Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Nessus comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 16, 2022

We performed a comparison between Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users said that both solutions were easy and straightforward to set up.

  • Features: Users of Rapid7 InsightVM noted that it was easy to use and rarely gave false positives. Reviewers of Rapid7 gave mixed reviews regarding its reporting and integrations. Some were pleased and others felt it was lacking in these areas. One reviewer noted that Rapid7 doesn’t do patching. Several Tenable Nessus users described it as the best vulnerability solution in the industry. They said it works well out of the box and does not need customization. Like Rapid7 InsightVM, Tenable Nessus is easy to use and received mixed reviews on its reporting.

  • Pricing: Most reviewers rated both solutions as on the expensive side, although one user of Tenable Nessus noted that the price doesn’t matter because if he ended up with a ransomware attack, he’d be out of business.

  • Service and Support: Most reviewers of Rapid7 InsightVM were pleased with the service. Reviewers of Tenable Nessus gave its service mixed reviews.

Comparison Results: Both solutions were considered by our users as easy to deploy but on the expensive side. Rapid7 users were happier with the service and support, but PeerSpot users ranked Tenable Nessus as number one overall at the time this comparison was written.

To learn more, read our detailed Rapid7 InsightVM vs. Tenable Nessus Report (Updated: March 2023).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It's very scalable.""There are many integrations with things like the VMware NSX that are great, the reporting is really solid.""The most valuable feature is the vulnerability scan.""We feel the interface is very good. It is very easy to use, even a nontechnical person can use it.""The cost is what is most valuable. Compared to the other products on the market, the cost is more palatable.""The most valuable feature for me is the risk calculation based on monthly effects.""I rate InsightVM eight out of 10 for ease of setup. It takes two or three engineers to deploy. The solution requires some maintenance. It's mainly cleaning up data.""It is good and fits well with pretty much all of our use case needs."

More Rapid7 InsightVM Pros →

"Security is the key number because it can start to scan with a few clicks instead of credits, which is a bit complicated. So simplicity is the first advantage. Then the generated reports are well done and easy to present to management. The quality of the scan is quite good in detecting the severity. The solution has simplicity. Also, it has frequent updates so that is also a valuable feature.""The reports are pretty nice and easy to understand.""The results are not that bad, but the key selling point is that it is an affordable tool set.""Nessus is effortless to integrate.""User friendly and good dashboards.""The trial version is very good for testing whether it will suit your needs.""The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is vulnerability assessments. There are a lot of threats around the world and this solution is the first to come out with detection rules.""Overall Zoom is a good solution."

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Cons
"The solution needs to improve its vulnerability design to include CVC results.""There is room for improvement on its cloud side. In the next release I would like to see better reporting.""We are a registered reseller and a trusted partner. However, for us to get any support from them I can't log a call directly with Rapid7 InsightVM. I have to work with the distributor to log the call for me.""The authentication scan is not working.""It is still not a fully cloud-based solution. It will be helpful for customers if it is a complete cloud solution. It is a hybrid solution at the moment.""The reporting has room for improvement. You cannot customize any report. If I need a specific requirement, I have to create a new report for it.""The integration with other solutions like JIRA could be better. Perhaps there could be some additional updates in the next phase that could integrate with it, so then you can proceed with the VT much easier.""It would be great to have a mobile application client. Currently, you have to use a mobile web browser on a device, but it is not similar to the desktop web browser in terms of user experience. It would be nice to have a mobile application to access the platform."

More Rapid7 InsightVM Cons →

"Online learning could be a bit better.""They need more flexible pricing.""One area that has room for improvement is the reporting. I'm preparing reports for Windows and Linux machines, etc. Currently, I'm collecting three or four reports and turning them into one report. I don't know if it is possible to combine all of them in one report, but that would be helpful.""There is room for improvement in finishing the transition to the cloud. We'd like to see them keep on improving the Tenable.io product, so that we can migrate to it entirely, instead of having to keep the Tenable.sc on-prem product.""It would be nice for the professional module to include some of the reports available in the expert module.""The reporting feature needs to be improved.""The features are limited when it comes to scanning network devices for vulnerabilities.""It would be a good idea if they have a simulation of attacks or a use case for finding a new vulnerability or dealing with a zero-day attack."

More Tenable Nessus Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The price of the solution is less than the competitors."
  • "I do not have experience with the pricing of the solution."
  • "This solution is expensive, but it's fine for us as we have an open budget for security solutions. Protection and having the system secured is more important."
  • "The license is IP based. How many IPs you are using to scan is the amount of the license you have to buy. The number of users doesn't matter; many users can use it or only person. It depends on the culture of the organization."
  • "Our licensing costs are somewhere around $40,000 annually. There are no additional fees."
  • "The licensing is asset-based and very straightforward."
  • "Its price is too high. My only concern or issue with Rapid7 is its pricing."
  • "Comparing the price with the value that we receive, I am not happy with it."
  • More Rapid7 InsightVM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing is much more manageable versus other products."
  • "The price of Tenable Nessus is much more competitive versus other solutions on the market."
  • "I think the price is fairly affordable. It provides a license that is fair."
  • "Nowadays, your vulnerability applications are going to be kind of pricey because lots of them, including Rapid7, are based upon a base price, but then they add in the nodes. That's where they get you. If you're a big network, obviously, you need to scan everything. Therefore, it's going to be costly. The risk and insurance money associated with having ransomware on my networks is going to cost me more money, time, and marketing than the price of the tool. That's why I'm speaking only as an information security officer to security operations. This is the tool that is there in my toolbox to say whether we vulnerable or not. At this point, I don't care about how much it costs my company to have it because if I wasn't able to report it and we got ransomware, then who cares? I'm probably going to be out of business because it happened. That's why I don't care about the price. I have it, and I could use it effectively and do my report. At the end of the day, even if we get ransomware, as long as I reported it, followed my protocol, and put in the change, irrespective of whether it was ignored or denied, I did my job."
  • "We pay approximately $2,500 on a yearly basis."
  • "We have a subscription, the licensing fees are paid yearly, and I am using the latest version."
  • "We incurred a single cost for a perpetual license, although I cannot comment on the price as this is above my management level."
  • "The price is reasonable."
  • More Tenable Nessus Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Netanya Carmi
    Max Iversen - PeerSpot reviewerMax Iversen
    User

    InsightVM - better functions on granting users different access to different asset groups. 


    It fits better for our company and is slightly cheaper.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. You can easily prioritize vulnerabilities using attacker analytics. Overall, Rapid7… more »
    Top Answer:The remediation project is a pretty effective because it allows us, as clients or countries, to choose specific assets and set limitations on them for a certain period which allows us to track and… more »
    Top Answer:The solution’s pricing is good because the value proposition delivers a report box. It is not very costly.
    Top Answer: Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of the program is such that if a company should desire to handle the installation… more »
    Top Answer:I rate the product's price seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price.
    Ranking
    Views
    6,402
    Comparisons
    4,174
    Reviews
    20
    Average Words per Review
    351
    Rating
    8.2
    3rd
    Views
    11,889
    Comparisons
    8,672
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    420
    Rating
    8.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    InsightVM, NeXpose
    Learn More
    Overview

    Rapid7 InsightVM is a comprehensive vulnerability management platform that protects your systems from attackers and is easy to scale. The solution provides easy access to vulnerability management, application security, detection and response, external threat intelligence, orchestration and automation, and more. Rapid7 InsightVM is ideal for security, IT, and DevOps teams, helping them reduce risk by enabling them to detect and respond to attacks quickly.

    Rapid7 InsightVM Features

    Rapid7 InsightVM has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Automated containment: With this feature, you can decrease exposure from vulnerabilities by automatically implementing temporary (or permanent) compensating controls via your network access control (NAC) systems, firewalls, and endpoint detection and response tools.
    • Policy assessment: Rapid7 InsightVM offers pre-built scan templates for common compliance requirements. The solution helps you take clear, actionable steps to compliance once you have assessed your risk posture. In addition, Rapid7 InsightVM’s Custom Policy Builder allows you to modify existing benchmarks or create new policies from scratch.
    • REST API: Rapid7 InsightVM REST API is easy to use and was built to easily automate virtually any aspect of vulnerability management, from data collection to risk analysis.
    • Live dashboards: Rapid7 InsightVM includes dashboards that are live and interactive by nature. The live dashboards enable you to create custom cards and full dashboards for anyone in your organization and allow you to track progress of your security program.
    • Automation-assisted patching: Rapid7 InsightVM’s automation-assisted patching gives you the autonomy to make key decisions in your patching process, such as your approval to apply certain patches to certain vulnerabilities.
    • Real risk prioritization: Rapid7 InsightVM makes it simple to know which vulnerabilities need to be prioritized and where your riskiest assets lie.
    • Goals and SLA’s: This feature enables you to make and track progress toward your goals and service level agreements (SLAs) at an appropriate pace.

    Rapid7 InsightVM Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Rapid7 InsightVM. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Attack surface monitoring for maintained visibility: By leveraging attack surface monitoring with Project Sonar (a Rapid7 research project that regularly scans the internet to gain insights into global exposure to common vulnerabilities), you can gain more control of all of your external-facing assets, both known and unknown.
    • Container security: Rapid7 InsightVM integrates with your CI/CD tools, public container repositories, and private repositories to assess container images for vulnerabilities during the build process even before they are deployed.
    • Lightweight endpoint agent: Rapid7 InsightVM unifies data so you only need to install a single agent for continuous vulnerability assessment, incident detection, and log data collection.
    • Easily assign and track remediation duties: Using Rapid7 InsightVM, IT and security teams can assign as well as track remediation duties without having to deal with remediation reports, complex spreadsheets, or back-and-forth email tags.
    • Integration with cloud services and virtual infrastructure: Rapid7 InsightVM provides full visibility into risk across your physical, virtual, and cloud infrastructure.
    • Integrated threat feeds: Rapid7 InsightVM is designed with integrated threat feeds, giving you a dynamic view that shows you which threats are most relevant to your environment, enabling you to better protect against current, impending threats so you can react quickly to critical vulnerabilities.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Rapid7 InsightVM solution.

    An owner at a tech services company says, "I liked the dashboard on it. I could customize my dashboard with different widgets and different heat maps."

    PeerSpot user Kimeang S., Technical Consultant at Yip Intsoi, mentions, "The most important aspect of the solution is that it rarely gives false positives, especially compared to other products. It provides very clear reports for our IT teams to look at."

    A Director of Information Technology at a government explains, "The main functionality of identifying item endpoints that weren't properly patched or had vulnerabilities is the solution's most valuable feature."

    Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability management solution that aims to empower organizations to be aware of threats that both they and their customers face. It is the most deployed scanner in the vulnerability management industry. Organizations that use this product have access to the largest continuously updated global library of vulnerability and configuration checks. They can stay ahead of threats that Tenable Nessus’s competitors may be unable to spot. Additionally, Tenable Nessus supports a greater number of technologies than its competitors.

    Tenable Nessus Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Tenable Nessus include:

    • Ease of use. Tenable Nessus is designed with security administrators in mind. It is built so that users can manipulate it intuitively without having to undergo special systems training. Users can create security policies with the greatest level of ease and can initiate scans of their entire networks with only a few clicks.
    • Support and resources. Tenable Nessus has both a support system of clarification resources and technical support for users to rely on. The solution has a resource center that contains guides and tips that can clarify things that confuse users and can aid them in gaining the maximum level of value. Additionally, users can reach out to Tenable Nessus’s technical support team, which is available around the clock and is reachable via a number of methods. This makes it simple for users to get help if they need it.
    • Reduction of threat vectors. Tenable Nessus provides users with the ability to reduce the number of potential threat vectors that a hacker can exploit. It enables users to find where the vulnerabilities in their networks are so their security won’t be compromised. They can then quickly address those weak points and head off issues before any have the chance to arise.

    Tenable Nessus Features

    • Report customization. Tenable Nessus enables users to customize the security reports that their system produces. They are able to set Tenable Nessus to generate reports that contain the information that is most relevant to their business objectives. Users can also utilize these report customization capabilities to customize the formats of their reports.
    • Vulnerability triage capability. Included in the Tenable Nessus security suite is a feature that enables users to conduct a triage of their vulnerabilities. The solution can apply one of five ratings to vulnerabilities that it detects. This makes it possible for organizations to work on addressing issues by order of severity.
    • Scaling. Tenable Nessus can scale to meet an organization’s needs by migrating the network that it is connected to, to other Tenable solutions. Users can scale up their systems as their security demands increase. It is capable of reaching hundreds of thousands of systems.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Tenable Nessus is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its ease of use and its vulnerability scanning feature.

    Rallis F., the principal security architect at a technology vendor, writes, “The ease of use is the primary valuable feature. This specific version is very straightforward. I like the ability to modify it and configure it based on the different policies.”

    Sandip D., a cyber security expert at Birlasoft India Ltd, writes, “The vulnerability scanner is the most valuable feature. It's an important feature for us. We use the plugin output for that. It shows us the exact version of Nessus and what is needed for remediation. Based on that, we decide what should be remediated first to get the best result for security.”

    Sample Customers
    ACS, Acosta, AllianceData, amazon.com, biogen idec, CBRE, CATERPILLAR, Deloitte, COACH, GameStop, IBM
    Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization33%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Security Firm9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization34%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business44%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise35%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise43%
    Large Enterprise42%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise42%
    Large Enterprise41%
    Buyer's Guide
    Rapid7 InsightVM vs. Tenable Nessus
    March 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 InsightVM vs. Tenable Nessus and other solutions. Updated: March 2023.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Rapid7 InsightVM is ranked 4th in Risk-Based Vulnerability Management with 54 reviews while Tenable Nessus is ranked 3rd in Vulnerability Management with 75 reviews. Rapid7 InsightVM is rated 8.0, while Tenable Nessus is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Rapid7 InsightVM writes "You can scan a network, and receive recommendations to address vulnerabilities with the click of a button". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tenable Nessus writes "Unlimited assets for one price and quick, agentless results". Rapid7 InsightVM is most compared with Qualys VMDR, Tenable Security Center, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Rapid7 InsightIDR and Wiz, whereas Tenable Nessus is most compared with Qualys VMDR, Tenable Security Center, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Pentera and Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management. See our Rapid7 InsightVM vs. Tenable Nessus report.

    We monitor all Risk-Based Vulnerability Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.