Nessus alternatives: Qualys, InsightVM and OpenVAS

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Teams comparing Nessus alternatives need to match scanning coverage, deployment preferences, reporting, remediation workflows and licensing models to their environment. This comparison covers Tenable Nessus, Qualys, Rapid7 InsightVM and Greenbone OPENVAS using information published by the vendors.

Why teams look for alternatives#

The sources we checked document one clear end-of-life or end-of-sale trigger: Tenable Nessus Manager was no longer sold as of February 1, 2018, although Tenable continued service for existing standalone customers through their contracts and continued to support it for agent management. The same documentation says Nessus Cloud is now part of Tenable.io Vulnerability Management. Tenable’s Nessus documentation

The sources we checked do not document a Nessus pricing change. They also do not establish a general feature gap across all Nessus users. However, Greenbone’s comparison identifies differences that may matter to some teams, including appliance availability, licensing, source model and web application scanning. Greenbone’s comparison

Generic fit questions include:

Does the team need an open-source option, a proprietary product or an enterprise subscription?
Is an appliance, cloud service or on-premises deployment required?
Does the program need agent-based or agentless coverage?
Are reporting, remediation workflows, compliance scans or application security priorities?
Is the product licensed by users, assets, scanners or another unit?

The options#

Tenable Nessus

Tenable Nessus supports vulnerability scanning, configuration auditing, target profiling, malware detection and sensitive data discovery, according to Tenable. The documentation also describes PDF, HTML and CSV exports, Tenable Agent and scanner management, and web application scanning with Nessus Expert. Nessus Essentials is described as a free tier for scanning up to five IP addresses, with a 30-day delayed plugin feed. Tenable’s Nessus User Guide

Qualys

Qualys VMDR includes MITRE ATT&CK-based prioritization, vulnerability tagging and risk prioritization. Qualys also says Software Composition Analysis is bundled with a VMDR subscription at no additional cost, and describes runtime software composition analysis through the Qualys Cloud Agent. Qualys VMDR 2024 updates

The Qualys documentation also describes asset tags in remediation policies, policy compliance reporting and compliance scanning for Amazon EC2. Qualys 8.2 features

Rapid7 InsightVM

Rapid7 InsightVM combines vulnerability management with vulnerability research, exploit knowledge from Metasploit, exposure analytics and real-time reporting. Its documentation describes a Security Console for sites, scans and reports, plus Scan Engines that perform scan jobs on assets. Rapid7 InsightVM documentation

The platform supports scan templates, custom templates, scan schedules, asset groups, tagging and report templates. Rapid7 also describes agent and agentless data collection, remediation workflows and live dashboards. Rapid7’s platform announcement

OPENVAS by Greenbone

Greenbone describes OPENVAS as an open-source technology with community and enterprise options. Its comparison lists appliance availability for enterprise products, EPSS scoring, vulnerability grouping and web application scanning for enterprise products. The same comparison identifies OPENVAS Community Products as free and open source, while enterprise products use free or enterprise licenses. Greenbone’s OPENVAS comparison

Greenbone’s license terms distinguish the Greenbone Community Feed from the paid Greenbone Enterprise Feed. The terms describe OPENVAS products as tools for configuring and executing vulnerability scans and viewing and reporting scan data. Greenbone OPENVAS license terms

Pricing and verdict

The sources we checked publish no comparable list prices for Tenable Nessus, Qualys, Rapid7 InsightVM or OPENVAS. For a Nessus quote, Check Nessus pricing.

Nessus provides documented scanning, reporting and agent capabilities. Qualys emphasizes VMDR prioritization, tagging and software composition analysis. InsightVM emphasizes live vulnerability data, distributed scanning and remediation workflows. OPENVAS provides community and enterprise licensing models, with Greenbone documenting appliance availability for enterprise products.

Comparison table#

Option	Deployment and licensing information	Published capabilities	Source
Tenable Nessus	Essentials is described as free for up to five IP addresses. Nessus Manager is no longer sold.	Vulnerability scanning, configuration auditing, exports, agent management and web application scanning with Nessus Expert.	Tenable
Qualys	VMDR subscription details are described, but list pricing is not published in the sources we checked.	MITRE ATT&CK prioritization, vulnerability tagging, Software Composition Analysis and runtime analysis through the Cloud Agent.	Qualys
Rapid7 InsightVM	The sources describe a Security Console and distributed Scan Engines. List pricing is not published in the sources we checked.	Live vulnerability and endpoint analytics, scan templates, asset organization, reporting and remediation workflows.	Rapid7
OPENVAS by Greenbone	Community Products are described as free. Enterprise products use open-source, free or enterprise licenses.	Open-source technology, appliance availability for enterprise products, EPSS scoring, vulnerability grouping and web application scanning for enterprise products.	Greenbone

The sources we checked publish no additional comparable list prices, so a numerical price ranking is not possible from the available evidence.

How to switch#

Document the current Nessus scope. Record the assets, scan schedules, scan types, reports, credentials, integrations and any use of Tenable Agents. Nessus documentation identifies scans, exports, reports, scanners and agents as relevant product functions. Tenable’s documentation
Define the required operating model. Decide whether the replacement must support cloud, on-premises, an appliance, agent-based collection, agentless scanning or a combination. Rapid7 documents Security Console and Scan Engine components, while Greenbone documents appliance and community or enterprise options. Rapid7 InsightVM documentation Greenbone’s comparison
Map required outputs. Identify the reports, exports, compliance views and remediation processes that must continue. Nessus documents PDF, HTML and CSV exports; InsightVM documents built-in reports and SQL query exports; Qualys documents policy and remediation features. Tenable Rapid7 Qualys
Compare coverage against the asset inventory. Check operating systems, network devices, databases, web servers, cloud assets, endpoints and other technologies relevant to the organization. Tenable, Rapid7 and Greenbone describe different coverage and scanning approaches in their product documentation.
Run a controlled comparison. Use the same asset group, scan scope and reporting requirements where each product supports them. Preserve the existing Nessus results until the replacement produces the required reports and operational workflow.
Plan history migration separately. Greenbone says scan data history can be exported from most systems and transferred to compatible formats, but the actual process depends on the source system and data format. Greenbone’s switching FAQ

FAQ#

Is Nessus Manager still sold?

No. Tenable’s documentation says Nessus Manager was no longer sold as of February 1, 2018. Tenable continued service for existing standalone customers through their contracts and continued to support it for agent management. Tenable

Which Nessus alternative has an open-source option?

Greenbone OPENVAS has community products described as open source and free. Greenbone also describes enterprise products with enterprise licensing. Greenbone

Does Qualys VMDR include software composition analysis?

Qualys says Software Composition Analysis is bundled with a VMDR subscription at no additional cost. It also describes runtime analysis through the Qualys Cloud Agent. Qualys

Does Rapid7 InsightVM use scan engines?

Yes. Rapid7’s documentation says Scan Engines perform scan jobs on assets and send scan data to the Security Console for integration and long-term storage. Rapid7

How long does Greenbone say migration takes?

Greenbone’s FAQ says migration to OPENVAS is completed within 2 to 4 weeks. The sources do not provide a comparable migration timeline for Qualys or Rapid7 InsightVM. Greenbone