What is urlscan.io?
urlscan.io is a free service to scan and analyse websites. When you submit a URL it browses to the page like a regular user and records everything the visit creates: the screenshot, HTTP requests, domains and IPs contacted, cookies, links, certificates and page content. That lets you look at a suspicious link without opening it on your own computer.
Scans can be public, unlisted or private, and public scans become part of a searchable database that researchers use to find phishing pages and malicious infrastructure. urlscan.io was created in 2016 and is run by urlscan GmbH, which sells urlscan Pro, a threat hunting platform with phishing and newly observed domain feeds, alongside the free community service.
Main Features
- Scan any URL in a sandboxed browser and get a screenshot and full request log
- Public, unlisted and private scan visibility
- Search historical scans and pivot on domains, IPs, hashes and other indicators
- Live view of scans as they happen
- Free API with daily quotas, plus browser extensions, a Python library and a CLI
- Machine learning verdicts and brand detection for phishing pages
- urlscan Pro: phishing URL feed, newly observed domains, similarity search and alerts
How to Get Started with urlscan.io
- Open urlscan.io and paste the suspicious URL into the scan box.
- Choose the scan visibility; use private or unlisted if the URL could contain personal or sensitive data.
- Wait a few seconds for the report, then review the screenshot, contacted domains and any verdicts.
- Create a free account if you want an API key or want to search past scans more easily.
urlscan.io Pricing
The free plan costs $0 and includes daily quotas of 50 private scans, 1,000 unlisted scans, 5,000 public scans and 1,000 search requests. Paid plans are Automate at $5,000 a year (API only), Professional at $1,250 a month or $12,500 a year, Enterprise at $2,500 a month or $25,000 a year, and Ultimate at $5,000 a month or $50,000 a year. The higher plans add urlscan Pro access, the phishing and domain feeds and more seats. Every commercial plan has a free 30-day trial.
Who Should Use It?
- SOC analysts triaging suspicious links from emails and alerts
- Threat researchers hunting phishing kits and malicious infrastructure
- Brand protection teams looking for sites that impersonate them
- Journalists and fact checkers checking where a link really leads
- Developers automating URL checks through the API
urlscan.io Alternatives
- VirusTotal: a free service that checks files and URLs against more than 70 security engines.
- Censys: an Internet intelligence platform for investigating hosts, certificates and domains.
- Wayback Machine: the Internet Archive's record of how web pages looked in the past.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is urlscan.io free?
Yes. urlscan.io has a free plan with daily quotas, including 5,000 public scans and 50 private scans a day. Paid plans for heavier API use and the urlscan Pro platform start at $5,000 a year.
Are my urlscan.io scans public?
Public scans can be seen by anyone using urlscan.io. Unlisted scans are visible only to you and urlscan Pro users, and private scans are visible only to you. Use private scans for URLs that contain personal data, tokens or other sensitive details.
Is it safe to scan a malicious link on urlscan.io?
Yes, that is what it is for. urlscan.io visits the page from its own infrastructure, so your own device does not load it. Be aware that scanning still visits the site, which the site owner may be able to see.