HailBytes ASM vs runZero
runZero excels at internal asset discovery. HailBytes ASM is built for external attack-surface monitoring with white-label deliverables. They’re often complementary; this page helps you decide which (or both).
TL;DR
runZero (formerly Rumble Network Discovery) is best in class for internal active asset discovery: agentless network scans that find IT, OT, and unmanaged devices on your corporate networks. HailBytes ASM is an external attack-surface management platform that runs the recon pipeline on internet-facing assets inside your own AWS or Azure account.
- Pick HailBytes ASM if you need continuous external recon, white-label deliverables for clients, or AI-agent orchestration over the scan pipeline.
- Stay with runZero if your priority is unmanaged-device discovery on internal networks and OT/IoT visibility.
- Run both if you need full internal + external coverage; the products don’t overlap meaningfully.
Pricing & Cost Model
HailBytes ASM starts at the 8 vCPU floor — $11,760/year on a 1-year commitment, $16,800 at list. runZero Professional is cheaper than our floor on a small surface, and the two products are not substitutes anyway: external recon of an unknown internet-facing surface is a different job from authenticated internal asset discovery. Treat the table below as a budgeting reference, not a scorecard.
| Dimension | HailBytes ASM | runZero |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing axis | Infrastructure ($0.24/vCPU/hour) | Per asset (Professional / Enterprise tiers) |
| Annual cost (small surface) | $11,760 (8 vCPU; $16,800 list) — runZero Professional undercuts our 8 vCPU floor outright; we lose this band | ~$5,000 (Professional) |
| Annual cost (mid surface) | $11,760–$23,520 (8–16 vCPU; $16,800–$33,600 list) — all-in this overlaps runZero’s range at 8 vCPU and exceeds its top at 16 | $15,000–$30,000 |
| Annual cost (large surface) | $23,520–$47,110 (16–32 vCPU; $33,600–$67,300 list) — all-in, below runZero Enterprise at 16 vCPU and above it at 32 | $50,000+ (Enterprise) |
| Free trial | 30 days via AWS / Azure Marketplace | 21-day Community / Pro trial |
| Procurement path | Cloud marketplace (counts toward EDP / MACC) | Direct subscription |
HailBytes figures are the 1-year commitment price — delivered as an AWS or Azure private offer, not a discount on the published meter — with list alongside, so the comparison sits on the same annual-contract basis as the competitor column. 8 vCPU ($16,800 list) is the entry size. The meter covers software only; the VM, storage, and networking run in your own cloud account and are billed separately at roughly $35/vCPU/month — $280/month at 8 vCPU, $560 at 16, $1,120 at 32 — so scale that line to the size on the row you are reading, not to 8 vCPU. All-in at 8 vCPU that is about $20,160/year at list or $15,120 on a 1-year commitment, and every break-even quoted on this page is calculated on that all-in basis. Full pricing.
Sizing above 8 vCPU: ASM sizes its scan worker from the host, so a larger instance scans proportionally faster — a 16 vCPU deployment gives the scan engine twice the cores an 8 vCPU one does. Instances deployed before August 2026 pick this up on the next update, when the installer rewrites the worker limits to match the machine.
Architecture & Control
| Dimension | HailBytes ASM | runZero |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Self-hosted in your AWS / Azure account | SaaS console + on-prem Explorer scanners |
| Source code access | Ships with the deployment; auditable under NDA | Closed source |
| Primary scan target | External attack surface (internet-facing) | Internal corporate networks (agentless) |
| Custom scan logic / wordlists | ✅ Full control | 🟡 Probe customization |
| Per-tenant isolation | One VM per tenant | Multi-tenant SaaS console |
Capability Comparison
| Capability | HailBytes ASM | runZero |
|---|---|---|
| External subdomain enumeration | ✅ Multi-source | ❌ Not the use case |
| Internet-facing port & service scanning | ✅ Built-in | 🟡 If targeted |
| Internal network active discovery | ❌ Not the use case | ✅ Best in class |
| OT / IoT / ICS device discovery | ❌ | ✅ runZero’s real moat |
| CVE matching | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom wordlists | ✅ Unlimited | 🟡 Probe-level |
| AI-powered analysis | ✅ OpenAI + Ollama (local GPU) | ❌ |
| MCP server / AI-agent tooling | ✅ Built-in (Claude / Cursor / Windsurf) | ❌ |
| SIEM integration | ✅ Splunk, Sentinel, Elastic, Chronicle | ✅ Webhook + connectors |
| Government cloud (GovCloud / Azure Gov) | ✅ Both | 🟡 FedRAMP-pursuing |
| White-label for client deliverables | ✅ Built-in | ❌ |
When HailBytes ASM Wins
- External attack-surface monitoring is the use case. runZero’s strength is on the inside; for external recon, HailBytes is the right primitive.
- Pen-test firms and MSSPs. Fixed per-instance cost combined with white-label output is what makes resold continuous external monitoring profitable.
- Government and regulated industries. Deploy in AWS GovCloud or Azure Government and the scan data stays inside your own tenancy.
- AI-agent recon workflows. A built-in MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf drive scans and finding triage directly.
When runZero Wins
- Unmanaged internal-device discovery is your real problem. runZero’s agentless internal scans are best in class and widely respected.
- OT/IoT/ICS environments. runZero handles fragile and proprietary protocols that pure recon-tooling won’t.
- Asset-management for compliance on the internal side, like PCI scoping, HIPAA inventory, and similar work.
Most teams running both products treat HailBytes ASM as the external-facing layer and runZero as the internal-facing one.
Try HailBytes ASM
Both marketplace listings come with a 30-day trial that covers the VM as well.
Related Comparisons
Other discovery and ASM platforms usually evaluated alongside runZero:
- vs Shodan — the original device search engine.
- vs Censys — internet-wide certificate and port intelligence.
- vs Detectify — SaaS web-app surface monitoring.
- vs Microsoft Defender EASM — Azure-native external ASM.
- Full ASM comparison matrix — every vendor side by side, plus the HailBytes ASM product page.
See HailBytes ASM in Action
Skip the slide deck. Watch the product run end-to-end before you book a call.
Try HailBytes ASM Free
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