Shodan, Censys, and MAGO are three platforms that security professionals reach for when investigating domains, IP addresses, and internet-facing infrastructure. They share a surface-level similarity -- enter a target, get intelligence back -- but they serve fundamentally different purposes, target different users, and deliver different outputs. Choosing the wrong tool wastes time and budget. This comparison breaks down what each platform actually does, where it excels, and where it falls short.
The market for internet intelligence tools has matured significantly. The attack surface management market reached $1.5B in 2025, with projections ranging from $5B to $12B by 2030-2034. This growth reflects a real problem: organizations cannot secure assets they do not know about. The question is not whether you need internet intelligence -- it is which tool fits your workflow.
Platform Overview
Shodan: The Internet Search Engine
Shodan continuously scans the entire IPv4 address space, capturing banners from every responsive port. Founded in 2009 by John Matherly, it was the first platform to make internet-wide scan data publicly searchable. Shodan excels at device discovery -- finding specific types of servers, IoT devices, industrial control systems, and network appliances based on banner content.
Shodan's data model is IP-centric. You search by IP address, port, banner content, or metadata filters. Results show what ports are open, what services are running, and what banners those services return. It does not perform domain intelligence, security analysis, or generate reports. It is a search engine for raw internet scan data.
Censys: Internet Asset Discovery
Censys, born from the ZMap research project at the University of Michigan, takes a similar approach to Shodan but with stronger emphasis on TLS certificates and host-level analysis. Censys maintains a comprehensive certificate database and provides richer protocol-level detail than Shodan for HTTPS-enabled services.
Censys has increasingly shifted toward enterprise attack surface management. Its free community tier provides basic search capabilities, but the deep features -- continuous monitoring, asset inventory, risk scoring -- are gated behind enterprise pricing. For individual researchers, the free tier is limited.
MAGO: Domain Intelligence Reports
MAGO approaches internet intelligence from a different angle. Instead of providing a search engine for raw scan data, MAGO generates structured intelligence reports for specific targets. Enter a domain or IP address, and MAGO runs multiple intelligence modules -- subdomain enumeration, DNS analysis, security header auditing, technology fingerprinting, WHOIS analysis, and threat intelligence correlation -- and delivers the results as a formatted report.
The fundamental difference: Shodan and Censys give you data. MAGO gives you intelligence.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Shodan | Censys | MAGO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary function | Internet-wide device search | Internet asset discovery | Domain/IP intelligence reports |
| Data model | IP + port + banner | Host + certificate + service | Domain/IP + multi-source enrichment |
| Subdomain enumeration | Limited (via SSL certs) | Via certificate search | CT + passive DNS + web analysis |
| DNS analysis | Reverse DNS only | Forward + reverse DNS | Full record set (A, MX, TXT, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) |
| Security headers | Not analyzed | Not analyzed | Full audit with grading |
| Technology fingerprinting | Banner-based | Banner + protocol | HTTP headers + response analysis |
| Threat intelligence | Community tags | Risk scoring (enterprise) | Multi-feed correlation (OTX, ThreatFox, AbuseIPDB) |
| WHOIS analysis | Basic | Basic | Full record + registrar analysis |
| Report output | Raw JSON/API | Raw JSON/API | Formatted HTML/PDF report |
| Free tier | Limited searches, no API | Community search | Basic scan, limited modules |
| Paid pricing | $49-$399/month | Enterprise (contact sales) | Per-scan or subscription |
| API access | Yes (paid) | Yes (paid) | Yes |
| Target audience | Researchers, pentesters | Enterprise security teams | Security teams, legal, compliance |
Deep Dive: Where Each Platform Wins
Shodan Wins at Device Discovery
Shodan is unmatched for finding specific types of internet-connected devices. Need to find every Apache 2.4.49 server in a specific ASN? Shodan. Need to locate all publicly accessible Redis instances? Shodan. Need to identify industrial SCADA systems exposed to the internet? Shodan.
# Shodan search: Find all exposed MongoDB instances in an ASN
shodan search "product:mongodb port:27017 asn:AS12345"
# Shodan search: Find all Apache 2.4.49 servers (path traversal vuln)
shodan search "Server: Apache/2.4.49"Shodan's strength is its depth of banner data and the flexibility of its query language. For researchers studying internet-wide trends or pentesters looking for specific service versions, there is no equivalent.
Shodan's weakness: It gives you raw data, not analysis. Finding 500 IPs running a specific service is step one. Understanding which ones belong to your client, which are actually vulnerable, and what the risk impact is -- that is a manual process. Shodan also lacks domain-centric intelligence: you cannot enter a domain name and get a comprehensive profile.
Censys Wins at Certificate Intelligence
Censys maintains one of the most comprehensive TLS certificate databases available. For investigations that center on certificate relationships -- finding all domains sharing a certificate, identifying certificate misconfigurations, or tracking certificate issuance patterns -- Censys provides deeper data than Shodan.
Censys also has a stronger enterprise ASM product. For large organizations that need continuous monitoring of their external attack surface with risk scoring and asset inventory management, Censys Search + ASM is a legitimate enterprise solution.
Censys's weakness: The free tier is limited, and the enterprise tier requires contacting sales -- there is no self-service pricing page. For individual security professionals, small teams, or ad hoc investigations, the barrier to entry is high. Censys also does not generate formatted reports; output is raw data via API or web interface.
MAGO Wins at Intelligence Reports
MAGO is purpose-built for the last mile that Shodan and Censys do not cover: turning raw data into actionable, shareable intelligence reports. Enter a domain, and in seconds you receive a structured report that a non-technical stakeholder can understand and act on.
This matters because the end consumer of security intelligence is often not a security engineer. It is a CISO presenting to the board, a lawyer conducting due diligence, a compliance officer assessing vendor risk, or a journalist investigating an organization. These users need formatted reports with clear findings and risk ratings, not raw JSON.
MAGO's weakness: MAGO does not provide internet-wide search capabilities. You cannot search for "all exposed Redis servers in Brazil" like you can with Shodan. MAGO is target-centric -- you investigate a specific domain or IP, not the entire internet.
Use Case Mapping
| Use Case | Best Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Find all exposed MongoDB instances globally | Shodan | Internet-wide search by service type |
| Map all certificates for a domain | Censys | Deep certificate database and search |
| Generate a client-facing security report | MAGO | Formatted report with findings and grades |
| Enumerate subdomains for a target | MAGO | Multi-source enumeration with enrichment |
| Continuous enterprise attack surface monitoring | Censys ASM | Enterprise-grade continuous scanning |
| Vendor risk assessment | MAGO | Quick report, no technical setup |
| Pentest reconnaissance | Shodan + MAGO | Shodan for ports, MAGO for domain context |
| IoT/OT device research | Shodan | Deepest banner data for industrial protocols |
| Third-party risk management | MAGO | Standardized reports for vendor assessment |
| Legal due diligence | MAGO | Non-technical output, evidence-quality reports |
Pricing Comparison
Shodan
- Free: Limited web searches, no API, no bulk queries
- Membership ($49 one-time): Full web search, basic API access, query credits
- Freelancer ($69/month): Higher API limits, vulnerability search, network alerts
- Small Business ($399/month): Network monitoring, unlimited API, bulk lookups
- Enterprise: Contact sales
Censys
- Community (Free): Limited search, 250 API queries/month
- Solo/Teams/Enterprise: Contact sales for all paid tiers
- Censys does not publish pricing -- a deliberate enterprise sales strategy
MAGO
- Free Scan: Basic intelligence modules, limited detail
- Full Sweep ($29.90): All 16 intelligence modules, full report
- Subscription plans: Volume scanning with per-module pricing
- Self-service -- no sales calls required
Shodan and Censys charge monthly subscriptions for API access to raw data. MAGO charges per report for finished intelligence. For organizations that need occasional investigations rather than continuous monitoring, per-report pricing avoids paying for unused monthly capacity.
Data Source Comparison
Each platform collects data differently, which affects coverage and freshness:
Shodan runs its own internet-wide scans across hundreds of ports. Data freshness depends on scan frequency -- popular ports (80, 443, 22) are scanned more frequently than obscure ones. Shodan's proprietary scanners have been running since 2009, giving it the deepest historical dataset.
Censys also runs its own internet-wide scans, with particular strength in TLS certificate collection. Censys leverages ZMap (which it created) for high-speed scanning and maintains comprehensive certificate logs.
MAGO aggregates data from multiple external sources -- Certificate Transparency logs, passive DNS databases, WHOIS registries, threat intelligence feeds (AlienVault OTX, ThreatFox, URLhaus, AbuseIPDB), Shodan InternetDB -- and enriches it with real-time checks (HTTP headers, DNS resolution, TLS inspection). MAGO does not run internet-wide scans; it performs targeted, on-demand intelligence gathering for specific targets.
Combining Platforms
These tools are not mutually exclusive. A mature security workflow often combines them:
- MAGO for initial domain intelligence -- get a comprehensive overview of a target's posture in seconds
- Shodan for deep-dive into specific services and ports discovered during the initial assessment
- Censys for certificate chain analysis and enterprise-scale continuous monitoring
For teams that need attack surface management, the combination provides layers of visibility: MAGO for domain-centric intelligence, Shodan for device-centric discovery, and Censys for continuous enterprise monitoring.
Verdict: Which Should You Use?
Choose Shodan if you are a security researcher or penetration tester who needs to search the entire internet for specific services, devices, or configurations. Shodan is a power tool for technical users who know exactly what they are looking for.
Choose Censys if you are an enterprise security team that needs continuous attack surface monitoring with risk scoring and asset inventory management. Be prepared for an enterprise sales process and pricing.
Choose MAGO if you need actionable intelligence reports on specific targets without technical setup. MAGO is built for security teams, legal professionals, compliance officers, and anyone who needs to understand a target's digital posture quickly and communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders.
The Verizon 2025 DBIR found that third-party involvement in breaches doubled to 30%. Whether you are assessing your own domain intelligence, evaluating vendors, or investigating suspicious infrastructure, the right tool depends on your audience, your workflow, and whether you need raw data or finished intelligence.
Verizon 2025 DBIR -- third-party involvement doubled to 30%. Attack Surface Management Market -- $1.5B in 2025, projected $5-12B by 2030-2034. IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 -- organizations using AI saved $1.9M per breach.