IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs Tenable Nessus comparison

IBM and Tenable are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. IBM is ranked #49 with an average rating of 5.0, while Tenable is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 0.7% mindshare in VM, compared to Tenable’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Tenable users who would recommend it.

IBM Guardium Vulnerability ...

Read 4 IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment reviews

929 Views
901 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Tenable Nessus

Read 87 Tenable Nessus reviews

9,719 Views
8,844 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

IBM Guardium Vulnerability ...

Tenable Nessus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Tenable Nessus and IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment are products in the cybersecurity landscape focusing on vulnerability management. IBM Guardium seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features, making it a preferred choice for those looking for advanced capabilities.

Features: Tenable Nessus provides extensive scanning capabilities, consistent updates, and easy integration across various environments. IBM Guardium offers robust data protection measures, compliance reporting, and focuses on database security.

Room for Improvement: Tenable Nessus could enhance its database security features, add more robust compliance management tools, and improve analytics capabilities. IBM Guardium might improve its deployment simplicity, offer a more flexible pricing model, and streamline the initial setup process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tenable Nessus is known for its straightforward setup and responsive support, catering to organizations of all sizes with minimal challenges. IBM Guardium, with extensive capabilities, requires a more complex deployment reflective of its comprehensive data integration, but supportive customer service complements this.

Pricing and ROI: Tenable Nessus is praised for its accessible pricing structure, ensuring significant ROI with low initial costs and flexibility. IBM Guardium requires a higher upfront investment, seen as justified by advanced functionalities and security benefits, where the ROI is assessed through its premium feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Tenable Nessus Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Tenable Nessus

December 2025

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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

IBM Guardium Vulnerability ...

Ranking in Vulnerability Management

49th

Average Rating

6.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tenable Nessus

Ranking in Vulnerability Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Nessus is 5.1%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tenable Nessus	5.1%
IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment	0.7%
Other	94.2%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Dr. Sajid Latif

Guardium Administrator at Interactive Group

Improvements sought in database optimization while benefiting from robust security monitoring

We use the analytical functionality of Guardium, but the analytical functionality is not so powerful or flexible because it does not include the application user ID. It only includes the database user ID. To identify risky users, it does not support end users, so IBM must incorporate this feature into the built-in analytical engine of the Guardium. There is only one problem I experienced while using Guardium: the internal database of the collector is MySQL, which is not so powerful or flexible. When you make a query in a MySQL database, it takes too much time to respond. IBM should replace this MySQL database with a more powerful internal database for the logging mechanism so that Guardium can collect logging data flexibly and ensure optimization. My overall experience with Guardium is good. The only problem is that IBM must replace the internal DB, MySQL, with a more powerful enterprise-level database because enterprises use it at an enterprise level, and MySQL does not support optimally.

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MohammedJaffir

Founder at Cipheroot

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It helped with some of the regulatory requirements. It also helped with some of the security analytics and analysis. It was worthwhile from that perspective."

"The reporting features are good and there are many built-in reports that can be quickly configured."

"The Vulnerability Assessment feature is quite stable and helps identify numerous vulnerabilities in databases."

"The most valuable feature is that it provides a simple English recommendation on actions that you need to take once a vulnerability is discovered."

"We have done code scanning for a long period because as a company, we do DevOps as part of our development life cycle."

"The trial version is very good for testing whether it will suit your needs."

"Overall Zoom is a good solution."

"Its initial setup was simple and straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is the self-updating engine."

"Among the most valuable features are scanning for vulnerabilities and the reporting. The reporting templates are okay. I like that I can see all the hosts with different vulnerabilities."

"Out of the box, the product works well for us, so it's not a tool that we need to customize very much."

"It's scalable."

More Tenable Nessus pros

Cons

"There is only one problem I experienced while using Guardium: the internal database of the collector is MySQL, which is not so powerful or flexible."

"Building policies is not that easy. There are some things that are turned off by default, for example, displaying values."

"It was not as easy to use. The user-friendliness of it was somewhat lower than what I was expecting. It was also lacking in terms of the ease of the setup. There should be an automatic agent for deployment."

"The interface could be improved by having sub-groups of tests, ultimately making the process of collecting tests faster."

"The user interface of Tenable Nessus feels outdated and could be more user-friendly."

"The reports should be improved in Tenable Nessus. For example, when you are auditing compliance with CIS standards. It provides very poor reports."

"One significant drawback we encounter is the tool's tendency to flag patched packages incorrectly. For instance, if a package is patched by Debian maintainers but not updated to a major or minor version, Nessus may still flag it as vulnerable based on its database. This discrepancy leads to false alarms and requires our developers, system admins, and DevOps teams to address them."

"EQA's and dashboards should be addressed in the next release."

"It would be a good idea if they have a simulation of attacks or a use case for finding a new vulnerability or dealing with a zero-day attack."

"This is still a maturing product. Tenable is only a scanner for one ability, while other solutions like Rapid7 have more tools for verification. We still have to manually verify to see if the vulnerability is a false positive or not."

"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."

"The solution could improve security updates."

More Tenable Nessus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"One thing not advantageous for it was that it was a little bit more expensive. I would rate it one out of five in terms of pricing."

"Nowadays, your vulnerability applications are going to be kind of pricey because lots of them, including Rapid7, are based upon a base price, but then they add in the nodes. That's where they get you. If you're a big network, obviously, you need to scan everything. Therefore, it's going to be costly. The risk and insurance money associated with having ransomware on my networks is going to cost me more money, time, and marketing than the price of the tool. That's why I'm speaking only as an information security officer to security operations. This is the tool that is there in my toolbox to say whether we vulnerable or not. At this point, I don't care about how much it costs my company to have it because if I wasn't able to report it and we got ransomware, then who cares? I'm probably going to be out of business because it happened. That's why I don't care about the price. I have it, and I could use it effectively and do my report. At the end of the day, even if we get ransomware, as long as I reported it, followed my protocol, and put in the change, irrespective of whether it was ignored or denied, I did my job."

"The solution is expensive."

"This solution is affordable."

"Nessus Manager is not an expensive product. It has its limitations, but the pricing reflects that. We have a yearly subscription."

"I rate the product's price seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

"The solution is worth the cost. It's a good investment."

"The cost is around $4,300 per year. Use is unlimited. You don't pay more if you want to use it for another IP."

"Its price is high for Libya. The companies here in Libya don't have the awareness of and a good budget for cybersecurity services. If you want them to go for a product, you need to provide something different. This differentiation is related to the price. They should give about 40% to 45% discount per person on the current cost."

More Tenable Nessus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

37%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	39
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	35

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?

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What is your primary use case for IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?

We are still using IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment. We only use IBM Guardium Data Protection and monitoring, data protection and monitoring, classical Guardium. We only use classical Guardium...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment?

We do not use IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment for data encryption or any other tool for analytics, or identity and governance. We do not use any other solution except for protection and monit...

See all answers

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. You can easily prioritize vulnerabilities using attacker analytics. Overall, Rapid...

See all answers

What's the difference between Tenable Nessus and Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?

Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of the program is such that if a company should desire to handle the installation t...

See all answers

What do you like most about Tenable Nessus?

We have around 500 virtual machines. Therefore, we conduct monthly scans and open tickets for our developers to address identified vulnerabilities. These scans cover the servers, other network equi...

See all answers

Comparisons

Qualys VMDR vs IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment

Compared 29% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment

Compared 17% of the time

Tanium vs IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment

Compared 11% of the time

Fortra Tripwire IP360 vs IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment Competitors

Qualys VMDR vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 11% of the time

Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 6% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 6% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 5% of the time

More Tenable Nessus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Vulnerability Management

January 2026

IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment report

Download IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment product report

Buyer's Guide

Tenable Nessus

January 2026

Download Tenable Nessus product report

Overview

IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment scans data infrastructures (databases, data warehouses and big data environments) to detect vulnerabilities, and suggests remedial actions. The solution identifies exposures such as missing patches, weak passwords, unauthorized changes and misconfigured privileges.

IBM

Tenable Nessus provides an efficient vulnerability management system with swift deployment and comprehensive scanning capabilities, making it an ideal choice for organizations seeking to enhance their security posture through effective threat detection and mitigation strategies.

Renowned for its top-tier vulnerability detection, Tenable Nessus offers a robust platform that integrates effortlessly across systems, enhancing threat management through automation, real-time monitoring, and customizable scanning options. Its broad asset coverage, including network devices and applications, coupled with ease of deployment, positions it as a go-to option for risk assessment and compliance. Organizations value its extensive reporting features and database, although they suggest enhancements in reporting formats and false positive detection. A more intuitive interface, improved cloud support, and competitive pricing models are sought after to cater to evolving enterprise needs.

What are the key features of Tenable Nessus?

Comprehensive Vulnerability Detection: Identifies security gaps across systems and platforms.
Remedy Recommendations: Provides actionable insights for vulnerability fixes.
Predictive Prioritization: Helps in focusing on critical vulnerabilities first.
Seamless Integration: Compatible with diverse platforms for cohesive threat management.
Automation Capabilities: Streamlines routine scans and reports.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Fast Setup: Quick deployment that saves time and resources.
Cost-Effective: Affordable pricing supports budget-conscious cyber strategies.
Real-Time Monitoring: Offers continuous oversight of system health.
Extensive Reports: Detailed insights enhance decision-making processes.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and tech, Tenable Nessus is implemented for scanning internal and external networks, identifying risks, and ensuring data protection compliance. Organizations conduct regular scans to detect security vulnerabilities in servers and databases, leveraging its capabilities to strengthen their security frameworks while managing cloud infrastructures and enterprise networks efficiently.

Tenable

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University

Buyer's Guide

IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Tenable Nessus

December 2025

Free Report: IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Tenable Nessus

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Guardium Vulnerability Assessment vs. Tenable Nessus and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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