SimplyScan vs Detectify | Instant Scan vs Attack Surface Management

Quick answer: SimplyScan checks supported public site-health signals from a deployed URL. Detectify offers Surface Monitoring for external assets and Application Scanning for web applications. Compare their documented inputs and coverage with your application’s requirements, and investigate findings alongside code review and authenticated testing.

By Gabriel CA · Kraftwire Software

When building with Lovable, Bolt.new, or Cursor, assess generated code, deployed configuration, and integrations independently.

When comparing SimplyScan with Detectify, identify the assets, inputs, and behaviors you need to assess.

Detectify offers Surface Monitoring for external assets and Application Scanning for web applications.

SimplyScan provides supported public findings across security and other site-health dimensions from a deployed URL.

How Should AI Startups Compare the Coverage?

Include exposed credentials, access controls, dependencies, and deployed configuration in the threat model. The development method alone does not establish the primary risk.

These live figures describe all scanned sites. They do not establish prevalence for an AI-built subgroup, compare development methods, or attribute findings to AI generation.

30% of the 119 live sites SimplyScan has scanned (36 sites) have at least one high or critical security issue.

Exposed API keys and broken database permissions are separate examples of risks to investigate; the aggregate does not show their individual prevalence.

The Case For SimplyScan

Enter a deployed URL without installing a local agent. SimplyScan grades 8 dimensions and reports supported findings. Inspect deployed headers and affected resources, and test application-specific behavior separately. See vibe-coding security.

The Case For Detectify

Surface Monitoring discovers and monitors external assets within configured coverage. Review discovered domains, exposed services, and vulnerability findings; no inventory should be assumed to include every asset.

How Does Instant Scanning Differ From Attack Surface Management?

Compare each product’s inputs and supported checks, rather than assuming a depth-versus-breadth distinction.

URL Scanning (SimplyScan)

SimplyScan checks supported public content and responses for exposed API keys, security headers, anonymous backend exposure, and performance signals. It does not inspect every Supabase policy or test authenticated cross-user authorization.

Surface Monitoring and Application Scanning (Detectify)

Surface Monitoring tracks external assets and changes within its scope. Application Scanning performs dynamic web-application tests. Select and configure coverage for the assets you own or are authorized to test.

Review generated code and deployment configuration independently of whether the visible features work.

13% of the 119 live sites SimplyScan has scanned (15 sites) have at least one high-severity web-security issue, such as a missing Content-Security-Policy or HSTS header.

Review web-security findings alongside Supabase access controls. Check RLS state, table privileges, applicable policies, and bypass roles. Detectify also documents checks for exposed API keys and tokens; compare supported tests directly.

What Are The Key Features Of SimplyScan For AI Apps?

Use the deployed report to investigate supported observations. Review generated code and private configuration separately; a URL result does not reveal every implementation detail.

Security And Compliance Signals

SimplyScan checks security headers such as CSP, HSTS, and framing policy. It also checks supported privacy-policy links, consent signals, and security.txt observations. These do not establish GDPR compliance.

AI Visibility (AEO)

SimplyScan checks supported crawler-access and structured-content signals. These observations do not measure actual answer-engine perception or guarantee crawling, indexing, ranking, or citation.

Performance And Speed

SimplyScan grades supported performance signals, including field Core Web Vitals when CrUX data is available. Investigate slow behavior separately from denial-of-service risks; a speed grade does not establish their cause. See vibe-coded apps.

What Does Detectify Test?

Detectify documents automated vulnerability tests for external assets and web applications. Review its supported tests, authentication options, and coverage for your target.

Application Testing

Application Scanning tests configured web applications dynamically. Review findings and coverage gaps; automated payload tests do not establish that all business logic has been assessed.

Review the Actual Application

Review environment-variable exposure and Firebase Security Rules directly. Test permitted and denied operations with appropriate accounts. A public URL scan does not verify every private rule or authenticated operation.

How Should Small Teams Compare Costs?

Pricing is a major differentiator in the SimplyScan vs Detectify comparison.

SimplyScan Pricing

Offers a completely free scan with no signup required. For users needing more depth, Pro reports are available. Pro Monitoring includes uptime checks and Slack integrations.

Detectify Pricing

Check Detectify’s current pricing and the scope of the selected product.

For a project built with Bolt.new or Lovable, compare the report’s supported checks with the risks and evidence you need to investigate.

Can You Use SimplyScan And Detectify Together?

The products can provide different observations. Choose complementary checks where their coverage fits your application and external assets.

The Workflow

• After relevant changes: Use SimplyScan’s free security scanner for supported deployed-URL findings, then investigate them.
• Across external assets: Evaluate Detectify Surface Monitoring and Application Scanning for the asset discovery and dynamic tests you need.

Integration

SimplyScan offers MCP server tools for supported URL checks and selected-file analysis. The selected-file tool requires a Pro API key; source is processed in memory, masked findings are saved, and those files are not sent to an AI provider. Compare each vendor’s current integrations for your workflow.

What Can a URL Report Show About an AI-Built App?

AI-assisted development still requires review of trust boundaries, credentials, and access controls. Choose checks from the application’s actual threat model.

The average security score across the 119 live sites SimplyScan has scanned is 86 out of 100.

An aggregate score does not establish the state of an individual application. Investigate supported findings:

• Exposed Secrets: Recognizable credentials in supported public content, including reachable .env files.
• Database Exposure: Supported anonymous response probes; separately review Supabase RLS and Firebase rules.
• Authentication and Authorization: Test protected operations using appropriate accounts. An anonymous URL scan does not perform authenticated cross-user tests.

Review Base44 or Bubble configuration using the interfaces available for that project. Public observations complement owner-run tests.

Use the documented checks to decide whether SimplyScan covers the issues you need to investigate.

Final Verdict: SimplyScan vs Detectify

Evaluate Detectify when you need its documented external-asset monitoring or dynamic application tests. Configure the relevant scope and investigate findings.

Evaluate SimplyScan for supported site-health findings from a deployed URL. Run a free scan, then review the findings and coverage alongside code review and application tests.

Use the report alongside reviews of Windsurf projects and Next.js security headers. A verified security badge links to a dated scan’s score and eligibility state, subject to the badge criteria. It does not prove the absence of vulnerabilities.

Pro report costs $14.99 one-time.

Pro Monitoring costs $24/month.