SIDE BY SIDE · FACTS ONLY

Armis vs Censys: asset inventory facts side by side

SHORT ANSWER

Armis describes 4 of the five approaches on the pages we read and Censys describes 2; they differ on CAASM aggregation, Agent-based inventory, External attack surface management, CMDB-centred inventory and Exposure management. On collection, Armis works without new agents and Censys works without new agents. Many estates run two of these approaches together, so the question is often which pair, not which one; we do not score either.

By The Inventory Desk · CAASM Finder · Published 2026-10-11

Desk research from public vendor pages read on 27 September and 11 October 2026. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.

How do their approaches compare?

Top bar: Armis Centrix
Lower bar, lighter: Censys ASM

Full bar: described on the vendor's pages we read
Hatched bar: described with a condition (another product, a higher tier, or part of the approach)
Stub: not in our sources (it may exist; we did not find it)

The bars show what each vendor's own pages describe, or how your answers weigh the five approaches. They are not a measure of how well a product works.

What are the facts, side by side?

From each vendor's own pages. Differs marks rows where the recorded status or check value differs.
Fact	Armis Centrix	Censys ASM
Positioning	Armis calls Centrix a Cyber Exposure Management Platform. It builds an inventory of IT, OT, IoT and medical devices from agentless, passive discovery and adds modules for prioritization and remediation.	Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map.
Deployment	A cloud platform with no on-premises hardware to install or manage for the asset management module. Source: Armis Centrix for Asset Management and Security · Read 11 Oct 2026	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
CAASM aggregationDiffers	With a condition Builds most of its inventory from its own agentless discovery and enriches it through more than 200 pre-built integrations. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
Agent-based inventoryDiffers	With a condition Collects its own data without agents: agentless, passive discovery of managed and unmanaged devices. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
External attack surface managementDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Described First-party scanning across all 65K ports finds services on nonstandard ports, starting from seeds you supply. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026
CMDB-centred inventoryDiffers	With a condition Pushes enriched asset data back to your CMDB rather than replacing it. Source: Armis Centrix for Asset Management and Security · Read 11 Oct 2026	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
Exposure managementDiffers	Described Sold as a Cyber Exposure Management Platform, with VIPR-Pro Prioritization and Remediation, Vulnerability Management Detection and Response, and Early Warning modules. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	With a condition Applies EPSS and KEV to external findings, confirms reachability and routes remediation tasks; internal assets are not described. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026
Servers and network devicesDiffers	Matches IT devices, managed or unmanaged, through agentless passive discovery. Source: Armis Centrix for Asset Management and Security · Read 11 Oct 2026	Not in our sources
Cloud workloads	Matches Cloud instances and hybrid VMs are covered. Source: Armis Centrix for Asset Management and Security · Read 11 Oct 2026	Matches Names AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among its integrations. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026
SaaS applications	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Identities as assets	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Off-network laptops	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
OT and IoT devicesDiffers	Matches OT and IoT devices, and medical devices through a separate module. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
Internet-facing discoveryDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches First-party scanning of all 65K ports. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026
Offers its own agentDiffers	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Works without new agents	Matches Agentless and passive. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches Discovery runs from the internet, starting from seeds added in the console or through the API. Source: Censys docs: seed your attack surface · Read 27 Sep 2026
Merges records from several sourcesDiffers	Partly Identifies assets against a knowledgebase of over 6.5 billion assets; how records from integrations merge is not described in detail. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
Feeds or updates a CMDB	Matches Pushes enriched data back to your CMDB. Source: Armis Centrix for Asset Management and Security · Read 11 Oct 2026	Matches ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026
Cross-source queries and reports	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Workflows, tickets or actionsDiffers	Partly Prioritization and remediation sit in the separate VIPR-Pro module. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches Auto-creates, routes and tracks remediation tasks. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026
Price or pricing basis published	Partly AWS Marketplace listing: Centrix Standard minimum at $3,250 a month on a one-month contract; no price on armis.com. Source: AWS Marketplace: Armis Device Security Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026	Partly ASM is contact sales; a free platform account exists and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026
Free tier or trialDiffers	Not in our sources	Partly A free Censys platform account exists; ASM itself is sold through sales. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026
Platform it is part of	None	None
Integrations	More than 200 pre-built integrations. Source: Armis Centrix platform · Read 27 Sep 2026	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
Price	No price on armis.com. AWS Marketplace listing: Centrix Standard minimum at $3,250 a month on a one-month contract, with private offers. Source: AWS Marketplace: Armis Device Security Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026	ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026

Where do they differ?

CAASM aggregation: Armis describes it with a condition; Censys is not in our sources.
Agent-based inventory: Armis describes it with a condition; Censys is not in our sources.
External attack surface management: Armis is not in our sources; Censys describes it.
CMDB-centred inventory: Armis describes it with a condition; Censys is not in our sources.
Exposure management: Armis describes it; Censys describes it with a condition.
Servers and network devices: Armis matches; Censys is not in our sources.
OT and IoT devices: Armis matches; Censys is not in our sources.
Internet-facing discovery: Armis is not in our sources; Censys matches.
Merges records from several sources: Armis partly matches; Censys is not in our sources.
Workflows, tickets or actions: Armis partly matches; Censys matches.
Free tier or trial: Armis is not in our sources; Censys partly matches.

Can they work together?

Neither vendor's pages we read name the other as an integration. That does not mean they cannot work together; ask both vendors.

Choose Armis if

Your estate includes OT, IoT or medical devices that cannot take an agent
You want device discovery and exposure modules from one vendor that is now part of ServiceNow

Choose Censys if

Your biggest unknown is what you expose to the internet
You want external findings to land in ServiceNow CMDB or an aggregation tool you already run

Which limits should you check?

Armis

No price on armis.com; the only public figure is an AWS Marketplace minimum.
SaaS applications and identities are not described as asset classes on the pages we read.
Prioritization and remediation sit in separately named modules.

Censys

An external view only: internal devices, SaaS apps and identities are not covered.
Discovery starts from seeds you supply, and ASM pricing goes through sales.

Put Armis and Censys in the asset census with others Run the finder

Questions people ask

Is Armis or Censys better?

Neither is scored on this site. Armis describes 4 of five approaches and Censys 2 on the pages we read, and they differ on 11 recorded facts. Which fits depends on where your assets live, whether you can install agents, your CMDB and your tools; the finder checks those.

Do Armis and Censys work with a CMDB?

Armis: Matches. Pushes enriched data back to your CMDB. Censys: Matches. ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration.

Do Armis or Censys publish prices?

Armis: No price on armis.com. AWS Marketplace listing: Centrix Standard minimum at $3,250 a month on a one-month contract, with private offers. Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100.