For any domain you monitor, SecureSlate discovers the subdomains underneath it so you can add and scan the ones that matter. It does not search the wider internet for assets unrelated to your domains.
What is the difference between attack surface management and DAST?
Attack surface management finds what you expose. DAST tests whether what you expose is vulnerable. Censys leads on the first, SecureSlate covers the second and adds subdomain discovery for your own domains.
Can I use Censys and SecureSlate together?
Yes. Use Censys to discover unknown assets, then add the domains you confirm to SecureSlate for continuous scanning and compliance tracking.
Which is cheaper?
Censys offers free limited search, with enterprise attack surface management by quote. SecureSlate publishes pricing from $4,788 per year for plans that include scanning and a compliance framework. Compare for the same scope.
Is this comparison biased?
It is published by SecureSlate, so treat it as a vendor's argument. SecureSlate claims link to documentation, and the areas where Censys is stronger are named in Where Censys wins.
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