Alternatives to Censys
An internet intelligence platform for searching hosts, services and TLS certificates across the internet. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Censys
An internet intelligence platform for searching hosts, services and TLS certificates across the internet.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Censys.
Shodan
A search engine that indexes internet-connected devices and the services they expose.
Shodan also indexes exposed devices and services with an API and alerts for your own IP ranges, and it adds a browser extension, with most features behind paid membership.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Censys as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Amass
OWASP tool that maps an organisation's external attack surface and assets.
Censys moves the work to a hosted, freemium web platform for searching hosts, services and TLS certificates, requiring an account and paid plans for the full enterprise features.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Qualys Community Edition
Free, cloud-based edition of the Qualys security platform for asset discovery and vulnerability assessment.
Subfinder
Find subdomains using passive online data sources.
ViewDNS.info
A web collection of more than 20 DNS, IP and domain lookup tools, with a paid API.
Nmap
The network mapper: find out which hosts are up, which ports are open and what is listening on them.
masscan
Scan large sets of IP addresses for open ports.
tlsx
Inspect TLS connections and certificates from the terminal.
