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EASM Compared

HEAD-TO-HEAD

CyCognito vs Hadrian: which ASM tool takes an exposure further?

THE SHORT ANSWER

CyCognito scores higher overall on our weights, 6.90 to 6.60. CyCognito scores higher on Finds the unlisted estate and Routes to an owner; Hadrian scores higher on Buying transparency; they tie on Proves exploitability, Contains before the patch, Closes the loop and Fits the enterprise stack. The table below gives the reason for every score.

By The Perimeter Desk · EASM Compared · Published 2026-10-11

Desk research from public vendor pages and documentation; vendor facts read September 2026, updated 13 October 2026. Editorial assessment; we did not test the products.

CyCognito

Rank 3 of 10

CyCognito closure trackFOUND: documented; OWNED: documented; PROVEN: documented; CONTAINED: not documented; ROUTED: documented; RECHECKED: documented

Best for: Teams that want proof and a retested fix, starting from nothing but a company name

Read the CyCognito profile

Hadrian

Rank 4 of 10

Hadrian closure trackFOUND: documented; OWNED: partial; PROVEN: documented; CONTAINED: not documented; ROUTED: documented; RECHECKED: documented

Best for: Teams replacing periodic external pentests with continuous, agent-based proof

Read the Hadrian profile

Which tool scores higher on each criterion?

Criterion scores 0 to 10 with weights. Open Why for both reasons and sources.
CriterionCyCognitoHadrianHigher
Finds the unlisted estate 15%
Why

CyCognito: Starts from the organization's name with no IP ranges or asset lists, covering subsidiaries, brands and business units.

Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: Scans hourly or on events to keep the external inventory current; subsidiary mapping is not documented.

Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

9 / 107 / 10CyCognito
Routes to an owner 10%
Why

CyCognito: Each finding carries a trace of how it was found and which subsidiary, brand or business unit it belongs to.

Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: Machine learning confirms whether an asset belongs to the organization.

Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

8 / 107 / 10CyCognito
Proves exploitability 20%
Why

CyCognito: Runs 100,000+ unauthenticated black-box tests across 30+ categories without state changes, and added Continuous AI Pentesting in June 2026.

Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: Agentic AI exploits issues to prove impact; Hadrian states it proves exploitability within 15 minutes.

Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

9 / 109 / 10Tie
Contains before the patch 20%
Why

CyCognito: No compensating control or automated mitigation is described; exposures wait for the owner's fix.

Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: No edge rule, playbook or other compensating control is described.

Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

2 / 102 / 10Tie
Closes the loop 15%
Why

CyCognito: Step-by-step guidance, owner-linked workflows and a retest after each fix.

Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: Remediation guidance, automatic tickets and automatic regression testing after a fix.

Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

9 / 109 / 10Tie
Fits the enterprise stack 10%
Why

CyCognito: Names ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk for remediation workflows; edge and SOAR connections are not named on the pages reviewed.

Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian: Names Jira, ServiceNow, GLPI, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SentinelOne, Datadog, Zendesk and HubSpot plus an API.

Source: Hadrian integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026

6 / 106 / 10Tie
Buying transparency 10%
Why

CyCognito: Publishes its pricing basis and an AWS Marketplace price: $30,000 per 12 months for ASM covering up to 250 assets.

Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026

Hadrian: NOVA pentests from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, and ATLAS on AWS Marketplace at $50,000 per 12 months for up to 250 assets.

Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 Oct 2026 · AWS Marketplace: Hadrian Atlas External Attack Surface Management · Read 11 Oct 2026

6 / 107 / 10Hadrian

Which steps does each tool document?

CyCognito

CyCognito closure trackFOUND: documented; OWNED: documented; PROVEN: documented; CONTAINED: not documented; ROUTED: documented; RECHECKED: documented
  • Documented on the vendor's pages
  • Partial: only in general terms, a higher tier or another product
  • Not documented on the pages reviewed
A filled station means the vendor's own pages describe that step. It does not measure how well or how often the step works.
  1. FOUNDDocumented

    Seedless discovery from the organization's name.

    Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026

  2. OWNEDDocumented

    Subsidiary, brand or business unit with a trace per finding.

    Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026

  3. PROVENDocumented

    100,000+ black-box tests; Continuous AI Pentesting since June 2026.

    Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026

  4. CONTAINEDNot documented

    No compensating control or automated mitigation described.

    Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

  5. ROUTEDDocumented

    Owner-linked workflows into ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk.

    Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

  6. RECHECKEDDocumented

    Retest after each fix.

    Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026

Hadrian

Hadrian closure trackFOUND: documented; OWNED: partial; PROVEN: documented; CONTAINED: not documented; ROUTED: documented; RECHECKED: documented
  • Documented on the vendor's pages
  • Partial: only in general terms, a higher tier or another product
  • Not documented on the pages reviewed
A filled station means the vendor's own pages describe that step. It does not measure how well or how often the step works.
  1. FOUNDDocumented

    Hourly or event-triggered external scanning.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

  2. OWNEDPartial

    Ownership confirmed by machine learning; subsidiary mapping not described.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

  3. PROVENDocumented

    Agentic exploitation; proof within 15 minutes, per Hadrian.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

  4. CONTAINEDNot documented

    No edge rule or compensating control described.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

  5. ROUTEDDocumented

    Automatic ticket creation.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

  6. RECHECKEDDocumented

    Automatic regression testing after fixes.

    Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026

Documented by CyCognito only: OWNED.

Documented by Hadrian only: none.

Documented by both: FOUND, PROVEN, ROUTED and RECHECKED.

Partial counts as not documented for these three lines.

What do they cost?

CyCognito

Pricing basis published: total asset volume for ASM; active IPs and web applications for exposure validation. AWS Marketplace: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000 per 12 months; 24-month contracts "save up to 8%", 36-month "save up to 11%".

Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026

To start: The organization's name. "No IP ranges, no asset lists."

Hadrian

NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace: 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000 per 12 months.

Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 Oct 2026

To start: Not specified on the pages reviewed.

Which should you choose?

Choose CyCognito if

  • it matters most to you that it proves exploitability (9/10)
  • it matters most to you that it finds the unlisted estate (9/10)

Choose CyCognito if you have no reliable asset list and want proof and a verified fix for each finding. Look elsewhere if you need exposures blocked at the edge before the patch lands.

Choose Hadrian if

  • it matters most to you that it proves exploitability (9/10)
  • it matters most to you that it closes the loop (9/10)

Choose Hadrian if you want continuous, attack-based proof in place of periodic external pentests, with a price you can see. Look elsewhere if you need edge mitigation or attribution across many subsidiaries.

Frequently asked questions

Which proves exploitability better, CyCognito or Hadrian?

Neither: they tie on our proof criterion (CyCognito 9/10, Hadrian 9/10). CyCognito: Runs 100,000+ unauthenticated black-box tests across 30+ categories without state changes, and added Continuous AI Pentesting in June 2026. Hadrian: Agentic AI exploits issues to prove impact; Hadrian states it proves exploitability within 15 minutes.

Can CyCognito or Hadrian contain an exposure before the patch?

CyCognito: not documented on the pages reviewed Hadrian: not documented on the pages reviewed Contain scores: CyCognito 2/10, Hadrian 2/10.

Which is easier to buy, CyCognito or Hadrian?

CyCognito: Pricing basis published: total asset volume for ASM; active IPs and web applications for exposure validation. AWS Marketplace: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000 per 12 months; 24-month contracts "save up to 8%", 36-month "save up to 11%". Hadrian: NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace: 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000 per 12 months. Buying transparency scores: CyCognito 6/10, Hadrian 7/10.