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Attack surface management · November 2026 Edition
Attaxion vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Zero of fourteen models named Attaxion first on the direct prompt; one named Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management. Attaxion was named by twelve of the fourteen models and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management by fourteen and Attaxion carries 20 labels and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management 56, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share19%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate5%11%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#4A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels2056A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Attaxion reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Intruder was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Intruder vs Attaxion · Intruder vs Microsoft Defender External 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.
AttaxionFirst choices, of fourteen modelsMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Direct01
Paraphrase121 against Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Comparative01
Budget-constrained901 against Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Scale-constrained00
Negative001 against Attaxion · 4 against Microsoft Defender External 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 November 2026 Edition, Attaxion and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management were named in the same answer thirty-nine times, of the 61 answers naming Attaxion and the 161 naming Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management. In those answers Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management took the first choice three times and Attaxion seventeen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Attaxion and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| 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 | | | |
Attaxion Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Attaxion on the left and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Attaxion and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management stood in it.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management first, Attaxion not the choice
1 of 14 modelsAttaxion was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-6 LunaMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management alternatives: Censys ASM, CyCognito
Neither was the first choice, one was named
10 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Intruder alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, Tenable Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
GPT-5.4 miniCensys ASM alternatives: IONIX, Intruder, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Gemini 3.5 FlashCyCognito alternatives: Censys ASM, Detectify, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
Perplexity SonarIntruder alternatives: Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
Grok 4.20Intruder alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management, CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Mistral SmallCyCognito, Intruder alternatives: Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
DeepSeek V4 FlashUpGuard BreachSight alternatives: CyCognito, Intruder, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Kimi K2Intruder alternatives: CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, SynScan
MiniMax M2.5Intruder alternatives: Attaxion, Halo Security
Muse Glimmer 30BIntruder alternatives: CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Censys ASM, Dive, Rapid7
GLM 4.7 FlashXIntruder alternatives: CyCognito, SecurityScorecard
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
Attaxion leads by seventeen points.
Attaxion19%#2 of 14Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management2%#10 of 14Mid-marketThe figures above
Attaxion leads by thirteen points.
Attaxion19%#2 of 12Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management6%#4 of 12Enterprise
The order flips: Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management leads at enterprise.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management13%#2 of 10Attaxion0%#– of 10What the models said about Attaxion
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Some newer tools (like Attaxion) lack integrations with ticketing systems and messaging platforms” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“For a small monthly budget ($100-350), Attaxion offers the best value with automated vulnerability scanning and continuous monitoring” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“Best Overall Value: Attaxion ... frequently cited as the best balance of price and performance for SMBs and startups.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Attaxion Starter at $129/mo for up to 40 assets is widely cited as the most affordable full EASM offering” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Better suited for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft stack” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Complex to configure (typical Microsoft complexity), generates significant false positives, requires existing Microsoft licensing” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Strongly Azure/Microsoft-centric—poor fit if you're not heavily invested in their ecosystem” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“If you already use CrowdStrike or Microsoft 365/Azure: Start a Proof of Concept (PoC) with Microsoft Defender EASM” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“For most modern enterprises, CyCognito and Microsoft EASM are currently leading the market” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is often the most pragmatic starting point” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared
Intruder vs AttaxionIntruder vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementAttaxion vs CyCognitoAttaxion vs Censys ASMAttaxion vs UpGuard BreachSightAttaxion vs Cortex XpanseAttaxion vs Tenable Attack Surface ManagementCyCognito vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Censys ASMMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs UpGuard BreachSightMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Cortex XpanseMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Tenable Attack Surface ManagementAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full ASM standing
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.