SIDE BY SIDE · FACTS ONLY

Censys vs Defender EASM: asset inventory facts side by side

SHORT ANSWER

Censys describes 2 of the five approaches on the pages we read and Defender EASM describes 2 and their approach coverage matches. On collection, Censys works without new agents and Defender EASM 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: Censys ASM
Lower bar, lighter: Microsoft Defender EASM

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	Microsoft Defender EASM
Positioning	Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map.	Microsoft's external attack surface management service, run as an Azure resource, with a prebuilt inventory, recursive discovery from seeds and billing on the Azure bill.
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	An Azure resource. Cross-tenant resource access, including Azure Lighthouse, is not supported. Source: Microsoft Learn: Defender EASM overview · Read 27 Sep 2026
CAASM aggregation	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
Agent-based inventory	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
External attack surface management	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	Described A prebuilt inventory for many organisations plus recursive discovery from seeds you supply. Source: Microsoft Learn: what is discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026
CMDB-centred inventory	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.
Exposure management	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	With a condition Dashboards for vulnerabilities, compliance and hygiene on external assets; remediation happens downstream through Log Analytics and Azure Data Explorer. Source: Microsoft Learn: data connections · Read 27 Sep 2026
Servers and network devices	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Cloud workloadsDiffers	Matches Names AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among its integrations. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
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 devices	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Internet-facing discovery	Matches First-party scanning of all 65K ports. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches Prebuilt inventory and recursive discovery from seeds. Source: Microsoft Learn: what is discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026
Offers its own agent	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
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 An Azure service that discovers from seeds and a prebuilt inventory. Source: Microsoft Learn: Defender EASM overview · Read 27 Sep 2026
Merges records from several sources	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Feeds or updates a CMDBDiffers	Matches ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
Cross-source queries and reportsDiffers	Not in our sources	Partly Dashboards for vulnerabilities, compliance and hygiene. Source: Microsoft Learn: Defender EASM overview · Read 27 Sep 2026
Workflows, tickets or actionsDiffers	Matches Auto-creates, routes and tracks remediation tasks. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly Data connections to Log Analytics and Azure Data Explorer trigger remediation actions downstream. Source: Microsoft Learn: data connections · Read 27 Sep 2026
Price or pricing basis published	Partly ASM is contact sales; a free platform account exists and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly Billable assets are defined (approved host:IP combinations, domains and IP addresses) and charged on the Azure bill; Microsoft's pricing page showed no rate when we read it. Source: Microsoft Learn: understanding billable assets · Read 27 Sep 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 A 30-day free trial, then Azure billing. Source: Microsoft Learn: understanding billable assets · Read 27 Sep 2026
Platform it is part of	None	Microsoft: Native to Azure, billed on the Azure bill, with a Security Copilot integration in preview. Source: Microsoft Learn: Defender EASM documentation · Read 27 Sep 2026
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	Data connections to Log Analytics and Azure Data Explorer, and a Security Copilot integration in preview. Source: Microsoft Learn: data connections · 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	Billed through Azure on billable assets (approved host:IP combinations, domains and IP addresses) after a 30-day free trial. Microsoft's pricing page did not show a rate when we read it; check it for the current figure. Source: Microsoft Learn: understanding billable assets · Read 27 Sep 2026

Where do they differ?

Cloud workloads: Censys matches; Defender EASM is not in our sources.
Feeds or updates a CMDB: Censys matches; Defender EASM is not in our sources.
Cross-source queries and reports: Censys is not in our sources; Defender EASM partly matches.
Workflows, tickets or actions: Censys matches; Defender EASM partly matches.
Free tier or trial: Censys partly matches; Defender EASM matches.

Can they work together?

Yes, on the pages we read:

Microsoft Sentinel and Azure are named integrations.
Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026

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 Defender EASM if

You are on Azure and want an external inventory without a sales call
You want an outside-in baseline before choosing an inventory platform

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.

Defender EASM

External assets only: internal devices, SaaS apps and identities are not covered.
No built-in remediation workflow, and no cross-tenant resource access for groups with several Azure tenants.

Put Censys and Defender EASM in the asset census with others Run the finder

Questions people ask

Is Censys or Defender EASM better?

Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 2 of five approaches and Defender EASM 2 on the pages we read, and they differ on 5 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 Defender EASM work with a CMDB?

Censys: Matches. ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Defender EASM: Not in our sources.

Do Censys or Defender EASM publish prices?

Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Defender EASM: Billed through Azure on billable assets (approved host:IP combinations, domains and IP addresses) after a 30-day free trial. Microsoft's pricing page did not show a rate when we read it; check it for the current figure.