HEAD-TO-HEAD · FACTS ONLY
CyCognito vs Hadrian: exposure management facts side by side
SHORT ANSWER
CyCognito describes 5 of the five tool types on the pages we read and Hadrian describes 4; they differ on WAF posture. On proof, CyCognito describes attack-style testing and Hadrian describes attack-style testing. We do not score either; the right choice depends on your estate, current platform, WAFs and capacity to fix.
By The Exposure Desk · Exposure Management Finder · Published 2026-10-11
Desk research from public vendor pages read in September 2026, updated 2026-10-11. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.
How do their shapes compare?
- CyCognito
- Hadrian
- Outer point: described on the vendor's pages we read
- Inner point: not in our sources (it may exist; we did not find it)
What are the facts, side by side?
| Fact | CyCognito | Hadrian |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | An external exposure management platform that starts from your organisation's name, attributes each asset to a subsidiary or brand, and runs more than 100,000 active security tests. | An agentic AI platform for attack surface management and penetration testing, with continuous external exposure management (ATLAS) and priced agentic penetration tests (NOVA). |
| Deployment | Unauthenticated black-box testing from outside, with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Scans run hourly or when an event triggers them. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| EASM discovery | Described Starts from the organisation's name with no IP ranges or asset lists, and attributes assets to subsidiary, brand or business unit. Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described Continuous discovery with hourly or event-triggered scans; machine learning confirms asset ownership. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure validation | Described More than 100,000 tests across 30+ categories, unauthenticated and designed not to change state. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described Agentic AI that, by Hadrian's account, proves exploitability within 15 minutes. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Exposure management platforms | Described CyCognito calls its product an exposure management platform; internal assets are not described on the pages we read. Source: CyCognito press release: Continuous AI Pentesting · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Described ATLAS is priced as continuous external exposure management; internal assets are not described. Source: Hadrian pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| CTEM programme support | Described Describes CTEM as "discovery to remediation" and "what ties the platform together": discovery, context, prioritisation, validation and remediation, with a retest after each fix. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 | Described Discovery, prioritisation, exploit validation, remediation guidance, automatic tickets and automatic regression testing. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| WAF postureDiffers | Described Its Application Security use case includes ensuring WAF coverage; producing or deploying WAF rules is not described. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 | Not in our sources |
| Subsidiary and owner attributionDiffers | Matches Every finding carries a trace of how it was found and why it belongs to the subsidiary, brand or business unit. Source: CyCognito discovery · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Partly Hadrian lists a mergers and acquisitions assessment add-on for Atlas; ownership is confirmed by machine learning. Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 Oct 2026 |
| Internal as well as external assets | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Cloud connections named | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Exploitability checked | Matches Active black-box tests with no brute force or state changes. Source: CyCognito active security testing · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Proves exploitability with agentic testing. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Attack-style testing | Matches More than 100,000 active tests, and Continuous AI Pentesting announced on 16 June 2026. Source: CyCognito press release: Continuous AI Pentesting · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Agentic AI simulates attacks to prove impact. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Works through your WAF or edge | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| WAF coverage across several vendorsDiffers | Partly Its Application Security use case includes ensuring WAF coverage; producing or deploying WAF rules is not described. Source: CyCognito homepage (re-read) · Read 11 Oct 2026 | Not in our sources |
| Retests after a fix | Matches Retests after each fix. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Automatic regression testing after fixes. Source: Hadrian technology · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Routes findings to owners and tickets | Matches Owner-linked workflows with ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Matches Automatic ticket creation, with Jira, ServiceNow, GLPI, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SentinelOne, Datadog and Zendesk. Source: Hadrian integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Applies a compensating control | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Price or pricing basis published | Matches AWS Marketplace lists CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) at $30,000 for 12 months. Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026 | Matches NOVA agentic penetration tests cost from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. Source: Hadrian pricing (re-read) · Read 13 Oct 2026 |
| Trial or self-serve start | Not in our sources | Not in our sources |
| Platform it extends | None | None |
| Integrations | ServiceNow, Jira, Splunk and Zendesk for remediation workflows. Source: CyCognito remediation acceleration · Read 27 Sep 2026 | Jira, ServiceNow, GLPI, Slack, Microsoft Teams, SentinelOne, Datadog, Zendesk and HubSpot, plus an API. Source: Hadrian integrations · Read 27 Sep 2026 |
| Price | AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000; 24- and 36-month contracts save up to 8% and 11%. Direct pricing basis: total asset volume (ASM); active IPs and web applications (exposure validation), by quote. Source: AWS Marketplace: CyCognito Attack Surface Management Platform · Read 11 Oct 2026 | NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: up to 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000. Source: AWS Marketplace: Atlas External Attack Surface Management · Read 11 Oct 2026 |
Where do they differ?
- WAF posture: CyCognito describes it; Hadrian is not in our sources.
- Subsidiary and owner attribution: CyCognito matches; Hadrian partly matches.
- WAF coverage across several vendors: CyCognito partly matches; Hadrian is not in our sources.
Choose CyCognito if
- You want to start from a company name and see the attribution trail for each asset
- You need proof that a fix worked, through a retest
Choose Hadrian if
- You want attack-style proof and a price you can see before a call
- You need fixes retested automatically
Which limits should you check?
CyCognito
- No automated mitigation is described: remediation is guidance, owner-linked tickets and retests.
- WAF coverage is checked, but producing or deploying WAF rules is not described.
Hadrian
- Hadrian lists a mergers and acquisitions assessment add-on for Atlas; ownership is confirmed by machine learning.
- No WAF or edge mitigation is described.
Questions readers ask
Is CyCognito or Hadrian better?
Neither is scored on this site. CyCognito describes 5 of five tool types and Hadrian 4 on the pages we read, and they differ on 3 recorded facts. Which fits depends on your estate, current platform, need for proof, WAFs and capacity to fix; the finder checks those.
Which of the two proves exploitability?
CyCognito: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Matches. Hadrian: exploitability checked: Matches; attack-style testing: Matches.
Do CyCognito or Hadrian publish prices?
CyCognito: AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: CyCognito ASM 250 (up to 250 assets) $30,000; 24- and 36-month contracts save up to 8% and 11%. Direct pricing basis: total asset volume (ASM); active IPs and web applications (exposure validation), by quote. Hadrian: NOVA agentic penetration test: from 1,250 euros per test excluding VAT, bundles available. ATLAS on AWS Marketplace, 12-month contract: up to 250 assets (domains, IP addresses and certificates) $50,000.