SIDE BY SIDE · FACTS ONLY

Censys vs Rapid7: asset inventory facts side by side

SHORT ANSWER

Censys describes 2 of the five approaches on the pages we read and Rapid7 describes 3; they differ on CAASM aggregation. On collection, Censys works without new agents and Rapid7 does not describe its collection method on the pages we read. 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: Rapid7 Surface Command

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	Rapid7 Surface Command
Positioning	Censys's external exposure management product, built on first-party scanning of all 65K ports and the Censys Internet Map.	Rapid7's attack surface product, combining external discovery (EASM) with asset discovery and a unified internal and external inventory (CAASM), part of the Rapid7 Command platform.
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	Part of the Rapid7 Command platform with Exposure Command, InsightVM and InsightCloudSec. Source: Rapid7 products · Read 27 Sep 2026
CAASM aggregationDiffers	Not in our sources Not described on the pages we read.	Described Asset discovery and a unified inventory (CAASM) including devices, software, identities and controls. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
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 Internal and external attack surface visibility (EASM), including unknown internet-facing assets and shadow IT. Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · 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 Includes an Exposure Management dashboard and remediation hub; vulnerability scanning sits in the Exposure Command Essentials tier above it. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Servers and network devicesDiffers	Not in our sources	Partly Internal attack surface visibility is described; network devices are not called out. Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · Read 27 Sep 2026
Cloud workloadsDiffers	Matches Names AWS, Google Cloud and Azure among its integrations. Source: Censys integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partly InsightCloudSec sits in the same platform. Source: Rapid7 products · Read 27 Sep 2026
SaaS applications	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
Identities as assetsDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches Identities are part of the unified inventory. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
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 External attack surface visibility (EASM). Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · Read 27 Sep 2026
Offers its own agent	Not in our sources	Not in our sources
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 sourcesDiffers	Not in our sources	Matches A unified asset inventory (CAASM). Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · Read 27 Sep 2026
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 Asset graph and blast radius views. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026
Workflows, tickets or actions	Matches Auto-creates, routes and tracks remediation tasks. Source: Censys external exposure management · Read 27 Sep 2026	Matches Remediation hub and built-in, SOAR-ready automation and integrations in the Surface Command package. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 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 Pricing basis published: asset types and use cases in scope; no amounts. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and 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 Public trial. Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · Read 27 Sep 2026
Platform it is part of	None	Rapid7: Shares the Command platform with Exposure Command, InsightVM and InsightCloudSec. Source: Rapid7 products · 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	SOAR-ready integrations, with Exposure Command, InsightVM and InsightCloudSec in the same platform. Source: Rapid7 Surface Command · 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	No amounts published. Priced on the asset types and use cases in scope; Start Trial offered. Exposure Command Essentials adds vulnerability scanning and Ultimate adds cloud, IaC and DAST. Source: Rapid7 Command platform packages and pricing · Read 11 Oct 2026

Where do they differ?

CAASM aggregation: Censys is not in our sources; Rapid7 describes it.
Servers and network devices: Censys is not in our sources; Rapid7 partly matches.
Cloud workloads: Censys matches; Rapid7 partly matches.
Identities as assets: Censys is not in our sources; Rapid7 matches.
Works without new agents: Censys matches; Rapid7 is not in our sources.
Merges records from several sources: Censys is not in our sources; Rapid7 matches.
Feeds or updates a CMDB: Censys matches; Rapid7 is not in our sources.
Cross-source queries and reports: Censys is not in our sources; Rapid7 partly matches.
Free tier or trial: Censys partly matches; Rapid7 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 Rapid7 if

You already run InsightVM or another Rapid7 product
You want internal and external assets in one inventory

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.

Rapid7

No price amounts published; pricing depends on the asset types and use cases in scope.
Vulnerability scanning sits in the Exposure Command tiers, and SaaS apps and OT are not described on the pages we read.

Put Censys and Rapid7 in the asset census with others Run the finder

Questions people ask

Is Censys or Rapid7 better?

Neither is scored on this site. Censys describes 2 of five approaches and Rapid7 3 on the pages we read, and they differ on 9 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 Rapid7 work with a CMDB?

Censys: Matches. ServiceNow CMDB is a named integration. Rapid7: Not in our sources.

Do Censys or Rapid7 publish prices?

Censys: ASM: contact sales. A free Censys platform account exists, and credits start at $100. Rapid7: No amounts published. Priced on the asset types and use cases in scope; Start Trial offered. Exposure Command Essentials adds vulnerability scanning and Ultimate adds cloud, IaC and DAST.