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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs WithSecure Elements Exposure Management (XM) comparison

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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

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st), 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 (6th)
WithSecure Elements Exposur...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
79th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (37th), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 1.6%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WithSecure Elements Exposure Management (XM) is 0.5%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud1.0%
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management1.6%
WithSecure Elements Exposure Management (XM)0.5%
Other96.9%
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.
PP
System Specialist at Fix-Forum Oy
Stable, scalable, and can be deployed on both cloud and on-premises
We usually need the solution to have extra protection against data breaches, as we have seen with our customers. The solution is deployed on the public cloud The solution works both outside and on-premises of the company, thus preventing secondary breaches from reaching the company's data. The…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best part I like is the on-demand scans."
"By integrating TotalCloud, we have significantly reduced vulnerabilities in our deployment pipeline."
"TotalCloud offers a comprehensive suite of features, including EDR, XDR, and TrueRisk, providing a centralized platform for managing vulnerabilities and security risks."
"TotalCloud has been excellent in providing us with immediate access to all the products and features we need, such as CSPM, TruRisk Insights, and compliance reports, including CIS and HIPAA."
"Qualys TotalCloud fulfills all these needs."
"Once you have your vulnerabilities fixed and your patches pushed out using Qualys TotalCloud, then you are able to eliminate threats and cyber risk."
"TotalCloud's best feature is the integration of cloud accounts. It helps with the risk and security posture management of our cloud infrastructure."
"We were able to realize its benefits within 24 to 48 hours."
"Overall, I would rate Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management a nine out of ten."
"The recommendations, scores, and steps to remediate actions are highly useful."
"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management provides regular advisories and recommendations that help improve our security posture."
"The solution is highly scalable."
"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."
"The product’s most valuable features are compliance, recommendations, and inventories."
"The integration with Sentinel has been one of the most valuable features for my organization."
"The solution works both outside and on-premises of the company, thus preventing secondary breaches from reaching the company's data."
 

Cons

"The response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved."
"Two areas for improvement in Qualys TotalCloud are the speed of the public cloud platform and vulnerability detection."
"The areas in the solution that have room for improvement include the UI/UX design, which should be improved, and they should integrate more artificial intelligence into the product."
"Their support could be improved."
"The support process is inefficient due to the excessive number of replies required when submitting tickets."
"From a downside perspective, the UI is not user-friendly and feels dated compared to other tools like Prisma Cloud."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
"Qualys TotalCloud's increasing complexity, due to the development and deployment of multiple solutions, is making the GUI difficult to navigate."
"The product is not stable; it is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU, which makes it slow."
"The general support could be improved."
"There is a good solution from Microsoft, however, there is a gap between Windows and Linux management."
"The constant changes in the product configuration or the console setup can sometimes be challenging."
"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."
"When I create rules, it gave me problems and I did not know where the problem was located."
"Regarding Microsoft's technical support, I would rate it a three out of ten; they could be more responsive and knowledgeable."
"We have experienced some logging issues, including a few hours of downtime initially. Despite this, I would rate the overall stability as an eight."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"Its price seems higher compared to other tools, but it is worth it. If they could adjust the pricing and make it comparable with other tools, that would be great."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"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."
"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 cost of the solution is mid-ranged but worth the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...
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 ...
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Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
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Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Tenable, Qualys and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: June 2026.
900,196 professionals have used our research since 2012.