Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management comparison

Microsoft and Qualys are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Microsoft is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.9, while Qualys is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.0. Microsoft holds a 2.1% mindshare in VM, compared to Qualys’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Qualys users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management and Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management both compete in the cybersecurity solutions category. Microsoft Defender generally has an upper hand in pricing and integration satisfaction, while Qualys stands out in feature richness and perceived value.

Features: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is known for its integration with Microsoft products, real-time assessments without scans, and identification of vulnerabilities even when endpoints are off-network. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is recognized for its detailed inventory management, asset discovery, and the ability to provide valuable insights through dynamic tagging and asset categorization.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management could improve report customization, reduce false positives, and enhance integration with a variety of CMDB options. Users also highlight the need for refining the portal refresh rate and its documentation. Qualys is noted for its complexity in tagging, reporting, and user interface design. Suggested improvements include dynamic rules, better integration capabilities, and enhancements in the EASM module and report customization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both solutions offer flexible deployment options. Microsoft Defender supports on-premises and hybrid cloud settings, simplifying security within Microsoft’s ecosystem. Qualys operates effectively across public, hybrid, and private environments. Microsoft's technical support has mixed reviews, with some users citing delays, while Qualys delivers consistent customer service but aims to improve its support response speed.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Defender's pricing is often seen as competitive, especially when bundled within the E5 package, though it has a complex pricing structure and variable user license costs. Qualys, though more expensive, justifies its cost with a comprehensive feature set, providing value for larger organizations but possibly being expensive for smaller enterprises. Both products' ROI is challenging to quantify due to their inclusion in broader service packages.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

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

Zafran Security

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 2.1%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management	1.3%
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management	2.1%
Zafran Security	1.1%
Other	95.5%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Reviewer6233

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.

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Okhan BABUCCU

Microsoft Solutions Manager at Self-Employed

Ensures strong threat and vulnerability management with continuous risk assessment

The major priority is identity, which is crucial; we have lots of companies in manufacturing, energy, or various sectors, and it varies from one to another. I assess Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management as very effective in continuously assessing vulnerabilities without requiring scans. We use automatic investigation and remediation features, safe attachments, safe links, and real-time reports, which are also very effective. For Active Directory, Defender has threat intelligence, and we are using that. The risk-based prioritization within Vulnerability Management affects my ability to manage vulnerabilities, particularly in relation to the Zero Trust Model utilized by our customers. The end-users often do as they please in their systems.

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Arshad N. R.

Cyber Security Specialist at UBS Financial

Customized dashboards and quick deployment support comprehensive asset management

We use the True Risk Score for vulnerability prioritization, though we do not solely rely upon it since some assets may be decommissioned soon or not in use. From Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, we primarily focus on internet-facing assets. We have created separate tasks for internet-facing assets and track the True Risk dashboard specifically for these assets. If the True Risk Score is higher for any internet-facing assets, then we take action accordingly. The True Risk Score is very helpful for prioritization. The initial setup was straightforward and easy. We needed to create customized tags, group them twice, and validate whether the operating system detection was true positive or false positive. We encountered some false positives, which required coordination with the IT team for verification. In six months, we had approximately 20-25 machines that needed verification on a weekly basis. We coordinated with the IT team to identify the exact operating system specifications.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 is an excellent tool."

"We saw benefits from Zafran Security almost immediately after deploying it."

"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."

"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."

"Overall, we have seen about eighty-seven percent reduction of the number of vulnerabilities that require urgency to remediate, specifically the number of criticals."

"The integration with Sentinel has been one of the most valuable features for my organization."

"The solution is highly scalable."

"The product's stability is very high...The scalability of the product is amazing."

"One valuable feature is the Microsoft Security Scorecard."

"Overall, I would rate Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management a nine out of ten."

"A valuable feature is the ease of management and integration with Microsoft products."

"The recommendations, scores, and steps to remediate actions are highly useful."

"The main advantage of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is that it can locate and prevent most threats even when the endpoints are not connected to the corporate network, as long as the internet is available."

More Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management pros

"The most valuable feature is the real-time visibility Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides into all assets across our development and operational environments."

"Authorized and unauthorized software visibility is the best feature for me."

"The best feature is asset discovery through their cloud agent or IP-based scanning."

"Authorized and unauthorized software visibility is the best feature for me. It helps me understand security controls on our network and where we lack visibility. With a single security tool, we are able to get an extensive list."

"I mainly appreciate Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management for its patch management capabilities, which are essential in my job for deploying patches and remediating vulnerabilities."

"I would rate Qualys CSAM a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable features of Qualys CSAM include the ability to manage authorized and unauthorized applications efficiently. This feature helps in validating applications and maintaining a secure environment."

"We have a diverse organization with a robust infrastructure of more than 300,000 assets. By creating unauthorized lists and rules in the Qualys CSAM module, I can block certain software from being used in the organization."

More Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"They may need to improve the portal refresh rate for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management because it takes time for recommendations to disappear after mitigation; sometimes, it takes one week, when it should ideally take only one to two hours."

"Probably my only criticism would be the cost. It is expensive."

"The worst aspect is the refresh rate of the dashboard. A vulnerability I patch within 15 minutes takes 24 additional hours for an update."

"Sometimes the stability of the agents could be improved."

"The product is not stable; it is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU, which makes it slow."

"It is challenging to extract and customize reports from the system."

"There should be risk scoring added to Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management; specifically, they call it quantification of the risk."

"The worst aspect is the refresh rate of the dashboard."

More Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management cons

"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is moderately good, while Rapid7 is slightly much better."

"Some areas that would be helpful are more comprehensive tagging and the ability to set up better dynamic rules."

"They should address the false positives generated in EASM. It is fetching assets that have Infosys as the keyword. They should fix that."

"The only minor issue is occasionally being redirected to multiple teams, causing slight delays."

"The deployment is somewhat complicated and could be made more user-friendly for most users. It is currently not user-friendly for all users. It is good but can be improved. It is a new product, and they are working on it."

"There can be further simplification to reduce the overall noise and provide ESAM-related data."

"Some areas that would be helpful are more comprehensive tagging and the ability to set up better dynamic rules."

"We've received very poor guidance from them, especially after learning several things we need to fix during the Qualys conference."

More Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

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

"The product’s pricing is medium."

"The tool is a bit costly."

"The licensing model follows a per-user per-month structure."

"The licensing costs are reasonable."

"The Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management pricing is well-aligned with our usage."

"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."

"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can be expensive, especially if we already have VMDR."

"It is cost-effective because, in a single tool, we are getting everything. All the solutions come in a single license or price."

"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 pricing is market-competitive."

"The pricing is fair. I would love to see the price come down a little bit, but we do get a lot of value out of it. We are squeezing every ounce of value we can out of the tool."

"The cost for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is high."

More Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	23

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...

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

The solution helps identify threats and vulnerabilities.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

We are open to discounts on the pricing.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

The documentation from Microsoft needs significant improvement. The documents are disorganized, with one document lin...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I'm not entirely sure about the pricing; I don't know.

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What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I think the one thing Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can do better is the package management and the updating ...

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What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I primarily use it for a small, single-site, multi-source setup with multi-WAN inputs. I have a main fiber connection...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Zafran Security

January 2026

Download Zafran Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

January 2026

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management report

Download Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

January 2026

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Download Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management product report

Overview

Zafran Security integrates with existing security tools to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities effectively, proving that most critical vulnerabilities are not exploitable, optimizing threat management.

Zafran Security introduces an innovative operating model for managing security threats and vulnerabilities. By leveraging the threat exposure management platform, it pinpoints and prioritizes exploitable vulnerabilities, reducing risk through immediate remediation. This platform enhances your hybrid cloud security by normalizing vulnerability signals and integrating specific IT context data, such as CVE runtime presence and internet asset reachability, into its analysis. No longer reliant on patch windows, Zafran Security allows you to manage risks actively.

What are the key features of Zafran Security?

Threat Exposure Management: Utilizes existing tools to prioritize vulnerabilities and manage threats.
Integrative Analysis: Combines security data with IT context for precise vulnerability management.
Real-time Risk Reduction: Enables immediate risk management without waiting for patches.
Hybrid Cloud Compatibility: Functions across diverse cloud environments for comprehensive security.

What benefits can users expect from Zafran Security?

Improved Security: Enhances protection by efficiently identifying and mitigating risks.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces unnecessary patching expenses by confirming non-exploitable vulnerabilities.
Time Savings: Frees developers to focus on root causes by handling immediate threats.
Comprehensive Insight: Offers a holistic view of security threats and vulnerabilities.

In industries where security is paramount, such as finance and healthcare, Zafran Security provides invaluable protection by ensuring that only exploitable vulnerabilities are addressed. It allows entities to maintain robust security measures while allocating resources efficiently, fitting seamlessly into existing security strategies.

Zafran Security

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management enables organizations to identify vulnerabilities, manage patches, and fortify threat detection. It offers endpoint assessments, cloud incident management, and dynamic security through Microsoft's Security Scorecard integration.

Organizations leverage Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management for advanced threat detection and response. It provides robust tools for vulnerability assessment and cloud incident management, integrated with Microsoft's Security Scorecard to enhance dynamic security profiling. Key features include automatic patch deployment, security configuration management, and seamless integration with Microsoft platforms, benefiting both on-prem and cloud environments. Organizations can track vulnerabilities with severity-based reports, helping manage outdated software and minimizing threat exposure.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

Compliance: Ensures adherence to security regulations.
Recommendations: Provides actionable advice for security enhancements.
Inventories: Offers detailed inventory tracking for software and hardware.
Threat Identification: Detects potential threats proactively.
Vulnerability Assessment: Evaluates system vulnerabilities comprehensively.
Zero-day Protection: Shields systems from newly discovered exploits.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Integration: Facilitates seamless integration with Microsoft and diverse platforms.
Risk Mitigation: Assists in mitigating risks through accurate assessments.
Prioritization: Helps prioritize vulnerabilities for efficient patch management.
Up-to-date Protection: Ensures systems remain secured and current.

In healthcare, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management helps manage compliance with health regulations, while in finance, it aids in securing sensitive data from cyber threats. Manufacturing sectors benefit from its patch management, keeping operational technology systems less vulnerable to disruptions.

Microsoft

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides key features including asset inventory management, end-of-life tracking, dynamic tagging, and integration with CMDB, offering extensive visibility and support for proactive threat response.

Qualys offers comprehensive visibility across hardware and software assets, aiding in tracking unauthorized applications and facilitating automated vulnerability remediation. Its user-friendly interface and dynamic risk scoring enhance security posture management. Users leverage it for vulnerability management and compliance, benefiting from real-time risk identification and efficient operations in cloud and on-premises environments.

What are the key features of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

Asset Inventory Management: Provides detailed visibility over hardware and software assets.
End-of-Life Tracking: Helps identify technical debt by pinpointing outdated hardware and software.
Dynamic Tagging: Allows flexible classification and categorization of assets.
Real-Time Risk Identification: Detects risks as they arise, enhancing threat response capabilities.
CMDB Integration: Streamlines data integration for comprehensive asset insights.

What benefits should users look for in Qualys reviews?

Improved Security Posture: Enables proactive threat management and streamlined operations.
Efficient Remediation: Automates vulnerability management and patch deployment.
User-Friendly Operations: Simplifies cybersecurity operations with an intuitive interface.
Comprehensive Asset Visibility: Offers unparalleled insight into organizational assets.
Scalable Solutions: Facilitates asset tracking across cloud and on-premises environments.

Cybersecurity teams in various industries, such as financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing, utilize Qualys to manage technical debt through end-of-life tracking and facilitate robust patch management. It supports compliance and visibility initiatives, essential for maintaining data integrity and operational security in dynamic environments.

Qualys

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

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