Qualys Exposure Management vs Sysdig Secure comparison

Qualys and Sysdig are both solutions in the Container Security category. Qualys is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5, while Sysdig is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.0. Qualys holds a 2.1% mindshare in Container Security, compared to Sysdig’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Qualys users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Sysdig users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2026

Sysdig Secure and Qualys VMDR compete in the cloud security and vulnerability management category. Based on the comparison, Sysdig Secure has an advantage in cloud-native security and Kubernetes support, while Qualys VMDR is known for comprehensive vulnerability management and asset management capabilities.

Features: Sysdig Secure provides cloud-native security, Kubernetes integration, and runtime detection for API integration. Qualys VMDR offers extensive vulnerability management, asset management, and patch management.

Room for Improvement: Sysdig Secure could improve its dashboarding and reporting features, scalability, and integration with custom implementations. Qualys VMDR users mention complexity in the vulnerability database, asset tagging system, and desire for a more intuitive user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products support various deployment options, but Qualys VMDR has a broader deployment range including hybrid cloud setups. Qualys VMDR's support is satisfactory but slow at times, while Sysdig Secure is praised for expertise and global support, though its responsiveness could improve.

Pricing and ROI: Sysdig Secure offers straightforward pricing with flexible licensing options, considered valuable for Kubernetes capabilities despite the cost. Qualys VMDR is often described as expensive, yet its integrated features lead to significant ROI in risk reduction and efficient vulnerability management.

To learn more, read our detailed Qualys Exposure Management vs. Sysdig Secure Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management vs. Sysdig Secure

June 2026

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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

Qualys TotalCloud

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Exposure Management is 2.1%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sysdig Secure is 2.5%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Qualys VMDR	2.1%
Qualys TotalCloud	1.7%
Sysdig Secure	2.5%
Other	93.7%

Container Security

Featured Reviews

Robert Orłowski

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.

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Ajay Paul

System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Vulnerability management has prioritized high‑risk patching and simplified bulk system reporting

The primary issue is with the reporting functionality. Even though we fix vulnerabilities, the reports do not reflect the changes immediately. Sometimes we need to manually run a script to scan the systems before Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management will update the scan results. The main issue is the reporting delay, and sometimes the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management agent will not scan the system, which means we do not receive accurate reports in a timely manner. Additionally, there are many metrics for calculating vulnerabilities, such as the Qualys ID, severity scores, CVSS scores, and other metrics. The abundance of information can be confusing. These two aspects are the most significant negatives I have experienced with this tool.

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Mumu Muhaemin

DevSecOps Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Runtime threat detection has improved and security teams prioritize real Kubernetes risks

The best feature Sysdig Secure offers is threat detection. The threat detection feature on Sysdig Secure stands out compared to other solutions I have seen or used because Sysdig sees the actual behavior inside the container or kernel and correlates it with Kubernetes infrastructure, which makes detection both earlier and more precise in a cloud-native environment. Sysdig Secure has positively impacted our organization by improving visibility into our Kubernetes environment and focusing on real risk, which has reduced alert noise, improved threat detection at runtime, and made vulnerability management more efficient by prioritizing issues that actually affect running workloads.

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

"TruRisk Insights is the most important innovation they've released this year."

"The best features in Qualys TotalCloud include the total asset management of the cloud environment. It is very easy to export the report and see the vulnerabilities related to the cloud specifically."

"The agent and agentless scanning in TotalCloud, particularly the FlexScan method, is incredibly valuable. With traditional scanning approaches, we had to give IP ranges and whitelist IPs. All that is now simplified. FlexScan requires minimal intervention, and after configuration, it automatically collects data and performs necessary scans."

"Qualys TotalCloud has helped us view our risk structure, vulnerabilities, and security posture."

"In my opinion, this is the best tool."

"TotalCloud provides the easiest and the best approach for cloud infrastructure management."

"Generally, Qualys is very good at detections, whether on cloud or on-prem, and the agent allows deployment on both infrastructures, providing continuous monitoring of your assets, which is a key selling point for us."

"Qualys TotalCloud helps you not just to identify misconfigurations, but you can actually also fix issues."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"Qualys VMDR is easy to understand and provides detailed reports."

"This solution has provided information about existing vulnerabilities, and helped with quick remediation in case of global malware attacks."

"Tech support is helpful."

"The most valuable features of Qualys VMDR include patch management and the use of virtual scanners to scan appliances and devices, especially those provided by vendors where we cannot manage them ourselves."

"I like the Qualys Cloud Agent because it's very easy to use."

"Authenticated scans provide different options, including those using or not using the FactSet and adding option profiles."

"It is a stable solution."

"Regarding its competitors in the market, I believe Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management has a strong offering."

More Qualys Exposure Management pros

"I see Sysdig as the most comprehensive solution in comparison to its competitors."

"I have not seen any stability issues so far."

"In terms of measurable outcomes, I have seen a reduction in vulnerabilities, as Sysdig Secure can tell us how many vulnerabilities are present on a day-to-day report basis, which has improved our efficiency by more than 50% and helps us stay compliant with necessary regulations."

"The proactiveness of the support has been fantastic. Every time we mention something in a meeting that we're trying to do, he proactively takes that as an investigation topic and looks into it. He'll provide the solution even though we might not have asked him to investigate it."

"The log monitor is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is the level of support that we get. Our solutions or customer success representative is very valuable. I see them as an extension of our security team."

"We appreciate this feature, especially when combined with CD monitoring. The implementation of requested features has been remarkable, such as scanning for compliance in CRM processes for the US government. We heavily rely on this feature to assess compliance with federal requirements."

"The tool has the capability to conduct scans initially. It can perform scans on your virtual machines, physical machines, containers, and container images. A standout feature is its ability to scan offline container images stored in your container registry. Additionally, it can scan runtime images in your cluster or on your host machine. This allows for the detection of vulnerabilities in running containers, including loaded libraries. Notably, the tool can identify which library vulnerabilities are already present in your system. An added advantage is its capacity to take action beyond threat detection. It has the ability to block access and respond to encountered threats."

More Sysdig Secure pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the support."

"I would appreciate additional integration options to connect Qualys TotalCloud with our other vulnerability management tools."

"Qualys TotalCloud's increasing complexity, due to the development and deployment of multiple solutions, is making the GUI difficult to navigate."

"There should be improvement from a dashboard perspective when collecting and showcasing data to lead management."

"From a downside perspective, the UI is not user-friendly and feels dated compared to other tools like Prisma Cloud."

"To be honest, I would move out from this tool because it does not give a full view of vulnerability."

"I would like the ability to disable certain default built-in policies as they can be misleading when creating dashboards. That is the top one."

"Qualys' customer service provides quality answers, but the response time is long, even though it is within the SLA."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"Integration could be better. When you think about scanning, it's not used just with this product alone but with other Qualys products. If you think about the bundle, the product itself is good. But integration with other products and packages has space for improvement. They should also offer a better price for bundles."

"While Qualys VMDR is comprehensive, improvements in asset management functionality would be beneficial."

"Qualys doesn't have its own tool to deploy the agents all at once, so we need to use third-party tools such as BigFix or something else to deploy the agents, which is my main concern and should be fixed by the Qualys team."

"The support has not been very responsive, and we are receiving RCAs a little delayed whenever we raise support cases or communicate with the TAMs."

"They have integrated with other third parties, but it is still not viable."

"We face issues while scanning multiple assets."

"Streamline PCI integration and attestation."

"Every time they make a change, it's not always super smooth, and it's a little quirky with bugs sometimes."

More Qualys Exposure Management cons

"Sysdig Secure works well for us, but there are a few areas for improvement, such as the alerting and notification system being more flexible for complex workflows, and some dashboard and reporting features could be more customizable to match specific team needs."

"I give it an eight because of the bugs, specifically the fix version bug where sometimes there is no fix version shown, and I wish Sysdig Secure would create a customizable UI that orders features by importance to enhance user experience."

"Sysdig's biggest weakness is dashboarding and reporting. You have access to the data and can get everything you need, but we need the ability to summarize the information quickly in a format that senior leaders can understand. We report to the executive level and global board. I need to roll all that in-depth information into a quick summary, and their maturity level isn't there. I'm seeing that on the future road map, but it isn't there now."

"The solution needs to improve overall from a CSPM standpoint since they can't compete with Wiz or Orca."

"Banks and financial institutions cannot use Sysdig Secure because it doesn't sell SaaS-hosted versions for under two hundred working nodes."

"Perhaps, it could support more custom implementations, as our company utilizes custom implementations rather than standard ones. Configuring it requires a deep understanding and adjustment to our specific needs, which took some time. Other than that, I'm unsure about potential improvements. We were considering the possibility of compartmentalizing their tools. Currently, in Sysdig Secure, they bundle multiple features, and we are unable to use them individually. For instance, if we only need compliance scanning, we have to deploy the entire secure package. This is because of the way their agent functions, but I can't delve into more details."

"Reporting can definitely be better. Live dashboards should be configurable for a longer period of time rather than 30 days. Being able to go back in time to compare six months ago to today would be valuable."

"The dashboard could be more simple and show the more important issues that are detected first. We'd like to be able to set it up so more important issues show up more prominently in the dashboard."

More Sysdig Secure cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a middle management member, I do not have direct pricing knowledge, but based on the knowledge from our meetings, its pricing is competitive."

"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."

"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."

"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."

"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."

"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."

"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."

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

"The price is very reasonable."

"The solution is costly."

"It's very expensive, especially if you want to use multiple modules of Qualys."

"The solution is reasonably priced for the value it provides."

"They have recently changed the pricing model, which is now better than it was before."

"The product is more expensive than that of any other vendor."

"Qualys VM is reasonably priced."

"In Nigerian Naira, we spend about roughly four to five million to use this solution and this is expensive compared to solutions like Nessus."

More Qualys Exposure Management pricing and cost advice

"I am always going to say that it could be a little bit cheaper. I do feel that it is a little bit on the expensive side."

"It is quite costly compared to other tools."

"The solution's pricing depends on the agents...In short, the price depends on the environment of its user."

"Sysdig is competitive. The quality matches the pricing. Obviously, everyone wants things to be cheaper, but if you're realistic, you acknowledge that quality service comes with a price. Sysdig is the gold standard for Kubernetes, and I wouldn't choose anything else. We live in Kubernetes. Everything is containerized, so that means a lot to us, and we're willing to make an investment."

"In comparison to other cloud solutions, it's reasonably priced. However, when compared to in-house built open-source projects, it might be considered somewhat costly. The cost depends on whether someone sees the support provided by Sysdig as an advantage or if it's deemed unnecessary. Personally, I find the support to be excellent and consider it a good value."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	30

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	74

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?

The price is very expensive, actually.

See all answers

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...

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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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that we can consider both time and money saved.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?

I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries la...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Qualys VMDR?

I have some understanding about PeerSpot, and I have visited the website. PeerSpot is similar to TrustRadius. It take...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sysdig Secure?

Sysdig Secure works well for us, but there are a few areas for improvement, such as the alerting and notification sys...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Sysdig Secure?

Our primary use case for Sysdig Secure is runtime threat detection and vulnerability management.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Sysdig Secure?

My advice for others looking into using Sysdig Secure is to clearly define your primary use case before getting start...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

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Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon Inspector vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 2% of the time

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Rapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys Exposure Management

Compared 5% of the time

Tenable Nessus vs Qualys Exposure Management

Compared 4% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs Qualys Exposure Management

Compared 4% of the time

Rapid7 Metasploit vs Qualys Exposure Management

Compared 3% of the time

Wiz vs Qualys Exposure Management

Compared 2% of the time

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Aqua Cloud Security Platform vs Sysdig Secure

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Sysdig Secure

Compared 7% of the time

Wiz vs Sysdig Secure

Compared 6% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Sysdig Secure

Compared 5% of the time

Upwind vs Sysdig Secure

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys TotalCloud

July 2026

Download Qualys TotalCloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management

July 2026

Download Qualys Exposure Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Sysdig Secure

July 2026

Download Sysdig Secure product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security

No data available

Overview

Qualys TotalCloud enhances security posture across cloud environments with continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and risk visualization, ensuring efficient threat assessment and automated remediation for improved cyber risk reduction.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a robust suite of security tools essential for organizations managing multi-cloud infrastructures. By integrating cloud accounts and automating workflows, it supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering comprehensive vulnerability management and zero-day detection. The platform's user-friendly design, combined with its extensive risk management and unified threat assessment capabilities, enables organizations to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. TruRisk Insights provides clear insights on cyber risks, while the automation options streamline patch management and scanning processes. API integration across IaaS and SaaS environments further enhances resource allocation efficiency and saves time, addressing misconfigurations across cloud environments.

What are the most important features of Qualys TotalCloud?

Accurate Vulnerability Reports: Delivers precise and actionable insights for risk mitigation.
Zero-Day Detection: Identifies and addresses zero-day vulnerabilities proactively.
Unified Threat Assessment: Offers comprehensive evaluation of threats across the environment.
Extensive Risk Management: Manages risks effectively with advanced insights and prioritization.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides non-stop surveillance for vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud-Native Automation: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts using automation.
FlexScan for Internet-Facing VMs: Scans external VMs efficiently to detect vulnerabilities.
Dashboard Risk Visualization: Clear visualization helps prioritize vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances threat detection and response across clouds.
Time Savings: Automation reduces time spent on manual vulnerability management.
Resource Efficiency: Better allocation of resources through streamlined workflows.
Enhanced Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities for effective mitigation.
Integrated Cloud Accounts: Facilitates seamless cloud management and security.

Qualys TotalCloud is deployed in sectors needing rigorous vulnerability management, such as finance and healthcare. Companies utilize it to secure multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP, focus on compliance, and integrate security into CI/CD pipelines to detect and remedy threats pre-deployment.

Qualys

Qualys VMDR is a comprehensive cybersecurity tool offering vulnerability management, patch management, and continuous monitoring with real-time asset discovery. It delivers scalable, cloud-based solutions that enhance security operations without additional infrastructure.

Qualys VMDR provides a robust platform for enterprise security, integrating vulnerability management, compliance, and asset inventory for full visibility across cloud and on-premises environments. It features a comprehensive dashboard with threat intelligence-driven prioritization and remediation capabilities. Users benefit from accurate assessments via agent-based scanning and appreciate the intuitive, customizable scanning and reporting interface. However, there's room for improvement in false positive reduction, UI simplification, and integration capabilities, along with enhancements in asset management for large-scale deployments and the vulnerability database. Enhancing technical support speed, patch management, compliance standards, and inter-module navigation would further enrich user experience.

What are the key features of Qualys VMDR?

Vulnerability Management: Identifies and manages security vulnerabilities across environments.
Patch Management: Ensures systems are updated with the latest patches.
Continuous Monitoring: Offers real-time insights into security posture.
Asset Discovery: Provides up-to-date asset inventory and visibility.
Threat Intelligence: Enhances prioritization and remediation processes.
Customizable Dashboard: Facilitates easier scanning and reporting through an intuitive interface.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating Qualys VMDR?

Scalability: Cloud-based deployment offers easy, cost-effective expansion.
Accurate Assessment: Agent-based scanning keeps security data current.
Enhanced Security Operations: Comprehensive features streamline vulnerability management.
Advanced Reporting: Facilitates detailed insights for better security decision-making.

Qualys VMDR is widely used in industries needing stringent security and compliance measures, offering comprehensive vulnerability and compliance management. It is deployed to secure web applications, servers, and crucial assets, supporting a wide range of sectors by ensuring policy adherence and vulnerability tracking through its powerful cloud platform.

Qualys

Sysdig Secure offers comprehensive threat detection and vulnerability scanning, integrating seamlessly with platforms like Kubernetes and cloud providers. It enhances compliance monitoring while prioritizing risks to improve security posture.

Sysdig Secure is designed for runtime security across containerized environments and cloud platforms. It integrates with tools like Falco for effective threat detection and extensive compliance monitoring. Users benefit from its friendly interface and visibility improvements, aiding in reducing alerts and managing vulnerabilities. Integrations with Kubernetes and Terraform enhance its flexibility, providing wide-ranging applicability and cloud support. There's a need to improve dashboard simplicity and enrich reporting capabilities. The tool should better handle Kubernetes audit events and increase API accessibility across more platforms. Users also seek advancements in its scalability, speed, and customer support in specific regions.

What are Sysdig Secure's key features?

Runtime Security: Monitors and protects containerized and cloud environments in real time.
Falco Integration: Enhances threat detection with Falco's powerful rules engine.
Threat Detection: Identifies and alerts on suspicious activities and security threats.
Vulnerability Scanning: Assesses applications and infrastructure for potential vulnerabilities.

What benefits should users expect from Sysdig Secure?

Enhanced Security Posture: Comprehensive threat visibility and rapid response capabilities.
Improved Efficiency: Reduced alert fatigue by prioritizing critical vulnerabilities.
Compliance Support: Streamlined processes for meeting security standards and regulations.
Cloud Integration: Seamless compatibility with cloud providers like AWS and GCP.

Industries benefit by employing Sysdig Secure for managing runtime workloads and ensuring compliance within cloud environments. Its effectiveness in monitoring clusters on AWS, GCP, and securing CI/CD pipelines makes it essential for companies optimizing their cloud and container security strategies.

Sysdig

Sample Customers

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

SAP Concur, Goldman Sachs, Worldpay, Experian, BigCommerce, Arkose Labs, Calendly, Noteable, Bloomreach. More here: https://sysdig.com/customers/

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management vs. Sysdig Secure

June 2026

Free Report: Qualys Exposure Management vs. Sysdig Secure

Find out what your peers are saying about Qualys Exposure Management vs. Sysdig Secure and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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