SIDE BY SIDE · FACTS ONLY

Censys vs Qualys: asset inventory facts side by side

SHORT ANSWER

Censys describes 2 of the five approaches on the pages we read and Qualys describes 4; they differ on Agent-based inventory, External attack surface management and CMDB-centred inventory. On collection, Censys works without new agents and Qualys relies on its own agent. 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: Qualys CSAM

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	Qualys CSAM
Positioning	Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map.	Qualys's Cybersecurity Asset Management product, which Qualys describes as one platform and one view of cyber risk for unknown assets across the attack surface.
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	Uses the Qualys agent, which can also act as a passive sensor; deployment options are not detailed on the page we read. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 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 inventoryDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Described Collects through the Qualys agent, which can also act as a passive sensor. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 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	With a condition The product page links to Qualys EASM; we did not read that page. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026
CMDB-centred inventoryDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	With a condition Syncs with ServiceNow and BMC ITSM tools rather than acting as a CMDB. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026
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 Describes one platform and one view of cyber risk; the detail is not on the page we read. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 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 discoveryDiffers	Matches First-party scanning of all 65K ports. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly Qualys EASM is linked from the product page; not read. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026
Offers its own agentDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches Qualys agent, usable as a passive sensor. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026
Works without new agentsDiffers	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	Not in our sources
Merges records from several sources	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Feeds or updates a CMDB	Matches ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches Syncs with ServiceNow and BMC ITSM tools. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 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	Not in our sources
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	Not in our sources
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 Free trial offered. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · 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	ServiceNow and BMC ITSM sync; other integrations are not listed on the page we read. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026
Price	ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Source: Censys pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not published Not published. A free trial is offered. Source: Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management · Read 11 Oct 2026

Where do they differ?

Agent-based inventory: Censys is not in our sources; Qualys describes it.
External attack surface management: Censys describes it; Qualys describes it with a condition.
CMDB-centred inventory: Censys is not in our sources; Qualys describes it with a condition.
Cloud workloads: Censys matches; Qualys is not in our sources.
Internet-facing discovery: Censys matches; Qualys partly matches.
Offers its own agent: Censys is not in our sources; Qualys matches.
Works without new agents: Censys matches; Qualys is not in our sources.
Workflows, tickets or actions: Censys matches; Qualys is not in our sources.
Price or pricing basis published: Censys partly matches; Qualys is not in our sources.
Free tier or trial: Censys partly matches; Qualys 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 Qualys if

You already run the Qualys agent and want asset management from the same data
You need sync with ServiceNow or BMC

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.

Qualys

No price published.
Which third-party sources it reads, and its SaaS, identity and OT coverage, are not described on the page we read.

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

Questions people ask

Is Censys or Qualys better?

Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 2 of five approaches and Qualys 4 on the pages we read, and they differ on 10 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 Qualys work with a CMDB?

Censys: Matches. ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Qualys: Matches. Syncs with ServiceNow and BMC ITSM tools.

Do Censys or Qualys publish prices?

Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Qualys: Not published. A free trial is offered.