Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ZMap VS Shodan

Compare ZMap VS Shodan and see what are their differences

ZMap logo ZMap

ZMap is a fast single packet network scanner designed for Internet-wide network surveys.

Shodan logo Shodan

Shodan is the world's first search engine for Internet-connected devices.
  • ZMap Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-30
  • Shodan Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-16

ZMap features and specs

  • High-Speed Scanning
    ZMap is designed to scan the entire IPv4 address space quickly, often in less than an hour, making it ideal for large-scale scanning projects.
  • Open Source
    ZMap is an open-source project, allowing users to inspect, modify, and enhance the code according to their needs, fostering a collaborative environment.
  • Scalable
    ZMap is highly efficient in resource usage, enabling it to be used on a wide range of hardware from powerful servers to modest personal computers.
  • Wide Range of Applications
    The tool can be used for various tasks such as network measurement, security research, and data collection among others.
  • Extensive Community Support
    Being popular in the network research community, it enjoys substantial documentation, tutorials, and community-driven support.

Possible disadvantages of ZMap

  • Potential for Abuse
    The high-speed capabilities of ZMap can be misused for malicious activities like unauthorized network scanning or cyber-attacks.
  • Network Load
    ZMap can generate significant network traffic, which could disrupt normal operations or attract attention from network administrators and intrusion detection systems.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and fine-tuning ZMap for specific tasks requires a good understanding of both the tool and the network being scanned, which may be challenging for beginners.
  • Legal and Ethical Concerns
    Running wide-scale scans can raise legal and ethical questions, particularly if done without explicit permission, potentially leading to legal repercussions.
  • Limited to IPv4
    ZMap primarily targets the IPv4 address space and may not be as effective or optimized for IPv6, which is increasingly being adopted.

Shodan features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Collection
    Shodan extensively scans the internet, collecting data from a wide range of devices and services, which provides users with a thorough overview of their network exposure.
  • Security Awareness
    It helps organizations identify and address security vulnerabilities by revealing exposed devices and services that might otherwise go unnoticed.
  • Automation Capabilities
    The platform offers an API that allows users to automate searches and integrate Shodan data into their own tools and workflows.
  • Detailed Search Filters
    Shodan provides advanced search filters that allow users to narrow down results based on specific criteria such as geographic location, device type, or operating system.
  • Real-Time Monitoring
    Users can set up real-time alerts to monitor for new exposures, ensuring timely response to potential threats.

Possible disadvantages of Shodan

  • Ethical and Legal Concerns
    Shodan can be used by malicious actors to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, raising ethical and legal questions about its use and data collection practices.
  • Complex UI
    The user interface can be overwhelming for beginners due to its complexity and the vast amount of data available, making it difficult to navigate without prior experience.
  • Subscription Costs
    While Shodan offers a free tier, accessing advanced features and extensive search capabilities requires a subscription, which might be costly for some users.
  • Potential for False Positives
    The data collected by Shodan might include false positives, where benign devices are flagged as vulnerabilities, thus requiring users to manually verify each finding.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Since Shodan indexes devices connected to the internet, this can include personal and residential hardware, leading to privacy concerns for individuals whose devices are inadvertently exposed.

Analysis of Shodan

Overall verdict

  • Shodan can be a valuable tool when used appropriately. It is particularly beneficial for cybersecurity experts seeking to analyze and secure networked devices. However, it can also be used for malicious purposes if accessed by individuals with harmful intent. Therefore, ethical considerations and legal compliance must guide its use.

Why this product is good

  • Shodan is often considered useful because it acts as a search engine for Internet-connected devices. It allows cybersecurity professionals to discover and assess the exposure of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and networks. Shodan's extensive database enables users to gather information on devices' IP addresses, operating systems, open ports, and potential vulnerabilities. This data can be instrumental in cybersecurity research and in developing strategies to protect against potential threats.

Recommended for

  • Cybersecurity professionals
  • Network administrators
  • Security researchers
  • IoT developers seeking to understand device exposure
  • Organizations conducting security audits

ZMap videos

zMap App Demo.mov

More videos:

  • Review - H109 - Network discovery scans with Zmap
  • Review - zmap

Shodan videos

Searching the Internet with Shodan (Seen in Mr. Robot)

More videos:

  • Review - Bestech Shodan Unboxing & First Impressions
  • Review - Bestech Shodan FULL Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ZMap and Shodan)
Security
20 20%
80% 80
Monitoring Tools
18 18%
82% 82
Network Scanning
100 100%
0% 0
Web Application Security
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ZMap and Shodan

ZMap Reviews

9 Best Angry IP Scanner Alternatives Reviewed 2021 (Free & Paid)
ZMap, just like Nmap and other network scanners can search for connected devices, probe ports, and discover services both in local and external networks. One of the biggest distinctions between the two tools is how they scan. Nmap was built to be a flexible multi-tool that can probe a large number of ports on a smaller number of devices. Where ZMap is optimized to probe an...
15 Best Nmap Alternatives Network Security Scanner
We also have the ZAnnotate on the ZMap project. This adds more metadata to IP addresses such as routing data and location.
Alternatives to Nmap: from simple to advanced network scanning
The headliner is the single-packet scanner ZMap. ZGrab is an application-state scanner that works alongside ZMap. ZTag annotates data outputted by ZMap with metadata, such as device information and any vulnerabilities found. ZBlacklist helps you quickly filter out IP addresses by organizations that have requested not to be scanned. ZAnnotate adds metadata to IPs such as...

Shodan Reviews

We have no reviews of Shodan yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shodan seems to be a lot more popular than ZMap. While we know about 92 links to Shodan, we've tracked only 7 mentions of ZMap. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ZMap mentions (7)

  • My cousin leaked my public ip address to someone
    They already had your IP. The whole internet (IPv4 adress space) can be scanned in less than one hour (see: https://zmap.io. Source: over 2 years ago
  • The internet is a global village, not a metropolis
    The numbers above demonstrate that it is theoretically possible to mass scan the entire internet. Effective free-to-use tools can be used to perform mass scans, converting this academic opportunity into practice. ZMap, Masscan, and others promise to scan the entire public IPv4 address space in some ten minutes or so on a typical desktop computer with a gigabit Ethernet connection. Researchers proved that the time... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • My First 5 Minutes On A Server; Or, Essential Security for Linux Servers
    Seconds, not minutes or days. https://zmap.io. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Python Port Scanner: Faster than Nmap.
    Zmap (zmap.io) is probably the fastest port scanner. But afaik it's main usage is to scan 1 port on the whole internet instead of all ports on one IP (but you can, too). Source: over 3 years ago
  • Awesome Penetration Testing
    Zmap - Open source network scanner that enables researchers to easily perform Internet-wide network studies. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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Shodan mentions (92)

  • Introducing OSINT Template Engine: An open source OSINT Tool.
    Transform OSINT sources such as shodan, bgpview & urlscan into templates which you can use to query & store any and each of the API endpoints they provide. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Some outgoing ports (e.g, port 22) are blocked
    I'm a little surprised you're asking this but as you don't know - if you set the rulebase correctly, you won't get hammered by "public". A lot of people (of course not people here) don't do that which is why shodan.io is full of servers with SSH exposed to the world. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Does anyone want to vet this job opportunity?
    Eh, request a full demo before signing anything. If they make you buy before you can try, move on. Just be advised that data they collect from your site may be used in a database that puts a target on your back. Similar to how shodan.io works. I would probe them on how they handle customer data and if data is shared, partitioned, or isolated to ensure safety from a platform leak. They want to be a security... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Security issue or coincidence?
    My network is being hit by China and Russia many times per hour. Make sure your firewall is up-to-date and not have any services available on the Internet (WAN). Look at shodan.io which shows you _everything_ is searched on the Internet. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Onion sites crawling: Weird mass "HTTP/1.1 200 " HTTP status line returning?
    In the cases of nginx or apache, I suspect they may be acting as proxies to some backend that also chooses not to send a reason phrase back. Searching for "Reason Phrase" yields a number of bug reports/frameworks that may omit it, and shodan.io shows apache tomcat and a few other services/software that omit the code as well. Source: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ZMap and Shodan, you can also consider the following products

MASSCAN - This is the fastest Internet port scanner.

Acunetix - Audit your website security and web applications for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other...

Nmap - Nmap Free Security Scanner, Port Scanner, & Network Exploration Tool. Download open source software for Linux, Windows, UNIX, FreeBSD, etc.

Censys - Censys helps organizations, individuals, and researchers find and monitor every server on the Internet to reduce exposure and improve security.

Angry IP Scanner - Open-source and cross-platform network scanner designed to be fast and simple to use

Intruder - Intruder is a security monitoring platform for internet-facing systems.