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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Qualys VMDR comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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
27th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (6th)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerab...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (17th), Microsoft Security Suite (22nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
Qualys VMDR
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (5th), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Container Security (12th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 0.4%. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 3.2%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 9.0%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

Israel Cavazos Landini - PeerSpot reviewer
Weekly insights and risk analysis facilitate informed security decisions
I appreciate the weekly insights Zafran provides, which include critical topics for networks and IT security, allowing us to evaluate which insights apply to our environment. The organization score feature is valuable to keep the leadership team updated on how our infrastructure fares security-wise. The applicable risk level versus base risk level feature is beneficial because prior to Zafran, we only used the base risk level, but now understand that risk depends on the asset itself. Zafran is an excellent tool.
TakayukiUmehara - PeerSpot reviewer
Ease of management and integration supports operations, but has high resource consumption
A valuable feature is the ease of management and integration with Microsoft products. I appreciate that I can click on a server in the Defender Console, notice a risk, and retrieve all necessary information. Speed is a key feature as it is very quick to administer and allows for manual configuration from the portal.
Harold Jensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Good visibility but expensive and needs better support
Support: It's often overseas and often following a script, basically asking us to redo what we opened the case with. Multiple APIs: There seems to be a lack of easy onboarding into Qualys. We had to use manual inputs and some API calls to get items in place. Dashboard: It is very rudimentary with very little customization. The Qualys Scripting Language (QSL) works differently in different Qualys modules, so when you get it working in one area you have to modify the syntax in others. User account management: We often have to give users more rights than needed just to give them what they need. Integration with the various Qualys Modules: You can tell the UI is different based on of the different teams that created them. QSL syntax same in all modules Responsiveness of some of the components: They time out, you get a blank screen, etc. Backend updates between the various modules: You update connectors and information takes a few minutes to show in VMDR or Global Asset View Connectors: Connectors have a throttling issue with AWS which causes them to frequently fail unless you manually run them again.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Zafran is an excellent tool."
"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."
"The integration with SIEM is the best, specifically the native integration with Microsoft SIEM."
"A valuable feature is the ease of management and integration with Microsoft products."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is versatile and assesses vulnerabilities, providing detailed information on CVEs, their categories, and exploit statuses."
"The most valuable aspect is the kind of assessment results I get, and the recommendations provided in Microsoft products really help in taking care of the resources."
"The recommendations, scores, and steps to remediate actions are highly useful."
"The solution helps identify threats and vulnerabilities."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is versatile and assesses vulnerabilities, providing detailed information on CVEs, their categories, and exploit statuses."
"The solution is up-to-date and helps prevent zero-day attacks."
"The initial setup was good. We didn't have any problems with it."
"The most valuable features are vulnerability scanning, policy compliance scanning, and tablet for web application scanning."
"The most valuable features are vulnerability detection and the scanning capability to enable identification of vulnerabilities across our network."
"It gives you a lot of options, and it integrates with our ServiceNow for ticketing and all."
"The most recent is VMDR, which provides a comprehensive overview of how to detect, patch, and remediate specific vulnerabilities."
"This solution gives us insight into our environment and improves our security. It helps us to maintain a good patching system whereby we know that XYZ is vulnerable within the system."
"It is a stable solution."
"The reporting is fine."
 

Cons

"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."
"It is challenging to extract and customize reports from the system."
"Probably my only criticism would be the cost. It is expensive."
"The product is not stable; it is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU, which makes it slow."
"Sometimes the stability of the agents could be improved."
"The technical support takes too much time to resolve tickets."
"We have experienced some logging issues, including a few hours of downtime initially. Despite this, I would rate the overall stability as an eight."
"Integration can be improved."
"The setup phase of the product is not that easy and needs a person to have a certain level of expertise."
"They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up, and the old UI was more user-friendly."
"I do not like that all of the data is stored on the cloud."
"Reports were lacking somewhat on the customization side."
"Qualys VMDR identifies vulnerabilities and suggests fixes. However, it does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately."
"When you want to cover yourself for scalability, you will be charged for the number you place on the scan itself."
"We face issues while scanning multiple assets."
"There seems to be a lack of easy onboarding into Qualys."
"Some of the older features could be polished instead of focusing on releasing new features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The tool is a bit costly."
"The licensing model follows a per-user per-month structure."
"The product’s pricing is medium."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"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 solution is reasonably priced for the value it provides."
"The tool's pricing is expensive and I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"There is a license for the use of this solution. We pay annually instead of monthly to receive a better discount on the price."
"The product is more expensive than that of any other vendor."
"Qualys is a pay-as-you-go model, so there's flexibility to the pricing."
"The solution is costly."
"The price is very reasonable."
"The pricing and licensing for Qualys could be improved."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
33%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?
I find that the pricing for Zafran aligns well with the comprehensive features it offers. The asset and user-based li...
What needs improvement with Zafran Security?
Zafran is a new startup. Features are continuously being added or improved. 1) Continued integrations with existing (...
What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?
We connect this to our vulnerability scanner as input, our security tools to better determine risk, and our change ma...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I would rate the price as a three for us due to the partnership discounts. For non-partners, however, the cost could ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
For our current usage, we do not have any complaints, but a potential improvement could be the introduction of a more...
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?
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up, and the old UI was more user-friendly.
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Qualys VMDR and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.