GACS vs urlscan.io

Sandboxed URL scanning for security researchers. Honest, factual comparison — last updated July 2026.

urlscan.io founded 2016

Pricing: Free tier · Paid Pro/Enterprise

GACS: Free, no ads

Feature	GACS	urlscan.io
Primary audience	Consumers + developers	Security researchers / SOC
Website / URL scan	Yes (instant verdict)	Yes (deep sandbox)
Plain-English scam verdict	Yes	Raw technical artifacts
Crypto wallet check	Yes (multi-chain)	No
Phone number check	Yes	No
Social profile scanner	Yes	No
Screenshot + DOM capture	Limited	Yes (their specialty)
Public per-scam intel pages indexed	Yes	Yes (scan pages)
Free public API (no key)	Yes	Free tier requires key
Anonymous reporting (no signup)	Yes	Public scan is public by default
Ads / tracking	None	None
Median time to verdict	~4 seconds	~15–30 seconds

Where urlscan.io shines

Best-in-class sandboxed URL detonation with full DOM, screenshot, and network capture.
Loved by SOC analysts and threat intel teams for deep forensic artifacts.

Where GACS shines

Consumer-friendly: explains the scam in plain English, not raw technical artifacts.
Covers wallets, phones, and social handles — not only URLs.
Faster verdict for everyday 'is this a scam?' questions, with no API key or signup.

The honest verdict

urlscan.io is the right tool if you're a security researcher who needs a full technical detonation of a suspicious URL. GACS is the right tool if you (or a family member) just need a fast, plain-English answer to 'is this a scam?' across websites, wallets, phones, and social profiles.

All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Information based on each provider's public website at time of writing. Spot something out of date? Tell us.