All Comparisons
DNS INTELLIGENCE September 11, 2026 · SecurityTrails: 250K/mo organic
DomainScan
vs
SecurityTrails

DomainScan vs SecurityTrails — DNS Intelligence Compared

SecurityTrails (now part of Recorded Future) built the reference passive-DNS and historical-DNS database — 3+ trillion records, 4+ billion domains tracked. DomainScan gives you live domain intelligence with AI-generated analysis and continuous monitoring, at a fraction of enterprise cost.

Verdict
SecurityTrails wins on historical DNS depth, passive-DNS scale, subdomain enumeration, and threat intelligence — a genuinely unique dataset. DomainScan wins on live diagnostic breadth, AI-generated remediation, MCP integration, and flat SMB-friendly pricing.

SecurityTrails (acquired by Recorded Future in 2022) built one of the industry’s most impressive DNS datasets: 3+ trillion historical DNS records, 4+ billion domains tracked, deep passive-DNS coverage. If you’re doing threat hunting, attribution research, or incident response — this is the dataset.

But that dataset is priced for enterprise SOCs and threat-intel programs. If you’re an MSP, agency, or engineer who needs “check my domain, tell me what’s broken, help me fix it” — SecurityTrails isn’t the shape of tool you need. DomainScan is.

Feature Comparison

FeatureDomainScanSecurityTrails
Live DNS record lookup✅✅
Historical DNS resolutionLimited✅ (3T+ records)
Passive DNSLimited✅ (industry-leading)
Subdomain enumeration✅✅ (deep)
WHOIS + historical WHOIS✅ + limited✅ (deep)
SSL cert analysis✅Partial
SPF / DKIM / DMARC validation✅❌
Security headers audit✅❌
Blacklist / RBL checking✅❌
Continuous monitoring✅Partial
AI-generated remediation✅ (Prism AI)❌
MCP endpoint for AI agents✅❌
Free tierYesFree tier
Starting paid price$9/mo$500+/mo (SurfaceBrowser)

Where SecurityTrails wins

  • Historical DNS. 3+ trillion records going back years. When did evil.example.com first resolve? What IPs has it lived on? SecurityTrails is the answer.
  • Passive DNS. For threat hunting and attribution, their sensor network is second to none.
  • Recorded Future integration. Post-acquisition, their data flows into Recorded Future’s threat intelligence graph.
  • Enterprise-grade attribution. For SOC tier-3 and CTI teams, SecurityTrails is genuinely irreplaceable.

Where DomainScan wins

  • Live diagnostic breadth. DNS, SSL, email auth, security headers, blacklist — DomainScan gives you the full “is this domain healthy?” picture in one call.
  • Remediation, not just data. Prism AI reads results and generates fix instructions. SecurityTrails hands you records; you interpret them.
  • MCP integration. Your AI agent can call DomainScan tools inline. SecurityTrails has an API but no MCP.
  • Price accessibility. DomainScan starts at $9/month. SurfaceBrowser (SecurityTrails’ UI product) starts at $500+/month.
  • Monitoring for the rest of us. Watch DNS drift, SSL expiry, blacklist listings, DMARC changes, continuously — without an enterprise contract.

Bottom line

If you’re a threat researcher, CTI analyst, or incident responder who needs historical DNS and passive-DNS at scale — SecurityTrails is the tool. If you’re an engineer, MSP, agency, or IT team who needs live domain diagnostics with actionable remediation — DomainScan is the fit.

Different tools, different jobs. Many teams need both.

Try It Now

See how SecurityTrails configures their own domain — scan securitytrails.com for a live DNS, SSL, email auth, and blacklist report.

Check the DNS glossary entry, read what a subdomain takeover is, and see the DNSSEC entry.

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