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BMC Helix Automation Console vs Qualys VMDR vs Rapid7 InsightVM comparison

 

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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Automation Console is 0.8%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 5.0%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightVM is 2.7%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Qualys VMDR5.0%
Rapid7 InsightVM2.7%
BMC Helix Automation Console0.8%
Other91.5%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

ShashiGupta - PeerSpot reviewer
Soo at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Reasonably Priced
In terms of improvement, the product could benefit from streamlining the implementation process, particularly regarding customization. Currently, the process involves navigating through multiple layers of custom and staging forms, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Another aspect to consider is the foundation data provided out of the box, particularly regarding categorization and its associated values. This foundational data may only sometimes meet the mark, as organizations often require more flexibility to tailor it to their needs. Discovering hardware, for instance, can lead to different category processing needs, with certain layers providing minimal benefits. The challenge lies in the inability to directly specify servers, hardware, software, and their respective details, highlighting a need for improvement in this area. As per the current state of the Helix product, it has seen some resolution to issues but still faces challenges when adding more attributes. It can lead to restrictions, particularly with the progressive view page, limiting flexibility in certain cases. While benefits can be gained in other aspects, such drawbacks are common. Improvements are necessary to enhance flexibility in this regard. Exploring alternative solutions like containerization or cloud services may offer opportunities for optimization, requiring careful consideration due to the complexity involved. I'm still determining the current strategy. While there have been improvements in the latest version, there's still a need for further enhancements in an extended version. Additionally, stakeholders, including manufacturing companies, emphasize the importance of fine-tuning performance for the Helix product. The search functionality remains problematic, often taking more than 15 seconds, undermining reliability.
Vaibhav Ghule - PeerSpot reviewer
Soc Lead & Edr Administration at Persistent Systems
Continuous risk-based monitoring has strengthened incident response and vulnerability prioritization
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries lack grouping operators in Qualys VMDR. From my experience, I would appreciate improvements in the query options in Qualys VMDR, specifically in the query-building process where I would need more features and operators. Additionally, we have been facing issues with Qualys on the cloud level. We cannot download the configuration profile from the cloud agent, and it is showing a pending action for download. During 2025, we noticed outages of Qualys a couple of times. I want to mention that there is an issue with receiving timely RCA deliveries. While this is not necessarily about the tool, it relates to support. The support has not been very responsive, and we are receiving RCAs a little delayed whenever we raise support cases or communicate with the TAMs. Additionally, the UI has a slight latency, which I and my team have experienced. They have also reported this latency issue when navigating through different pages.
FL
Senior Manager - Pre-Sales at Trillium Information Security Systems
Offers robust compliance features but needs improved automation in remediation
The automation capability remediation needs improvement. The current process requires manually telling IT teams to remediate vulnerabilities, and then they update the status of these vulnerabilities in the platform. This basic feature that Rapid7 calls an automated remediation process is actually manual. We can update the status of vulnerabilities in the Rapid7 InsightVM platform and collectively see how many vulnerabilities we have identified and how many are remediated by our IT team. More automation in the remediation feature is a basic demand from many customers. The remediation part and vulnerability identification of network devices or rigid devices are not currently supported by Rapid7 InsightVM. More integration and automation are the two areas Rapid7 needs to improve in their product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's reasonably priced."
"Takes reports from other vulnerabilities."
"The platform's most valuable features include its robust vulnerability detection capabilities and automated remediation workflows."
"Qualys VM's best feature is vulnerability management."
"It's stable and quite reliable."
"I find Qualys VM very robust, and it's very useful for vulnerability management and patch management. The value that it brings to my environment is economies of scale. There is no limitation on adding any endpoints. You go by the rule, and it's added once another endpoint is added to our environment. It's automatically installed, and it's less work from our end. It frees up my license automatically if I don't need an endpoint or if my machine is decommissioned. I like the dashboard displays because I don't see any duplication. The most important part is vulnerability management and prioritization. Unlike Symantec, it shows the kind of vulnerability I would want to patch first. It provides a holistic view of the kind of vulnerabilities and the ones I should remediate first. I don't have to do a scan; it just brings up those critical kinds of vulnerabilities like zero-day vulnerabilities and tells me to prioritize them. You have to prioritize these vulnerabilities first and go on with the rest. The dashboard shows me the ones that have been fixed, so I don't have to complete an aging report. The user experience and the graphical interface are good. As it's user-friendly and understandable on an executive level, it brings real value. We also use this solution because it's robust and flexibile."
"Using this product, we now have a vulnerability management cycle wherein VMDR plays a major role."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to run different capabilities with the same agent. With only one agent, we can have EDR, vulnerability management, compliance and some basic SaaS security capabilities."
"It is very easy to use and there are lots of options. We can usually easily go through it and all of the things we want to configure, and we can configure everything to our specifications very easily."
"The most valuable feature is automation."
"The solution scales well."
"The most important aspect of the solution is that it rarely gives false positives, especially compared to other products. It provides very clear reports for our IT teams to look at."
"The discovery and prioritization of vulnerabilities."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its dashboards."
"The reports in Rapid7 InsightVM are useful when compared to competitors."
"The most valuable features are its reporting capabilities and the host discovery functionality."
"I liked the dashboard on it. I could customize my dashboard with different widgets and different heat maps."
"The most valuable feature is the site scanning, where we can provide a complete subnet and what it is we need to scan on those devices."
 

Cons

"No third-party applications or integrations with additional software solutions."
"In terms of improvement, the product could benefit from streamlining the implementation process, particularly regarding customization."
"We face issues while scanning multiple assets."
"It is more expensive vs. other products on the market."
"There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports."
"The solution is a bit expensive if you do not have access to discounts."
"The reporting and the GUI need improvements."
"The support has not been very responsive, and we are receiving RCAs a little delayed whenever we raise support cases or communicate with the TAMs."
"Qualys VMDR identifies vulnerabilities and suggests fixes. However, it does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately."
"The reporting and dashboards could improve in Qualys VM. However, they have improved since the previous versions."
"This solution creates false-positives which can cause issues with reporting."
"There needs to be much clearer instructions surrounding scanning."
"We found that after you passed an endpoint, it didn't always reflect it in the next scan. I'm not sure if it was a glitch or some issue with the product's software. That was never clear. That was always an issue and something that definitely needed improvement."
"There should be containerization within the VM."
"The reporting is a little bit tricky because it can be difficult to exactly pinpoint some of the assets to filter them and generate a report."
"There is room for improvement on its cloud side. In the next release I would like to see better reporting."
"Their customer support should be improved, and the effectiveness of scans also needs to be improved."
"I think the improvement in the tool should be to provide a better update to users because sometimes the information within the cloud and the scanner are not synchronized very fast."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It is more expensive than other products on the market."
"Qualys VM is quite expensive. It's a subscription-based license, and it's yearly. Right now, it's open for me, and I don't have any limitations or caps on the licenses. They are seeing if the product is viable for 4500 users. I can add as much as I want, and at the end of the subscription, they'll let me know how many licenses were actually used and bill me accordingly. On a scale from one to five, I would give their pricing a three. It's still expensive."
"The price is very reasonable."
"Usually every implementation is different and the quote is in function of number of assets."
"When you want to cover yourself for scalability, you will be charged for the number you place on the scan itself."
"The tool's pricing is expensive and I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"Qualys is cheaper and more affordable than other solutions."
"The solution is expensive."
"The product is cheaper than the other similar tools available in the market."
"The license is annual and this is the optimal approach when it comes to most software."
"The licensing is asset-based and very straightforward."
"Its pricing depends on the number of users per month."
"The price of the solution is less than the competitors."
"A full license for the solution is expensive because it is at the organizational level and not by individual users."
"Its licensing is yearly. Everything is included in the price for one year."
"The tool's price is neither too high nor too low. My company needs to pay 65,000 per year. There are no additional costs apart from the licensing fees attached to the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise70
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Remediate?
If you want to install or consume this BMC product, licensing cost is one factor, but the facility features you will ...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Remediate?
In terms of improvement, the product could benefit from streamlining the implementation process, particularly regardi...
What do you like most about Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagg...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that we can consider both time and money saved.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries la...
How would you choose between Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus?
You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. Yo...
What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightVM?
The product's initial setup phase was very easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 InsightVM?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Rapid 7 is that they are generally pretty good in terms of ...
 

Also Known As

TrueSight Vulnerability Management, SecOps Response Service, BladeLogic Threat Director, BMC Helix Remediate
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
InsightVM, NeXpose
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Online Business Systems
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
ACS, Acosta, AllianceData, amazon.com, biogen idec, CBRE, CATERPILLAR, Deloitte, COACH, GameStop, IBM
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Tenable, Qualys and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: January 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.