# Microsoft Defender EASM vs Nuclei

| Attribute | Microsoft Defender EASM | Nuclei |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51 (37% (low)) | 52.4 (19% (low)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A cloud-based security service that discovers internet-facing resources and identifies vulnerabilities to help organizations proactively manage their external attack surface and security risks. It is indexed under Attack Surface Management.","source":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-external-attack-surface-management/","question":"What is Microsoft Defender EASM?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Microsoft Defender EASM does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-external-attack-surface-management/","question":"How much does Microsoft Defender EASM cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Microsoft Defender EASM, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-external-attack-surface-management/","question":"Can Microsoft Defender EASM be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR for Microsoft Defender EASM. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Microsoft Defender EASM not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/trusted-cloud/","question":"What security certifications does Microsoft Defender EASM have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Microsoft Defender EASM is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-external-attack-surface-management/","question":"Where is Microsoft Defender EASM available?","confidence":0.5}]` | `[{"answer":"A command-line tool that discovers subdomains by querying public data sources without active scanning, optimized for speed and operational stealth. It is indexed under Attack Surface Management.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io","question":"What is Nuclei?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Nuclei is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. A commercial or hosted edition starts at $5. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io/pricing","question":"Is Nuclei free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Nuclei supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io","question":"What platforms does Nuclei support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Nuclei can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io","question":"Can Nuclei be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Nuclei, including GitHub, Slack, AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudflare and Vercel. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io/pricing","question":"What does Nuclei integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for Nuclei. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Nuclei not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io/privacy","question":"What security certifications does Nuclei have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Nuclei is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://projectdiscovery.io/pricing","question":"Where is Nuclei available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud-based security service that discovers internet-facing resources and identifies vulnerabilities to help organizations proactively manage their external attack surface and security risks. | A security discovery platform that identifies vulnerabilities and exposed assets across external-facing systems, internal infrastructure, and application code in real-time. It centralizes asset discovery and helps teams detect and remediate exposures before exploitation. |
| features.capabilities | `{"pricing_model":"quote","deployment_model":"cloud_managed_easm","agentless_external_discovery":true}` | `{"pricing_model":"open_source","deployment_model":"standalone_cli","continuous_daily_scanning":true,"cve_vulnerability_mapping":true,"agentless_external_discovery":true,"certificate_transparency_monitoring":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 7 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"GCP"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Cloudflare"},{"name":"Vercel"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"quote","currency":"USD","sourceUrl":"https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/defender-external-attack-surface-management/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-04T17:56:18.110Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free with 1 seat and limited one-time usage","features":["Every Neo workflow","Custom automations","Project workflows","Standard models"],"minSeats":1,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For researchers and engineers with limited one-time usage","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"seats":"1","usage":"limited one-time"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pay as you go","summary":"$200/$400/$800 per seat/month (save 12.5% annually)","features":["Everything in Free","Frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google","Weekly usage allowance (resets every 7 days)","Top-ups available"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":200,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":400,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":800,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For MSSPs and startups with self-serve seats and usage tiers","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"seats":"up to 5","usage":"weekly allowance per seat"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing with enterprise security features","features":["Everything in Pay as you go","On-prem or dedicated VPC deployment","Private network access","SSO/SAML","Bring your own key (BYOK)","Dedicated onboarding and support","Unlimited seats","Org-level usage controls"],"description":"For regulated industries and government with on-prem deployment and SSO","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"seats":"unlimited","usage":"custom"}}],"summary":"Free tier available; Pay as you go from $200/seat/month for up to 5 seats; Enterprise pricing on request","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://projectdiscovery.io/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-24T12:03:09.570Z","startingPrice":{"unit":"seat","amount":200,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | quote | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | unknown | high |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":200,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/security/ | - |

## Capabilities (Attack Surface Management)

| Capability | Microsoft Defender EASM | Nuclei |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Deployment model | Cloud managed easm | Standalone CLI |
| Continuous daily scanning | - | ✓ |
| Agentless external discovery | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated asset attribution | - | - |
| Cloud cspm integration | - | - |
| Certificate transparency monitoring | - | ✓ |
| Dark web exposure monitoring | - | - |
| Servicenow CMDB sync | - | - |
| Jira ticketing integration | - | - |
| Cve vulnerability mapping | - | ✓ |
| SOC2 type ii | - | - |
| ISO 27001 | - | - |
| Pricing model | Quote | Open source |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:46:09.191Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*