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Attack surface management · October 2026 Edition

CyCognito vs Tenable Attack Surface Management

Two of fourteen models named CyCognito first on the direct prompt; zero named Tenable Attack Surface Management. CyCognito was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Tenable Attack Surface Management by eight and CyCognito carries 39 labels and Tenable Attack Surface Management 18, so the shares are not directly comparable.

CyCognito

criticized challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share6%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate26%17%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#7A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels3918A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, CyCognito reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Intruder was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Intruder vs CyCognito · Intruder vs Tenable Attack Surface Management · Attaxion vs CyCognito

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the attack surface management page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
CyCognitoFirst choices, of fourteen modelsTenable Attack Surface Management
Direct203 against CyCognito · 1 against Tenable Attack Surface Management
Paraphrase001 against CyCognito
Comparative20
Budget-constrained013 against CyCognito
Scale-constrained10
Negative003 against CyCognito · 2 against Tenable Attack Surface Management
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, CyCognito and Tenable Attack Surface Management were named in the same answer thirty-nine times, of the 106 answers naming CyCognito and the 65 naming Tenable Attack Surface Management. In those answers Tenable Attack Surface Management took the first choice four times and CyCognito five.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where CyCognito and Tenable Attack Surface Management stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
CyCognito Tenable Attack Surface Management first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, CyCognito on the left and Tenable Attack Surface Management on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where CyCognito and Tenable Attack Surface Management stood in it.

CyCognito first, Tenable Attack Surface Management not the choice

2 of 14 modelsTenable Attack Surface Management was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5CyCognito alternatives: Hadrian, Halo Security, Intruder
MiniMax M2.5CyCognito, Intruder alternatives: Mandiant Attack Surface Management

Neither was the first choice, one was named

3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniUpGuard BreachSight alternatives: CyCognito, Intruder, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, Tenable Attack Surface Management
DeepSeek V4 FlashIntruder alternatives: Censys ASM, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
GLM 4.7 FlashXIntruder alternatives: CyCognito, UpGuard BreachSight

Neither was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Gemini 3.5 FlashIntruder alternatives: Detectify, UpGuard BreachSight, runZero
Perplexity SonarIntruder alternatives: Cortex Xpanse, Mandiant Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
Grok 4.1 FastIntruder alternatives: Bitsight, Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, Rapid7 Surface Command
Mistral SmallIntruder alternatives: Bitsight, Detectify
Llama 4 MaverickIntruder alternatives: Bitsight, Qualys
Qwen 3.7 FlashIntruder alternatives: Rapid7
Kimi K2Intruder alternatives: Detectify, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
GPT-6 LunaMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management alternatives: Censys ASM, CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management, Rapid7 Surface Command
Muse Glimmer 30BIntruder, UpGuard BreachSight alternatives: Attaxion, Halo Security

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Tenable Attack Surface Management leads by two points.
Tenable Attack Surface Management3%#9 of 13
CyCognito2%#12 of 13
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: CyCognito leads at mid-market.
CyCognito6%#4 of 12
Tenable Attack Surface Management2%#7 of 12
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
CyCognito leads by two points.
CyCognito7%#3 of 9
Tenable Attack Surface Management5%#5 of 9
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about CyCognito

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“Also flagged as a criticized challenger (39% negative labels)” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Strong for automated discovery, but the search results point more toward complex environments than a typical mid-market default.” Perplexity Sonar · direct prompt · soft negative
“you do not need to pay for five-figure, enterprise-grade platforms like Palo Alto Cortex Xpanse or CyCognito” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“Validation separates the best. Platforms like CyCognito and Synack actively test whether exposures are truly exploitable” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“I'd suggest starting evaluations with CyCognito (if you want comprehensive discovery and have the budget)” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Highly praised for autonomous discovery... Leaders like CyCognito stand out for validation beyond detection” Grok 4.1 Fast · comparative prompt · first choice

What the models said about Tenable Attack Surface Management

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“The EASM component is more limited than dedicated EASM specialists, and works best alongside a dedicated EASM tool rather than instead of one” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“the platform can be overly complex ("heavy") and expensive relative to the immediate value provided. It is often viewed as overkill” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“Their ASM offering is often viewed as a secondary addition to their core product” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“the best value pick is usually Tenable One Attack Surface Management” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · first choice
“Best For: Teams that prefer hard technical data and CVSS scores over abstract "risk scores," particularly for compliance-heavy industries.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
“if you want attack surface management as part of a broader exposure management stack” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · alternative
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.