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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Tanium comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (7th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (6th)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerab...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (20th), Microsoft Security Suite (17th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
Tanium
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (14th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (23rd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (8th), Autonomous Endpoint Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 1.4%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tanium is 1.7%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud1.2%
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management1.4%
Tanium1.7%
Other95.7%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
reviewer2770602 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Has helped with regional threat monitoring but needs better documentation and real-time capabilities
The documentation from Microsoft needs significant improvement. The documents are disorganized, with one document linking to another, making the steps unclear and difficult to follow. Regarding updates, it is not truly real-time as it takes between eight to twelve hours for updates to occur. It would be beneficial if updates could happen more quickly, perhaps within 10 minutes to half an hour. Support for integration and documentation needs to be more straightforward. The pricing is expensive, even though it is part of the E5 package.
Sandeepraj Gatla - PeerSpot reviewer
Dfir Analyst at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Endpoint monitoring has strengthened incident response and provides rapid isolation and forensics
Tanium provides an endpoint which is isolated from the network and environment. We can easily search its logs and history and connect remotely directly to that particular device which has been isolated from the network. We can search for the history and logs, including audit logs and event logs. The complete activity of the user or owner of the device is visible to us. We can see the artifacts of particular USB transfers internally for official use. We can not only connect remotely but also see the device status and how many failures have occurred within the network so far. We can see the IP address, how many times it has changed its IP address, and how many times it was connected to VPN or external VPN or internal VPN and what has been searched while on VPN. We can block the IOCs or IP addresses as well. We can block domains, hashes, SHA values, SHA-256, SHA-1, SHA-5 and MD5. Although I am not completely involved in the automation team, we do have that team and I have worked in some CERT recently. Tanium is more useful while we are in the CERT because most of the times when we are on high alert, Tanium does play a main role for that particular incident or any high case. Tanium is a simple tool and we can easily integrate it to many devices and it is a mandatory tool to secure an endpoint. It is mandatory to give any RDP connection and the tool should be present in the particular device. It is completely mandatory and it is in the policy as well.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I appreciate Qualys TotalCloud's ability to onboard any type of device with ease, including containers."
"I highly recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."
"One of Qualys' best features is its categorization, which allows us to see the types of assets, their security postures, and the AI-powered version of the tool."
"Its dashboards are brilliant. It provides in-depth insights."
"I would definitely recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."
"One of the features I appreciate is the ability to generate daily reports without relying on anyone else."
"The best feature would be the ability to create policies. It is easy to control and update policies as required."
"Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution."
"The integration with SIEM is the best, specifically the native integration with Microsoft SIEM."
"The product’s most valuable features are compliance, recommendations, and inventories."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is versatile and assesses vulnerabilities, providing detailed information on CVEs, their categories, and exploit statuses."
"The product's stability is very high...The scalability of the product is amazing."
"A valuable feature is the ease of management and integration with Microsoft products."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is a good product, and I believe it deserves a positive recommendation."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management provides several valuable features that I utilize, as I use it to control security configuration, for example, the apps that I use or the many connections from my router, and with this configuration, I can filter content and malware."
"Tanium has made the process of detecting threats more proactive with its detection. So, the process is easier and more efficient."
"I find the inventory and compliance features of Tanium to be the most impressive."
"Tanium is a very good product and I would rate it eight or nine out of ten."
"I'm not so familiar with the tool but I like the interaction of the console to the picture. Patching is the primary model I have been focusing on for the last couple of weeks. So I have created a proof of concept environment and have been checking the available features."
"The product is granular and can build complex roles compared to other EDR vendors."
"Threat hunting is a very good feature on Tanium. We have just started using it and have not used it extensively."
"I would say Tanium is the best tool for vulnerability management."
"Tanium is highly scalable."
 

Cons

"It is already perfect, but they can bring some newer dashboards and customization options for the dashboard. It would be great to be able to include on-prem assets on the dashboard."
"The main area needing improvement is integration. Although the team is strengthening TotalCloud, integration can be enhanced with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and other sources."
"Qualys's ticketing system can be confusing when assigning tasks to individuals, and support could be improved by offering instant call solutions with engineers in addition to ticket replies."
"Their support could be improved."
"It has been working very well, but it would be helpful if the dashboard could generate reports tailored to specific compliance needs. For example, in India, we have to comply with RBI and SEBI guidelines. It w"
"I think Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its handling of zero-day vulnerabilities and supply chain management because modern ransomware attacks not only target prime critical infrastructures but also the supply chain system."
"The support process is inefficient due to the excessive number of replies required when submitting tickets."
"The patching process with Qualys Patch Management, which is part of TotalCloud, does not cover installing certain prerequisites on the servers or workstations. This shortcoming means we must rely on SCCM when any service stack updates or additional prerequisites are needed."
"The setup phase of the product is not that easy and needs a person to have a certain level of expertise."
"When I create rules, it gave me problems and I did not know where the problem was located."
"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."
"There should be risk scoring added to Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management; specifically, they call it quantification of the risk."
"The product is not stable; it is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU, which makes it slow."
"The constant changes in the product configuration or the console setup can sometimes be challenging."
"We have experienced some logging issues, including a few hours of downtime initially. Despite this, I would rate the overall stability as an eight."
"There is a good solution from Microsoft, however, there is a gap between Windows and Linux management."
"We set a policy to block USB access. The moment a device is being set up on the network, I apply the policy, but it does not come into effect immediately."
"The solution lacks mobility."
"The problem or challenge is a pre-sales and go-to strategy for the SMB market delivered through a channel or model. It's very convoluted and vague, which leads to some confusion about the various types of modules, and the device-to-seat cost is extremely difficult to calculate."
"There are some bugs in the product. The tool needs to improve in the area of reporting."
"Tanium's limitations should be improved because although it is a great tool, it is limited to only a few classes during a session."
"The main issues are the network connection because different customers have issues with their networks. It's difficult implementing this type of solution because the network is the main feature in the architecture for these types of solutions. Tanium could improve by creating some network optimization."
"There are downsides and drawbacks in Tanium, and there is room for improvement from my perspective."
"Most of the time, agent-relative issues have to be more equipped with self-healing features. At times, the agent is there, but for some reason, it doesn't report a status. It gives certain problems that are obviously agent-based."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not sure about the pricing. From what I understand, it is a bit on the higher side, but I do not have the exact numbers."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"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 licensing model follows a per-user per-month structure."
"The tool is a bit costly."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"It is higher than some competitors in the market."
"The solution offers value for money."
"It's an expensive solution. It would be nice if the cost were lower."
"Tanium is a more expensive solution in Latin America than some of the competitors, such as BigFix."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"The product's pricing differs from region to region depending on negotiations and the number of endpoints."
"The solution is expensive but it's a good investment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise30
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
To be totally honest, I do not have any best features because I have had a bad experience using this tool, especially...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is vulnerability management and exposure management. I use this tool to evalua...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
Configuration of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is something that needs improvement. In future updates o...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I can control the applications using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, which are its best features for me ...
What needs improvement with Tanium?
While there is always room for improvement, I am pleased with Tanium.
What is your primary use case for Tanium?
The primary use case for Tanium ( /products/tanium-reviews ) is compliance, patching, and inventory as part of the co...
What advice do you have for others considering Tanium?
For smaller companies, Tanium is quite a big investment, and one needs to have a considerable setup to make it econom...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
Tanium Inc Cloud, Tanium XEM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
JPMorgan Chase, eBay, Amazon, US Bank, MetLife, pwc, Cerner, Delphi, MGM Grand, New York Life
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Tanium and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.