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Qualys VMDR vs Trivy comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 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

Qualys VMDR
Ranking in Container Security
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (6th), Vulnerability Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
Trivy
Ranking in Container Security
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 2.4%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trivy is 5.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Trivy5.9%
Qualys VMDR2.4%
Other91.7%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

Ankesh Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time responses and reporting streamline vulnerability management
Qualys VMDR provides a real-time response and reporting feature, which is excellent. It allows us to see real-time graphs and reports for every asset, server, and more, which is very user-friendly. Our clients have given good feedback, and they are satisfied with the tool. We use it daily to fix vulnerabilities by connecting with infrastructure to remediate. The feedback from the client side is very good.
Utsav Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Maintain operational efficiency by detecting misconfigurations and vulnerabilities
The vulnerability scanning feature is excellent as it supports various container capabilities like Docker and Sharma. It also offers repository scanning in the source code domain, allowing pre-push code scans. The misconfiguration detection works well for CloudFormation, Docker files, and Terraform. Its compliance support, like NIST, ensures that configurations align with standards. Trivy helps me significantly detect misconfigurations missed by the ops engineers or in Terraform by the naked eye. It ensures that my deployments are free of misconfigurations and vulnerabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Qualys VM had a recent upgrade and the newer version is supporting the cloud."
"The best features of Qualys VMDR are its patch management capabilities and the ability to mitigate vulnerabilities automatically."
"It is a simple solution that makes scanning easy. You just give it a scheduled task, and it will do everything for you."
"There are many features. Its reliability, ease of installation, ease of use, and the richness of the information provided are the most valuable features."
"They also have threat detection which maps threats. There is a feed that comes from Qualys when a new vulnerability is found. It tells us which machines are infected with that vulnerability."
"Detects new hosts along with vulnerabilities."
"This is one of the best products I have worked with so far. I like the power of Qualys, and it's a better solution because you can scan a compact file, a BIT file, or batch files. The product already knows what's happening inside, and you don't need to expand the package. Tenable will do the same thing, but you need to have a package issuance claim. With Qualys, we can immediately understand the file, even a compact file. If there's some kind of discovery or incident, you will know what happened in the environment."
"It's also highly customizable, allowing us to tailor it to our needs."
"I definitely recommend Trivy."
"Trivy's open source nature and wide functionality are incredibly valuable."
"I appreciate Trivy for being open-source and not requiring any payment."
"It is open-source."
"The most valuable feature of Trivy is its easy integration with the CI/CD pipeline."
"Trivy is easy to integrate with CI/CD and can be installed on desktops to scan images."
"I rate Trivy a nine out of ten."
"Trivy is most valuable for its ability to scan all repository files and dependencies."
 

Cons

"One area for improvement is the simplification of the process to ignore certain vulnerabilities on specific devices."
"It's not very user-friendly at times and requires in-depth understanding. So, a layman or someone new to Qualys won't be able to easily understand it. You need education to use the solution."
"There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports."
"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."
"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."
"Qualys could be improved in its overall performance compared to other vulnerability management or scanning tools."
"I would like to see more accuracy in detections, better reporting capabilities, and better dashboard download capabilities."
"There needs to be better documentation."
"Trivy can improve by providing an output in PDF format."
"Trivy generates many false positives, flagging non-existent vulnerabilities."
"A dynamic scanning capability during runtime would be a significant advantage."
"The only problem is that Trivy does not support reporting features such as generating reports in CSV, which is useful for auditing and reporting."
"For malware detection, I need to use two tools: Trivy as my anomaly scanner and ClamAV. I am integrating these two tools into the CI pipeline. If both malware and anomaly detection could be managed by one tool, I would not need to depend on two tools. That would be my suggestion."
"The only problem is that Trivy does not support reporting features such as generating reports in CSV, which is useful for auditing and reporting."
"The reporting could be a little better."
"The main area for improvement is in differentiating between OS and application-based vulnerabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys VM is reasonably priced."
"An annual license for a single scanner costs around $3,000."
"In Nigerian Naira, we spend about roughly four to five million to use this solution and this is expensive compared to solutions like Nessus."
"It's very expensive, especially if you want to use multiple modules of Qualys."
"There are no additional fees in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"It is more expensive than other products on the market."
"Usually every implementation is different and the quote is in function of number of assets."
"It is a high cost product. Compared to the other solutions, it is around 15 to 20% higher in cost."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise69
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

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 tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
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?
There were some issues later with Qualys VMDR regarding security, specifically with numerous false positive reports.
What needs improvement with Trivy?
Trivy's marketing and awareness need improvement. Not everyone knows about it, which isn't ideal given its capabilities. There's potential to integrate AI and machine learning for enhanced function...
What is your primary use case for Trivy?
I use Trivy ( /products/trivy-reviews ) to scan code for vulnerabilities before deployment. Our projects, which are developed by different developers, involve various dependencies and third-party c...
What advice do you have for others considering Trivy?
I recommend Trivy to others due to its powerful and useful features. However, I suggest increasing its marketing to raise awareness. I rate Trivy an eight out of ten.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Qualys VMDR vs. Trivy and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.