Breachsense vs Flare: Dark Web Monitoring Compared

Learn which dark web monitoring platform fits your team’s detection and response needs.

Flare and Breachsense both monitor the dark web for stolen data. But they’re built around different ideas about what monitoring should do.

Flare calls their approach ‘Threat Exposure Management.’ It bundles dark web monitoring with brand protection in one platform. It’s broad by design.

Breachsense covers similar ground. It monitors the same dark web sources and detects phishing domains too. The difference is what happens after detection: Breachsense cracks passwords to plaintext and lets you search leaked ransomware files.

This comparison breaks down where each platform is stronger so you can pick the right fit.

What Does Flare Do?

Flare is a threat exposure management platform. They monitor dark web sources and clear web exposures from a single interface.

You can monitor for stolen credentials and track mentions of your brand on criminal forums. Flare also identifies exposed infrastructure across your external attack surface.

Flare Key Features

Broad source coverage. Flare monitors Tor hidden services, I2P, Telegram channels, paste sites, and clear web sources. They claim to track thousands of cybercrime channels across these networks.

Identity Exposure Management. Launched in late 2025, this feature creates “Identity Profiles” that map exposed credentials to specific users. The “Blast Radius” view shows the potential impact of each exposure. It integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for automated remediation.

Brand monitoring. Flare watches for mentions of your company across criminal forums and marketplaces. This covers brand impersonation and discussions about targeting your company.

Tiered plans. Flare has four tiers: Free, Essentials, Growth, and Enterprise. The free tier gives you limited monitoring to evaluate. Enterprise unlocks the full platform.

Attack surface visibility. Beyond credentials, Flare identifies exposed infrastructure and misconfigured services that attackers could exploit.

What Does Breachsense Do?

Breachsense monitors dark web sources for stolen credentials and leaked files. It also detects phishing domains and exposed infrastructure. It covers much of the same ground as Flare but goes further on credential data.

Breachsense monitors criminal forums and ransomware leak sites. It also watches Telegram channels and paste sites. Certificate transparency logs get scanned to detect phishing domains targeting your brand. It also discovers shadow IT and forgotten subdomains across your infrastructure.

Breachsense Key Features

Automated credential detection. Configure your domains and Breachsense watches for exposed credentials continuously. When your employees’ passwords appear in stealer logs or third-party breaches, you get an alert. No manual searching required.

Full-text search on leaked files. Breachsense indexes documents from ransomware attacks. Search for your company name in leaked files, not just credentials. If a vendor gets breached and your contracts are in that dump, you can find them.

Password cracking. Hashed passwords are cracked to plaintext so you know exactly which credentials are compromised. You can verify if the exposed password matches what’s currently in use.

Session token detection. Breachsense detects active session tokens from stealer logs. Attackers use these to log in without a password or MFA prompt. Learn more about our dark web monitoring methodology.

Phishing domain detection. Breachsense monitors certificate transparency logs for lookalike domains targeting your brand. You get alerted when someone registers a domain designed to impersonate your company.

Brand monitoring on dark web sources. Breachsense watches for mentions of your company on darknet marketplaces and criminal forums. If attackers are discussing your company or selling access, you’ll know.

Attack surface discovery. Forgotten subdomains and infrastructure get flagged before attackers find them. This covers the same territory as Flare’s attack surface visibility.

API-first architecture. The REST API lets you query compromised credentials programmatically. Webhook alerts integrate directly with your SIEM or ticketing system.

How Do Flare and Breachsense Compare?

Both platforms handle dark web monitoring and credential detection. The differences are in depth and approach.

Identity Exposure vs Credential Monitoring

Flare’s Identity Exposure Management creates profiles for each compromised user. The Blast Radius feature shows what an attacker could access with those credentials. The Entra ID integration lets you trigger automated remediation directly.

Breachsense takes a different approach. It gives you the raw credential data with full context: which stealer log or breach it came from and when it was detected. You build your own remediation workflows through the API and webhooks.

Flare’s approach is more prescriptive. Breachsense gives you more flexibility in how you respond.

Leaked File Search

Breachsense indexes files published by ransomware gangs. When attackers publish stolen files after a breach, you can search for your organization’s data in those documents. This matters for third-party risk monitoring because your data often ends up in other companies’ breach dumps.

Flare doesn’t index leaked ransomware documents for full-text search.

Integration and Workflow

Flare integrates directly with Microsoft Entra ID. If you run a Microsoft environment, this is a real advantage. Flare can trigger password resets and access reviews when exposed credentials are detected.

Breachsense is API-first. The REST API supports any integration you can build. Webhooks push alerts to your SIEM or ticketing system. It’s vendor-agnostic, so you get more flexibility but need to handle setup yourself.

When Should You Choose Flare?

Flare fits best when:

You want Identity Exposure Management. Flare’s Identity Profiles and Blast Radius features map out the impact of each compromised user. If that context matters for your remediation workflow, Flare built it in.

You run a Microsoft environment. Flare’s Entra ID integration automates credential remediation. If you use Entra ID for identity management, this integration saves time.

You need brand monitoring beyond the dark web. Both platforms watch for brand mentions on criminal forums and marketplaces. Flare extends this to clear web and social media sources. If you need that broader coverage, Flare has it.

You want to start with a free tier. Flare has a free plan with limited monitoring. You can evaluate the platform before committing.

You need I2P monitoring. Flare monitors I2P in addition to Tor. If your threat model includes I2P-based criminal activity, Flare covers it.

When Should You Choose Breachsense?

Breachsense fits best when:

You need deeper credential intelligence. Breachsense indexes over 343 billion compromised credentials and cracks hashed passwords to plaintext. If you need to know exactly which passwords are exposed and whether they’re still in use, that depth matters.

You need to search leaked documents. When a supplier is hit by ransomware, your data may be in the dump. Breachsense lets you search those files by company name. Flare doesn’t offer this.

You want flexible integration. Breachsense’s API and webhooks connect to any system. If you’re building automated response pipelines, it fits that model well.

Session tokens matter to you. Stealer logs contain active session tokens that skip past MFA. If session hijacking is in your threat model, Breachsense tracks these specifically.

You’re an MSSP or security vendor. Breachsense has a dedicated MSSP offering and data licensing for companies that embed credential intelligence into their own products.

Can You Use Both Platforms Together?

The source coverage overlaps heavily. Where they differ is what happens after detection. Flare automates remediation through Entra ID. Breachsense gives you plaintext passwords and lets you search leaked files.

Some teams use both. Most only need one.

How Do You Evaluate Dark Web Monitoring Platforms?

Beyond Flare and Breachsense, here’s a framework for evaluating any vendor:

Coverage Questions

Ask vendors specifically what they monitor:

• Do they monitor ransomware leak sites? Can you search the leaked files?
• How current is their data? What’s the lag time from collection to alert?
• How many unique credentials are in their database? How far back does it go?
• Do they cover I2P or just Tor-based sources?

Depth Questions

Understand what you get when credentials are found:

• Are hashed passwords cracked to plaintext?
• Do they detect session tokens, or just usernames and passwords?
• Can you see which breach or stealer log the credential came from?
• How far back does the historical data go?

Integration Questions

Understand how the platform fits your stack:

• Is there a full API for all platform capabilities?
• What identity providers does it integrate with?
• Can alerts trigger automated remediation?
• How long does typical integration take?

The right platform depends on what your team actually needs, not just what looks best on a feature list.

Conclusion

Choose Flare if Identity Profiles and Entra ID remediation matter most to your workflow.

Choose Breachsense if you need plaintext passwords and leaked file search.

The core monitoring overlaps. The choice comes down to how you handle what they find.

Want to see what’s exposed? Check your dark web exposure or book a demo to see how Breachsense handles credential detection.