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Barracuda Vulnerabitlity Manager [EOL] vs Tenable Nessus comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 19, 2026

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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (10th), Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Barracuda Vulnerabitlity Ma...
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tenable Nessus
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
César Ibáñez - PeerSpot reviewer
Corporate support at ISS S.A.
A highly scalable and easy-to-use solution that helps identify vulnerabilities
The time taken for a scan is too long. I tried to scan a website, and it took me ten hours. The report was sent to me two days later. The reports must be more specific to help us understand what we should do to mitigate the problem. There is not a lot of documentation on how to manage all the features of the product.
MohammedJaffir - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Cipheroot Cybersecurity Solutions
Has enabled me to reduce false positives and perform deep credential auditing with seamless integrations
I mostly use the configuration audit feature for the audit configuration as a scan policy, and I will use it for credential audit, which helps me scan credentials access such as local administrator or root access, performing a deeper and more accurate check of local configuration settings and file systems, making it a highly recommended feature. Regarding integration capabilities, we can integrate Tenable Nessus with SIM tools such as Splunk, IBM QRadar, and Azure Sentinel, as well as with ticketing systems such as ServiceNow, Jira, and Slack. There is no complexity as it is very easy to integrate everything. In terms of the reporting feature, while vulnerability scanning can throw some false positives, Tenable Nessus has very few, achieving a reduction of 75% to 80% false positives with manual analysis needed. We can generate standard Nessus reports that typically include host summaries and vulnerabilities by host and plugin, alongside solutions and remediation recommendations. The main benefits I get from Tenable Nessus are complete asset inventory and comprehensive attack surface management, allowing us to prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk, focusing on true risk and threat path analysis.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to identify cloud misconfigurations, prioritize security risks, and monitor cloud resources from a single platform is quite valuable."
"Qualys TotalCloud helps you not just to identify misconfigurations, but you can actually also fix issues."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"Qualys TotalCloud has improved our security posture."
"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."
"My experience with using TruRisk to mitigate noise from raw CVEs has been extremely effective."
"Once it is set up, Qualys has proved to be one of our greatest assets."
"I highly recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."
"The solution is very easy to use."
"It allows me to prioritize efforts and utilize effective technical resources."
"One thing that is important for us is that when the regulation agency is asking for something, we can send them reports from Nessus and they're very satisfied."
"We were a lot less vulnerable after implementing the changes that the application recommended."
"The plug-in text information is quite useful."
"Security is complicated a subject. There's a lot involved in Tenable Nessus, but the solution is easy to run and manage and we have had a lot of good success with it."
"You can then direct your team to create a report on the discovered vulnerabilities."
"The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is vulnerability detection."
"A valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to understand."
 

Cons

"In my opinion, what can be improved in Qualys TotalCloud includes pricing and container scanning."
"The cloud licensing unit system is unclear, especially since "units" aren't well-defined."
"Enhancing clarity regarding its compliance capabilities would be beneficial, as the current scope is limited in geographic coverage."
"It is already perfect, but they can bring some newer dashboards and customization options for the dashboard. It would be great to be able to include on-prem assets on the dashboard."
"One thing that could be improved is the user experience and navigation."
"In terms of improvement, remediation still belongs to the cloud team, which is one of the issues we faced with Qualys TotalCloud."
"The areas in the solution that have room for improvement include the UI/UX design, which should be improved, and they should integrate more artificial intelligence into the product."
"Qualys's ticketing system can be confusing when assigning tasks to individuals, and support could be improved by offering instant call solutions with engineers in addition to ticket replies."
"The reports must be more specific to help us understand what we should do to mitigate the problem."
"Multiple steps to create an actionable plan will be a great addition to Nessus."
"The scalability of Tenable Nessus is good. However, it could be more flexible."
"We operate in small and medium enterprises and for them, Nessus is becoming expensive."
"The professional version is not very scalable."
"While Tenable Nessus is a good enterprise solution, the high price would likely make it prohibitive to smaller organizations."
"There should be a possibility to install agents on scanned machines. Tenable IO provides the capability of using local agents to check local problems, but this feature is not there in Tenable Nessus Professional. It would be nice to have something similar in Tenable Nessus Professional. We should have the capability to use local agents installed on the machines to locally check a problem."
"It would be nice for the professional module to include some of the reports available in the expert module."
"The interface is a little bit clunky, and the reporting is not marvelous."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"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."
"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"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."
"The product is free."
"The solution is worth the cost. It's a good investment."
"The solution is expensive."
"It has a fair cost and very good cost-benefit ratio."
"Cost-wise, it's an affordable tool."
"The price of Tenable Nessus is too expensive for each service center."
"The newer tools are quite pricey. There is a case of some fine tuning that can be done in terms of licensing. The IP based licensing that is offered makes the tool very expensive. If they want the IT industry to adopt it, the price should be looked at."
"I would like to see better discounts."
"The price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
No data available
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise38
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise35
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
I was not involved in pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I can say that the setup was fast, within a quarter, an...
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvements, the features we are using in Qualys TotalCloud are working in the best optimal way, and I d...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
I have been using Qualys TotalCloud for the last eight months to scan the hardware and the virtual devices in our inf...
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What's the difference between Tenable Nessus and Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tenable Nessus?
Based on my experience, the pricing for Tenable Nessus is somewhat higher, but customers still want to pay for it, so...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Ikea, Pizza Hut, Hilton
Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Qualys, Tenable and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: September 2026.
917,884 professionals have used our research since 2012.