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Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management 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

Zafran Security
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
18th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (3rd)
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto N...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
35th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (17th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (21st), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (16th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (13th), Software Supply Chain Security (14th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (7th), Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) (9th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (8th)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset ...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Patch Management (4th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (3rd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (3rd), Software Supply Chain Security (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Reviewer6233 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal
While Zafran Security is already a powerful tool, there are areas where it could be further improved to provide even greater value. One key area for enhancement is the searching capabilities within its vulnerabilities module. By incorporating the ability to create Boolean searches, users would gain the ability to apply more complex filters and customize their search criteria. This would greatly enhance the precision and efficiency with which security teams can identify and prioritize vulnerabilities. Having such tailored search capabilities would save time and resources by narrowing down vast lists of vulnerabilities to those that meet specific parameters relevant to our unique risk environment. Additionally, integrating more robust reporting and visualization tools would be advantageous. Enhanced dashboards that offer customizable visual representations of risk configurations and threat landscapes would facilitate better communication with stakeholders, making it easier to explain vulnerabilities and the rationale behind certain security measures. This would also aid in demonstrating the improvements and value derived from existing security investments to leadership and non-technical team members.
Nuno-Santos - PeerSpot reviewer
Cybersecurity Analyst at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Has improved real-time threat detection and unified cloud protection through AI and automation
Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is creating some confusion in terms of names because this is recent. They changed the names of the products and are now clarifying their offer. The family of the products is not easy to follow because it's very recent. Regarding the generative AI security tool, I know for sure it's Agentic. Based on my experience with Palo Alto, I can suggest what Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks could make better or what additional functions could be added. This is the best tool in the market. It's not the time to tell what they could do better because it's a recent tool. The market is now adopting it. Our experience doesn't show that they need to do more.
Nicki Møller - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Enables automation and quick access to necessary information
One of the significant challenges Qualys is discovery, which I know Microsoft excels at. I can't recall how well Qualys performs this function; it seems I might be missing some details. However, if there's one key aspect to focus on, it's discovery—the ability to identify assets that you are not aware of, even when you can see they are present. Understanding what those assets are is crucial. With Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, it was very difficult to extract detections from the system. The features within Qualys are limited to what they have developed. Sometimes a complete overview is needed to push to a Power BI dashboard, Splunk, ServiceNow, or other platforms. The export process is incredibly challenging. We needed a developer to write a hundred-line Python script that would loop over certain assets due to export limitations. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management could improve its integration capabilities. While it generates substantial data, correlating it with other data sources can be challenging. The export process is difficult, and pre-built integrations with other tools could be enhanced for better process implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."
"With Zafran Security, it integrates with your security controls, allowing you to take that risk score and reduce it based on the controls in place or increase the risk based on different factors, such as if the issue is internet reachable or if there's an exploit in the wild."
"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."
"We saw benefits from Zafran Security almost immediately after deploying it."
"Overall, we have seen about eighty-seven percent reduction of the number of vulnerabilities that require urgency to remediate, specifically the number of criticals."
"Zafran is an excellent tool."
"I have seen several benefits from using Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks: It was easy to use and easy to migrate from the IBM platform."
"The AI and automation features in detecting and responding to high-risk threats are impressive; it's one of the best tools regarding AI technology and unifies security in one platform in real-time, improving vulnerability analysis, incident response, and compliance reporting."
"Overall, Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is a technically strong product, and I rate it ten out of ten."
"I would rate Qualys CSAM a ten out of ten."
"Qualys CSAM helps find all the assets. It categorizes information based on various criteria such as host and tenant version. It provides in-depth visibility into both hardware and software."
"I like the EASM part because it provides visibility into unmanaged assets that are public-facing."
"It de-duplicates findings and helps you understand what the vulnerabilities from your external scans and your external attack surface management are and how they connect to the vulnerabilities on your internal scans."
"I would rate the Qualys CSAM a ten out of ten for its overall performance."
"The end-of-life and end-of-service software and hardware are some of my favorite features."
"Our favorite features are the tagging and the ability to quickly find assets in the portal."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides accurate content that identifies all the endpoints, making it better in that way, and the review results for finding vulnerabilities and reporting also show that it identifies most of them, helping us complete tasks in 3.5 days instead of five."
 

Cons

"I think the ability to have some enhanced reporting capabilities is something they can improve on, as they have good reports but we have asked for some specific reporting enhancements."
"The dashboarding and reporting functionality of Zafran Security is an area that definitely could use some improvements."
"Initially, we were somewhat concerned about the scalability of Zafran due to our large asset count and the substantial amount of information we needed to process."
"Overall, I rate Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks as an eight out of ten. I think that it could improve on price, as I know that the Google solution has the best price, and this is one of the conditions."
"Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is creating some confusion in terms of names because this is recent."
"Some aspects of the GUI can be confusing and make it difficult for me to find certain options or navigate where needed."
"In my opinion, the area that needs improvement is the role-based access control (RBAC). The access privilege management needs to be more robust and streamlined to enhance user access management. Additionally, improvements to the user interface could be beneficial."
"In our reporting, we faced a challenge syncing with cloud devices."
"The only minor issue is occasionally being redirected to multiple teams, causing slight delays."
"Integration of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, particularly with ServiceNow, takes a very long time, and it needs prioritization of patch rules based on vulnerability risk."
"One improvement that they can make in the EASM module is the scan frequency. After EASM is configured the first time, it allows you to do the complete configuration, but if you want to reconfigure it, it will not ask or provide any option for scan frequency. For that, you need to raise a case with Qualys and talk to the Qualys team."
"The UI needs improvement as it can become overwhelming after prolonged use."
"With Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, it was very difficult to extract detections from the system."
"Some areas that would be helpful are more comprehensive tagging and the ability to set up better dynamic rules."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
Information not available
"The pricing is reasonable relative to the features provided, as it collects all module data and operates as a main, centralized inventory, making it a cost-effective solution."
"The pricing is market-competitive."
"Qualys is competitively priced for its features. Its pricing is suitable for large organizations with more than 4,000 assets, but for smaller organizations with few assets, such as banks, the costs might be high. They should come up with packages that are suitable for small organizations."
"The cost for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is high."
"Though the solution is considered expensive, if bundled with other services such as VMDR or cloud agents, its value would significantly increase. It is currently a bit costly, but with bundling, it could become attractive to more customers."
"The pricing for Qualys CSAM is nominal."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can be expensive, especially if we already have VMDR."
"The pricing for Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management is reasonable, with an annual subscription costing around $1,000 per year or a monthly subscription starting at approximately $72 per month, depending on the specific package and features included."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
5%
Performing Arts
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?
Since we stood Zafran Security up in our private cloud, we handle the maintenance on our side. As we opted not to use...
What needs improvement with Zafran Security?
In terms of areas for improvement, Zafran Security is doing a really great job as a new and emerging company. Oftenti...
What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?
My use cases for Zafran Security revolve around two primary areas. One is around vulnerability management and priorit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
The solution is costly, with high-end capabilities suitable for enterprises. It is less affordable for startups or sm...
What needs improvement with Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
There are areas that could be improved from Palo Alto's side. I think that we need to start using the AI module becau...
What is your primary use case for Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks?
Our main use cases involve working with QRadar, which is the IBM solution. We are now starting to migrate customers t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
We purchased it through a reseller and the pricing was reasonable. We received Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management ...
What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
The TruRisk feature could help prioritize vulnerabilities and assets, but our issue currently is that we weren't prov...
What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
My use cases involve using Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management to detect vulnerabilities and then passing on the in...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.