urlscan GmbH

What urlscan GmbH does

urlscan GmbH is a privately held German cybersecurity company (HRB 23462, Amtsgericht Aachen) founded in 2020 and headquartered in Aachen, Germany. It operates urlscan.io, a URL and website scanning platform that functions as a sandbox for the web, allowing users to safely analyze potentially malicious websites in an isolated environment. The platform captures screenshots, network activity, DOM content, and JavaScript execution across multiple browser versions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) and operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS), and supports scanning from 25+ countries. Visibility controls (Public, Unlisted, Private) and a public REST API (documented at docs.urlscan.io) enable both ad-hoc analysis and programmatic integration into security workflows.

The company operates a product-led, freemium go-to-market model: anyone can submit URLs for public scanning at urlscan.io without authentication, while commercial subscription plans gate advanced features such as private/unlisted scans and country selection for private scans. Primary customer segments are security researchers and analysts, incident response teams, threat intelligence teams, and security operations teams who use the platform for phishing investigation, malicious infrastructure analysis, brand protection, and indicator-of-compromise enrichment. Marketing is community-driven through technical content, a security vulnerability disclosure program with a Hall of Fame, and a Twitter presence (@urlscanio), supplemented by corporate sponsorship arrangements with complementary security vendors (SecurityTrails, Hunt.io, Tines, Hatching Triage, CTM360, Pentest Tools, SOCRadar).

The company is founder-led by CEO Johannes Gilger, employs 1-10 people, has no disclosed external funding or parent company, and operates without a traditional sales motion. Its intellectual property is its accumulated corpus of historical scan data and its established reputation within the security research community, where it is referenced in third-party security reporting.

Name

urlscan GmbH

Legal name

urlscan GmbH

Website

https://urlscan.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

urlscan GmbH operates urlscan.io, a web sandbox platform that lets security researchers, incident responders, and threat intelligence teams safely scan and analyze URLs across 25+ countries and multiple browsers via a freemium web interface and public REST API.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Aachen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Freemium Public Scans: Free public scanning service available to all users. Anyone can submit URLs for public analysis.
2. Commercial Subscription Plans: Paid plans offering private/unlisted scans, country selection for private scans, and additional features not available in free tier.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

urlscan.io is a web sandbox and URL scanner that lets users safely analyze potentially malicious websites by submitting URLs for automated scanning. Each scan captures screenshots, DOM content, network requests, and JavaScript execution behavior across multiple browsers, operating systems, and geographic locations, with results accessible via a self-serve web interface or REST API. A freemium tier offers public scans at no cost, while commercial subscription plans provide private/unlisted scans and additional features such as country selection for private analyses.

Product overview

urlscan.io is a unified URL and website scanning platform that provides a sandbox environment for analyzing web pages. The core product allows users to submit URLs for public scanning, with options for visibility levels (public, unlisted, private), browser emulation across multiple platforms (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), and geographic scanning from numerous countries worldwide. The platform includes API access for automated scanning and integration into security workflows.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• urlscan.io A URL and website scanning platform that serves as a sandbox for the web, allowing security researchers, incident responders, and threat analysts to safely analyze potentially malicious websites. Captures screenshots, DOM content, network requests, and JavaScript execution behavior in an isolated environment, with multi-country scanning from 25+ locations and support for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari across desktop and mobile platforms. Accessible via a self-serve web interface and REST API.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Hunt.iominorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor. Hunt.io provides proactive infrastructure hunting services.
• TinesminorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor. Tines provides security automation capabilities. A blog post exists at tines.io/blog/tines-urlscan-automation/
• Hatching TriageminorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor. Hatching provides automated malware analysis sandbox services.
• CTM360minorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor. CTM360 provides cyber threat management and digital risk protection.
• Pentest ToolsminorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor providing penetration testing tools.
• SOCRadarminorOthersListed as a corporate sponsor. SOCRadar provides cyber threat intelligence platform services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• PhishTank: Community-based collaborative phishing URL verification database. Targets an overlapping subset of urlscan's phishing investigation use cases, particularly for brand impersonation and credential fraud research.
• VirusTotal: Google-owned multi-engine URL and file scanning platform that aggregates dozens of scanners. Most directly comparable service to urlscan.io in terms of URL submission UX, public result pages, and community-driven threat intelligence usage.
• Joe Sandbox: Commercial-grade malware and URL analysis sandbox with deep behavioral reporting. Competes for the same enterprise and IR customer base that pays for urlscan commercial plans, particularly in financial services and MSSPs.
• ANY.RUN: Interactive malware and URL sandbox offering real-time behavioral analysis across multiple operating systems. Competes for the same security researcher and incident responder persona with a freemium and commercial tier model similar to urlscan.io.
• URLhaus (abuse.ch): Community-driven project that tracks and shares malware-distributing URLs. Overlaps with urlscan.io on the threat-intelligence discovery and URL reputation use cases, often cited together by security researchers.
• Hatching Triage: Automated malware analysis sandbox (by Hatching) that already sponsors urlscan.io. Offers high-volume automated URL and file triage targeting the same SOC/IR buyer as urlscan commercial plans.
• Hybrid Analysis (Hybrid-Analysis.com): Free malware and URL analysis sandbox operated by CrowdStrike. Overlaps with urlscan.io on URL submission, public submission results, and freemium access for security researchers conducting threat investigations.

Broad incumbents

• DomainTools: Established domain intelligence and DNS data provider serving enterprise security teams. Adjacent to urlscan.io because WHOIS, DNS, and hosting data frequently complement URL scan results during investigations.
• Recorded Future: Large-scale threat intelligence platform that acquired SecurityTrails (a current urlscan.io sponsor). Competes in adjacent threat-intelligence workflows and could absorb URL scanning functionality into a broader intel suite.

Emerging players

• VMRay: Enterprise-focused malware analysis and URL sandboxing platform with emphasis on evasion-resistant instrumentation. Targets the same enterprise SOC and IR buyer as urlscan commercial plans but with deeper behavioral reporting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/urlscanio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about urlscan GmbH