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Comprehensive Buyer's Guide

Best Attack Surface Monitoring Tools for SMBs & Startups: 2025

Your attack surface is growing faster than you can track it. 76% of organizations have experienced breaches through assets they didn't even know existed. This comprehensive guide helps you navigate the ASM landscape, compare leading solutions, and choose the right tool for your team size, budget, and technical expertise.

Last Updated: November 18, 2025 | Next Review: February 2026

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Introduction

What is Attack Surface Monitoring?

Attack surface monitoring (ASM) continuously discovers, maps, and secures all your internet-facing assets—domains, subdomains, IP addresses, cloud services, and APIs—before attackers can exploit them.

Why ASM Matters for SMBs

The Problem:

• Your attack surface is 10x larger than you think
• Forgotten subdomains and orphaned DNS records create blind spots
• Shadow IT from rapid cloud adoption expands your exposure
• Manual tracking is error-prone and always outdated

The Solution:

Modern ASM tools automatically discover assets, continuously monitor for vulnerabilities, and alert you to exploitable risks in real-time—giving small teams enterprise-level visibility without enterprise-level budgets or security expertise.

Key Benefits

Discover Unknown Assets

Find forgotten subdomains, shadow IT, and infrastructure you didn't know existed

Prevent Subdomain Takeovers

Detect dangling DNS records before attackers claim them

Continuous Monitoring

Real-time alerts for DNS changes, exposed services, and misconfigurations

Prioritized Remediation

Focus on critical risks instead of drowning in 2,300+ alerts

Compliance Support

Maintain security posture for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other frameworks

Selection Criteria

How to Choose the Right ASM Tool

Not all ASM tools are created equal. Here's how to evaluate solutions based on your organization's needs:

1. Budget Considerations

For Startups & Small Teams (1-10 people):

• Look for free plans or trials to test capabilities
• Target pricing: $0-$200/month for basic monitoring
• Avoid tools requiring enterprise sales processes
→ Best options: bspeka (free plan available), Intruder ($99-$108/month)

For Growing SMBs (10-50 people):

• Budget: $200-$1,000/month depending on scope
• Look for transparent, scalable pricing models
• Consider ROI: One prevented breach pays for years of monitoring
→ Best options: bspeka, Intruder, Detectify

For Mid-Market & Enterprises (50+ people):

• Budget: $1,000-$10,000+/month
• Custom pricing with dedicated support
• Integration with existing security stack essential
→ Best options: CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, Microsoft Defender EASM, Wiz

2. Team Size & Expertise

No Dedicated Security Team

  • Prioritize ease of use and guided remediation
  • Step-by-step fix instructions
  • Alerts in plain language
  • Minimal configuration required

Choose: bspeka, Intruder

1-3 Security Engineers

  • Need prioritization features
  • Integration with ticketing systems
  • Moderate technical guidance acceptable

Choose: Intruder, Detectify, bspeka

Dedicated Security Operations

  • Advanced threat intelligence required
  • Deep SIEM, SOAR, XDR integration
  • Customizable workflows and automation

Choose: CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender EASM, Wiz

3. Time to Value

Immediate Need (Security Incident Response):

• Setup in minutes to hours
• Auto-discovery without manual configuration
• Instant visibility into exposed assets
Best: bspeka (15 min), Detectify, Intruder

Proactive Security Program:

• Can tolerate 1-2 week implementation
• More comprehensive discovery acceptable
• Enterprise onboarding process okay
Best: Any solution based on other factors

Categories

Best ASM Tools by Category

🏆 Best for SMBs & Startups

1. bspeka
Ideal for: Budget-conscious SMBs, non-security teams, fast deployment
Starting price: Free plan, then €79-99/month
Key strength: Step-by-step remediation

2. Intruder
Ideal for: SMBs wanting vulnerability scanning + ASM
Starting price: ~$99-$108/month
Key strength: Strong integration ecosystem

🏢 Best for Enterprises

1. CrowdStrike Falcon Surface
Ideal for: Large enterprises, existing CrowdStrike customers
Pricing: Custom (enterprise)
Key strength: #1 Gartner ranking

2. Microsoft Defender EASM
Ideal for: Microsoft 365/Azure-heavy organizations
Pricing: Asset-per-day model
Key strength: Native Defender integration

🎯 Best for Application Security

Detectify
Ideal for: Product/engineering teams, AppSec focus
Pricing: Custom (requires sales contact)
Key strength: 400+ ethical hacker crowd-sourced intelligence

☁️ Best for Cloud-Native

Wiz ASM
Ideal for: Cloud-first organizations, multi-cloud
Pricing: Custom (premium)
Key strength: Security Graph for attack path analysis

In-Depth Analysis

Detailed Tool Profiles

Best for SMBs

bspeka — Attack Surface Monitoring for SMBs

€79-99/mo

Overview: bspeka is purpose-built for small teams without dedicated security expertise, offering the fastest time-to-value in the market with step-by-step remediation guidance.

Best For:

  • Startups and SMBs (1-50 employees)
  • Teams without security engineers
  • Organizations needing fast deployment
  • Budget-conscious buyers wanting free plan option

Key Features:

  • 15-minute setup with TXT record verification
  • Continuous subdomain discovery via DNS enumeration & certificate transparency
  • Real-time DNS monitoring and subdomain takeover detection
  • Direct integrations: AWS Route 53, Cloudflare, Google Cloud DNS, Azure DNS
  • Prioritized alerts via email, Slack, SMS
  • Step-by-step remediation for non-security teams
  • SSL/TLS weakness scanning and open port detection

Pricing:

Personal Plan: Free (1 domain, weekly scans, 1 user)
Professional Plan: €99/month (10 domains, continuous monitoring, 5 users, 3 integrations)
Enterprise Plan: Custom (unlimited domains/users/integrations)
Free Trial: 14 days

Pros

  • Fastest implementation in market
  • Actionable remediation for small teams
  • Free plan to test before buying
  • Transparent pricing without sales calls
  • Focuses on DNS/subdomain gaps SMBs overlook

Cons

  • Newer player with smaller customer base
  • Less mature integration ecosystem
  • Not ideal for enterprises needing advanced threat intelligence
  • Limited application security scanning vs. Detectify

When to Choose bspeka:

You're an SMB wanting immediate visibility without complexity, sales calls, or security expertise requirements.

Best for AppSec

Detectify — Application Security + Surface Monitoring

Custom

Overview: Detectify combines crowd-sourced vulnerability intelligence from 400+ ethical hackers with continuous surface monitoring, making it ideal for product and engineering teams.

Best For:

  • Product and engineering teams
  • Organizations prioritizing application security
  • Companies wanting crowd-sourced threat intelligence
  • Developer workflow integration needs

Key Features:

  • Continuous subdomain discovery and monitoring
  • Subdomain takeover detection
  • Crowd-sourced vulnerability research (400+ ethical hackers)
  • API and webhook integrations
  • Workflow automation via Workato (connects to Slack, Jira, etc.)
  • Daily updated vulnerability intelligence
  • Developer-friendly reporting

Pricing:

Custom pricing (requires sales contact) • Costs scale with number of sites monitored • 14-day free trial available

Pros

  • Unique crowd-sourced intelligence
  • Strong developer workflow integrations
  • Rapid discovery after domain verification
  • Proven track record with engineering teams

Cons

  • No transparent pricing (sales process required)
  • Costs can scale quickly with site count
  • Less prescriptive remediation guidance
  • Assumes technical security resources available

When to Choose Detectify:

You want application security coverage with ASM, have engineering resources, and value crowd-sourced threat intelligence over budget transparency.

Best for SMB Vulnerability Management

Intruder — Vulnerability Management for SMBs

$99-108/mo

Overview: Intruder provides comprehensive vulnerability scanning alongside attack surface discovery with strong integrations and SMB-friendly pricing.

Best For:

  • Small to medium organizations (10-100 employees)
  • Teams wanting vulnerability scanning + ASM in one tool
  • Organizations with existing workflow tools (Jira, Vanta, Zapier)
  • Companies valuing strong integration ecosystem

Key Features:

  • Continuous vulnerability monitoring
  • Subdomain discovery and monitoring
  • DomainTools FarSight integration (Enterprise plan only - Nov 2025)
  • Cloud environment auto-sync
  • Strong integrations: Jira, Slack, Vanta, Zapier
  • Prioritization features with risk scoring

Pricing:

Essential Plan: ~$99-$108/month (starting price for SMBs)
Enterprise Plan: Custom (includes DomainTools integration)
Free Trial: 14 days

Pros

  • Affordable SMB starting price
  • Excellent integration ecosystem
  • Combines vulnerability scanning with ASM
  • Recent DomainTools partnership enhances discovery

Cons

  • DomainTools integration limited to Enterprise plan
  • Assumes some technical security knowledge
  • Advanced features require higher-tier plans
  • Less guidance for non-technical teams vs. bspeka

When to Choose Intruder:

You want comprehensive vulnerability management with ASM, have moderate security knowledge, and value strong tool integrations.

Enterprise Solutions Quick Reference:

CrowdStrike Falcon Surface: Best for large enterprises needing adversary-driven intelligence (#1 Gartner ranking). Custom pricing. Ideal for existing CrowdStrike customers.

Microsoft Defender EASM: Best for Azure/M365-heavy organizations. Asset-per-day pricing. Native integration with Defender suite.

Wiz ASM: Best for cloud-native multi-cloud environments. Security Graph for attack path analysis. Premium pricing for comprehensive CNAPP.

ImmuniWeb Discovery: Best for compliance-focused enterprises. From $999/month. Strong GRC features and managed services.

Side-by-Side

Comparison Table

Feature bspeka Detectify Intruder CrowdStrike Microsoft Wiz
Best For SMBs, startups AppSec + ASM SMBs, mid-market Enterprise Azure/M365 orgs Cloud-native
Starting Price Free Custom ~$99-108/mo Custom Asset/day Custom
Setup Time 15 minutes Hours Fast Days-weeks Hours-days Hours-days
Free Trial 14 days 14 days 14 days Yes Yes Assessment
Subdomain Discovery ✅ Continuous ✅ Continuous ✅ Continuous ✅ Advanced ✅ Advanced ✅ Advanced
DNS Monitoring ✅ Real-time ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Guided Remediation ✅ Step-by-step ➖ Moderate ➖ Moderate ✅ Advanced ✅ Advanced ✅ Advanced
Slack Alerts ✅ ✅ (via Workato) ✅ Native ✅ ✅ ✅
SIEM Export ➖ ➖ ➖ ✅ ✅ ✅
SMB-Friendly ✅✅✅ ✅✅ ✅✅✅ ❌ ➖ ❌
Enterprise-Ready ➖ ✅ ✅ ✅✅✅ ✅✅✅ ✅✅✅

Legend: ✅ Yes/Strong | ➖ Partial/Moderate | ❌ No/Weak

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between ASM, EASM, and CAASM?
ASM (Attack Surface Management) is the broad practice of discovering and securing all potential attack vectors. EASM (External ASM) focuses specifically on internet-facing assets visible to attackers. CAASM (Cyber Asset ASM) takes a comprehensive approach covering both internal and external assets with unified visibility. For most SMBs, EASM capabilities are sufficient.
How is ASM different from vulnerability scanning?
Traditional vulnerability scanners require you to tell them what to scan—but you can't scan what you don't know exists. ASM automatically discovers ALL your internet-facing assets first, then continuously monitors them for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exposure risks.
What's a reasonable ASM budget for SMBs?
Budget guidelines by company size: 1-10 employees: $0-$200/month; 10-50 employees: $200-$1,000/month; 50-200 employees: $1,000-$5,000/month; 200+ employees: $5,000-$20,000+/month. Remember: One prevented breach ($4.45M average cost) pays for decades of ASM tools.
Should I choose bspeka or Intruder for my SMB?
Choose bspeka if your team lacks security expertise, you need 15-minute deployment, step-by-step remediation is essential, and free plan testing is important. Choose Intruder if you want vulnerability scanning + ASM in one tool, strong integrations are critical, you have moderate security knowledge, and can invest $99-108/month.
Do ASM tools require agents or software installation?
Most modern ASM tools are agentless and scan from outside your network (attacker's perspective). No infrastructure changes required, works with cloud and on-premises, and provides immediate deployment without IT approval. You see what attackers see.
How do I prove ROI for ASM tools to leadership?
Example calculation: ASM tool costs $1,200/year (bspeka Professional). Prevents just 1 subdomain takeover: Saves $50,000-$500,000 in incident response. ROI: 4,000-40,000% first year. Average data breach costs $4.45M (IBM Security).

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