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Acunetix vs Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (13th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (8th)
Acunetix
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
30th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (15th), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (8th), DevSecOps (5th)
Qualys Virtual Scanner Appl...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
55th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
Rahul Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer - Penetration Tester at a government with 10,001+ employees
Identifies vulnerabilities across bulk web applications but needs better support and cleaner reports
The best feature Acunetix offers is the centralized dashboard and the quality of reports it generates, which includes various options for selecting reports and developer options for directly sharing the reports with developers. The centralized dashboard of Acunetix gives visibility into the security aspects of mass applications; for instance, with more than 200 applications, it provides a valuable overview of findings and necessary fixes, along with a high-level summary that helps us achieve compliance through monthly and sometimes weekly scanning. In terms of reporting, Acunetix is excellent because it can generate different types of reports, such as an executive summary report, detailed reports, and developer reports that can be shared directly with developers. Acunetix positively impacts my organization by helping identify outdated libraries and applications, including legacy applications vulnerable to old attacks based on OWASP Top 10, thus aiding in compliance checks for PCI DSS and OWASP. Acunetix provides a centralized report with compliance-related aspects and a vulnerability timeline, effectively helping reduce vulnerabilities and save time.
Manjunath Kolukula - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Analyst at Viking Europe
Automated vulnerability scans have reduced maintenance and support strategic security work
I was previously informed about Qualys TotalCloud, Qualys Patch Management, and Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management. I do not use those products. Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM provides comprehensive detection capabilities, and the minimal maintenance feature enhances my strategic security initiatives. I assess the benefits of automated reporting and alert mechanisms in the product to be valuable. The product requires minimal maintenance and minimal interference from my side, which benefits my organization as I do not need to maintain it often and it does not require constant interference. I use the seamless integration feature with other security tools. I am a Cyber Security Analyst at Viking Europe. I have given this product an overall rating of ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I appreciate TotalCloud's real-time protection and remediation features. The remediation options include automated one-click remedies and custom changes that help manage vulnerabilities efficiently."
"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."
"We were able to realize its benefits within 24 to 48 hours."
"Qualys TotalCloud provides a single, prioritized view based on requirements such as identifying the most vulnerable assets and calculating the average time to remediate vulnerabilities."
"CSPM is currently the most used feature, and we are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs."
"With TotalCloud, we can scan through the API. If we are not able to deploy cloud agents on the machine, we can use the API."
"I found the initial setup user-friendly."
"TotalCloud provides the easiest and the best approach for cloud infrastructure management."
"We use the solution for the scanning of vulnerabilities like SQL injections."
"The usability and overall scan results are good."
"The tool's most valuable feature is performance."
"With Acunetix, we cut the time to make infrastructures and web applications for our colleagues more secure, and for one application with two or three critical vulnerabilities and some other vulnerabilities, it took about a week to remediate issues because the scan and findings were really fast."
"It's very user-friendly for the testing teams. It's very easy for them to understand things and to fix vulnerabilities."
"Our developers can run the attacks directly from their environments, desktops."
"Their technical support has been very active. If I have an issue, I can reach out to them and get an answer pretty quick."
"If an organization has 100 plus applications and wants to use an automated scanner, they should definitely go ahead with Acunetix because it is very cost-effective and will save time compared to focusing on other solutions and performing manual security assessments."
"Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM provides comprehensive detection capabilities, and the minimal maintenance feature enhances my strategic security initiatives."
 

Cons

"Their support could be improved."
"Their customer support needs improvement."
"The onboarding process is a bit difficult. In the initial phase, it is very difficult to understand the features, what the dashboard contains, and what criteria they are using."
"Qualys TotalCloud's increasing complexity, due to the development and deployment of multiple solutions, is making the GUI difficult to navigate."
"There should be improvement from a dashboard perspective when collecting and showcasing data to lead management."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
"A feature improvement could be the inclusion of Windows OS support for container security, as it is currently only supported for Linux."
"We encountered challenges identifying the correct resource category for certain items, such as those in containers or storage."
"The costs for the licensing have changed and it's not in our favor which is why we're now looking at other options."
"Acunetix needs to be dynamic with JavaScript code, unlike Netsparker which can scan complex agents."
"Acunetix should improve by further reducing false positives and providing more customized reports, plus better integration with newer tools such as GitHub and Azure DevOps."
"I had some issues with the JSON parameters where it found some strange vulnerabilities, but it didn't alert the person using it or me about these vulnerabilities, e.g., an error for SQL injection."
"We want to see how much bandwidth usage it consumes. When we monitor traffic we have issues with the consumption and throttling of the traffic."
"Acunetix needs to include agent analysis."
"However, it doesn't seem very helpful or useful for scanning web services, and that has what I feel that the organization could work better on that."
"The only problem that they have is the price. It is a bit expensive, and you cannot change the number of applications for the whole year."
"I have concerns regarding pricing and technical support, which are also areas for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not sure about the pricing. From what I understand, it is a bit on the higher side, but I do not have the exact numbers."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."
"When compared with other products, the pricing is a little bit high. But it gives value for the price. It serves the purpose and is worthwhile for the price we pay."
"The price is exceptionally high."
"The solution is expensive."
"The costs aren't very expensive. It costs around $3000 or $4000."
"The cost is based on two types of licenses, ConsultLite, and ConsultPlus, as well as the number of domains that are scanned."
"When we looked at all other vendors and what they were asking for, to provide a third of what Acunetix was capable of doing, it was an easy decision... But now that it's coming to a cost where it's line with market value, it becomes more of a competition... Acunetix is raising the cost of licensing. It's 3.5 times what we were initially quoted."
"Acunetix was around the same price as all the other vendors we looked at, nothing special."
"I would say that Acunetix is expensive because there are products on the market with similar features that are equally or better-priced."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
68%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Transportation Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise19
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...
What is your primary use case for Acunetix Vulnerability Scanner?
My main use of Acunetix is to scan my web application. I mostly deal with web applications and with Acunetix Network ...
What advice do you have for others considering Acunetix Vulnerability Scanner?
I am still working with Acunetix, and we have even moved to their new platform, Invicti. I have requested a demo for ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Acunetix?
I would say the pricing is average, but still, it is higher than low.
What needs improvement with Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM?
I have noticed some drawbacks and areas for improvement in Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM. I would like to see ...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM?
Vulnerability scanning is the purpose for which I use Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM.
What advice do you have for others considering Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance HVM?
I was previously informed about Qualys TotalCloud, Qualys Patch Management, and Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management....
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
AcuSensor
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Joomla!, Digicure, Team Random, Credit Suisse, Samsung, Air New Zealand
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Tenable, Qualys and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: May 2026.
896,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.