Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Shodan VS Tenable.io

Compare Shodan VS Tenable.io and see what are their differences

Shodan logo Shodan

Shodan is the world's first search engine for Internet-connected devices.

Tenable.io logo Tenable.io

Tenable.io Cyber Exposure platform helps to protect any asset on any computing platform and eliminate blind spots.
  • Shodan Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-16
  • Tenable.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-06

Shodan features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Collection
    Shodan extensively scans the internet, collecting data from a wide range of devices and services, which provides users with a thorough overview of their network exposure.
  • Security Awareness
    It helps organizations identify and address security vulnerabilities by revealing exposed devices and services that might otherwise go unnoticed.
  • Automation Capabilities
    The platform offers an API that allows users to automate searches and integrate Shodan data into their own tools and workflows.
  • Detailed Search Filters
    Shodan provides advanced search filters that allow users to narrow down results based on specific criteria such as geographic location, device type, or operating system.
  • Real-Time Monitoring
    Users can set up real-time alerts to monitor for new exposures, ensuring timely response to potential threats.

Possible disadvantages of Shodan

  • Ethical and Legal Concerns
    Shodan can be used by malicious actors to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, raising ethical and legal questions about its use and data collection practices.
  • Complex UI
    The user interface can be overwhelming for beginners due to its complexity and the vast amount of data available, making it difficult to navigate without prior experience.
  • Subscription Costs
    While Shodan offers a free tier, accessing advanced features and extensive search capabilities requires a subscription, which might be costly for some users.
  • Potential for False Positives
    The data collected by Shodan might include false positives, where benign devices are flagged as vulnerabilities, thus requiring users to manually verify each finding.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Since Shodan indexes devices connected to the internet, this can include personal and residential hardware, leading to privacy concerns for individuals whose devices are inadvertently exposed.

Tenable.io features and specs

  • Comprehensive Vulnerability Coverage
    Tenable.io provides extensive coverage of vulnerabilities across a wide range of IT assets, including on-premise, cloud, and container environments, ensuring thorough security assessments.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform features an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, allowing both experienced and novice users to navigate and operate the tool effectively.
  • Advanced Reporting and Analytics
    Tenable.io offers robust reporting and analytics capabilities, enabling users to generate detailed reports and gain insights into their security posture.
  • Scalability
    Designed for scalability, Tenable.io can efficiently handle the needs of both small businesses and large enterprises, adjusting to changing requirements.
  • API Integrations
    The platform includes extensive API support for integrating with other security tools and existing workflows, enhancing overall security infrastructure compatibility and efficiency.

Possible disadvantages of Tenable.io

  • Pricing
    Tenable.io can be expensive compared to some other vulnerability management solutions, which might be a barrier for smaller organizations with limited budgets.
  • Complexity in Deployment
    Initial setup and deployment can be complex, especially for organizations without a dedicated IT security team, potentially requiring professional services for effective implementation.
  • False Positives
    Some users have reported the occurrence of false positives, which can lead to unnecessary remediation efforts and the allocation of resources to non-critical issues.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there can be a significant learning curve initially, particularly with advanced features and integrations requiring deeper understanding.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running comprehensive scans and analyses can be resource-intensive, potentially impacting system performance, especially on older or less powerful hardware.

Shodan videos

Searching the Internet with Shodan (Seen in Mr. Robot)

More videos:

  • Review - Bestech Shodan Unboxing & First Impressions
  • Review - Bestech Shodan FULL Review

Tenable.io videos

Introducing Tenable.io

More videos:

  • Review - Introducing Tenable.io Web Application Scanning
  • Review - Tenable Lumin Vulnerabilities Overview in Tenable.io

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shodan and Tenable.io)
Security
48 48%
52% 52
Monitoring Tools
46 46%
54% 54
Web Application Security
63 63%
37% 37
Security & Privacy
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shodan seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 92 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Shodan mentions (92)

  • Introducing OSINT Template Engine: An open source OSINT Tool.
    Transform OSINT sources such as shodan, bgpview & urlscan into templates which you can use to query & store any and each of the API endpoints they provide. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Some outgoing ports (e.g, port 22) are blocked
    I'm a little surprised you're asking this but as you don't know - if you set the rulebase correctly, you won't get hammered by "public". A lot of people (of course not people here) don't do that which is why shodan.io is full of servers with SSH exposed to the world. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Does anyone want to vet this job opportunity?
    Eh, request a full demo before signing anything. If they make you buy before you can try, move on. Just be advised that data they collect from your site may be used in a database that puts a target on your back. Similar to how shodan.io works. I would probe them on how they handle customer data and if data is shared, partitioned, or isolated to ensure safety from a platform leak. They want to be a security... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Security issue or coincidence?
    My network is being hit by China and Russia many times per hour. Make sure your firewall is up-to-date and not have any services available on the Internet (WAN). Look at shodan.io which shows you _everything_ is searched on the Internet. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Onion sites crawling: Weird mass "HTTP/1.1 200 " HTTP status line returning?
    In the cases of nginx or apache, I suspect they may be acting as proxies to some backend that also chooses not to send a reason phrase back. Searching for "Reason Phrase" yields a number of bug reports/frameworks that may omit it, and shodan.io shows apache tomcat and a few other services/software that omit the code as well. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Tenable.io mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Tenable.io yet. Tracking of Tenable.io recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shodan and Tenable.io, you can also consider the following products

Intruder - Intruder is a security monitoring platform for internet-facing systems.

Qualys - Qualys helps your business automate the full spectrum of auditing, compliance and protection of your IT systems and web applications.

Nessus - Nessus Professional is a security platform designed for businesses who want to protect the security of themselves, their clients, and their customers.

Acunetix - Audit your website security and web applications for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other...

BreachLock - BreachLock is a versatile platform that provides scalable and smooth penetration testing services for vulnerabilities.

Censys - Censys helps organizations, individuals, and researchers find and monitor every server on the Internet to reduce exposure and improve security.