Assetnote ASM vs Turbolist3r: 2026 Comparison
Assetnote ASM is a commercial external attack surface management tool by Assetnote. Turbolist3r is a free external attack surface management tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best external attack surface management fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, company size fit, deployment model, here is our conclusion:
Mid-market and enterprise security teams managing sprawling external infrastructure will get the most from Assetnote ASM because its hourly asset discovery actually catches exposures before your business units spin up new services, not weeks after. The platform covers ID.AM and DE.CM across NIST CSF 2.0, meaning you're building a real asset inventory while monitoring it continuously, and the exploit-based verification eliminates the noise that buries actionable findings in traditional scanners. Skip this if your organization lacks the headcount to operationalize a workflow-driven program; Assetnote's strength is enabling lean teams to prioritize, not giving you a dashboard to ignore.
Security teams building subdomain inventories on a shoestring budget will get immediate value from Turbolist3r; the Python implementation runs fast enough to enumerate mid-size organizations in minutes, and the 386 GitHub stars reflect actual adoption by practitioners rather than marketing noise. The free pricing means you're not choosing between this tool and nothing,you're choosing between this and paying for a commercial scanner that does the same reconnaissance work. Skip it if you need passive DNS integration, API automation, or a web UI; Turbolist3r is command-line only and won't integrate into your existing attack surface management workflow without custom scripting.
