SIDE BY SIDE · FACTS ONLY

Censys vs Lansweeper: asset inventory facts side by side

SHORT ANSWER

Censys describes 2 of the five approaches on the pages we read and Lansweeper describes 3; they differ on CAASM aggregation, Agent-based inventory, External attack surface management, CMDB-centred inventory and Exposure management. On collection, Censys works without new agents and Lansweeper offers its own agent and also works without one. 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: Censys ASM
Lower bar, lighter: Lansweeper

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	Censys ASM	Lansweeper
Positioning	Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map.	An IT asset discovery and inventory product with three systems for the three places Lansweeper says assets live: the network including OT, off-network laptops, and cloud.
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	Agentless scanning with passive detection on by default, an optional IT agent for remote laptops, and a traffic sensor. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
CAASM aggregationDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	With a condition Its own discovery does most of the work; shown integrations include ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk and Armis, and duplicates merge on MAC address, serial number and hostname. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Agent-based inventoryDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Described Agentless scanning and passive detection by default, plus an optional IT agent for laptops that rarely touch the network. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
External attack surface managementDiffers	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	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
CMDB-centred inventoryDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	With a condition Feeds ITSM and CMDB tools such as ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, HaloITSM, Freshservice and TOPdesk. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Exposure managementDiffers	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	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
Servers and network devicesDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches The network, including OT, is one of its three discovery systems. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Cloud workloadsDiffers	Matches Names AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among its integrations. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly Cloud discovery is documented; providers are not named on the product page. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
SaaS applicationsDiffers	Not in our sources	Partly AI usage tracking is documented; broader SaaS discovery is not. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
Identities as assets	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Off-network laptopsDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches Off-network laptops are one of its three discovery systems, through an optional agent. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
OT and IoT devicesDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches IT, OT, cloud and IoT. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
Internet-facing discoveryDiffers	Matches First-party scanning of all 65K ports. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
Offers its own agentDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches Optional IT agent. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
Works without new agents	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	Matches Agentless scanning; passive detection runs by default. Source: Lansweeper product · Read 27 Sep 2026
Merges records from several sourcesDiffers	Not in our sources	Partly Deduplicates on MAC address, serial number and hostname. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Feeds or updates a CMDB	Matches ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, HaloITSM, Freshservice and TOPdesk are shown integrations. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
Cross-source queries and reports	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Workflows, tickets or actionsDiffers	Matches Auto-creates, routes and tracks remediation tasks. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly Sends inventory to ITSM tools; actions of its own are not described. Source: Lansweeper homepage · Read 27 Sep 2026
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 Starter from €270 and Pro from €474 a month, billed annually; free up to 100 assets; Enterprise from 10,000 assets. Source: Lansweeper pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Free tier or trialDiffers	Partly A free Censys platform account exists; ASM itself is sold through sales. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches 14 days of full access, then free up to 100 assets. Source: Lansweeper pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Platform it is part of	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 Service Management, ServiceNow, HaloITSM, Freshservice, TOPdesk, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk and Armis. Source: Lansweeper homepage · 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	Published, billed annually: Starter from €270 a month (2,000 assets, one installation, service desk ticket-enrichment integrations only); Pro from €474 a month (2,000 assets expandable to 9,000, up to three installations, all integrations); Enterprise custom from 10,000 assets with full API access; free up to 100 assets after a 14-day trial. Prices were shown to us in euros and may vary by location. Source: Lansweeper pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026

Where do they differ?

CAASM aggregation: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper describes it with a condition.
Agent-based inventory: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper describes it.
External attack surface management: Censys describes it; Lansweeper is not in our sources.
CMDB-centred inventory: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper describes it with a condition.
Exposure management: Censys describes it with a condition; Lansweeper is not in our sources.
Servers and network devices: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper matches.
Cloud workloads: Censys matches; Lansweeper partly matches.
SaaS applications: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper partly matches.
Off-network laptops: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper matches.
OT and IoT devices: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper matches.
Internet-facing discovery: Censys matches; Lansweeper is not in our sources.
Offers its own agent: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper matches.
Merges records from several sources: Censys is not in our sources; Lansweeper partly matches.
Workflows, tickets or actions: Censys matches; Lansweeper partly matches.
Price or pricing basis published: Censys partly matches; Lansweeper matches.
Free tier or trial: Censys partly matches; Lansweeper 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 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

Choose Lansweeper if

You want to find what is on the network yourself, including OT, without going through sales first
You need off-network laptops covered with a light, optional agent

Which limits should you check?

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.

Lansweeper

SaaS coverage is limited to AI usage tracking on the pages we read, and identities are not described.
Merging what many security tools report is not described; deduplication uses MAC address, serial number and hostname.

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

Questions people ask

Is Censys or Lansweeper better?

Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 2 of five approaches and Lansweeper 3 on the pages we read, and they differ on 16 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 Censys and Lansweeper work with a CMDB?

Censys: Matches. ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Lansweeper: Matches. ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, HaloITSM, Freshservice and TOPdesk are shown integrations.

Do Censys or Lansweeper publish prices?

Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Lansweeper: Published, billed annually: Starter from €270 a month (2,000 assets, one installation, service desk ticket-enrichment integrations only); Pro from €474 a month (2,000 assets expandable to 9,000, up to three installations, all integrations); Enterprise custom from 10,000 assets with full API access; free up to 100 assets after a 14-day trial. Prices were shown to us in euros and may vary by location.