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Runecast vs Vicarius vRx comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

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
7.1
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (12th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Runecast
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
73rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
GRC (53rd), Container Security (49th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (39th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (46th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (32nd), Compliance Management (22nd)
Vicarius vRx
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
32nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Patch Management (9th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (11th)
 

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 Runecast is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vicarius vRx is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys TotalCloud1.2%
Vicarius vRx0.9%
Runecast0.6%
Other97.3%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

YashwantShinde - PeerSpot reviewer
Soc Analyst at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Risk-based visibility has transformed how I prioritize cloud vulnerabilities and protect key assets
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers are cloud asset visibility, vulnerability assessment, and risk prioritization. This risk-based prioritization helped me quickly identify high-risk vulnerabilities and focus on remediation instead of going through every finding. TrueRisk-based prioritization is useful for understanding which vulnerabilities need attention first. It improved our workflow mainly by giving us a single view of cloud assets and their risk, so we could focus on the higher priority vulnerabilities instead of reviewing every finding manually. This helped us prioritize remediations more efficiently and reduce the time spent on vulnerability assessment and follow-up. Qualys TotalCloud helped us identify exposures that might otherwise have been missed, especially across cloud assets, vulnerabilities, and identities. With the SaaS configuration, the unified inventory and risk view made it easier to connect vulnerabilities with asset criticality, exposure, and access permissions, allowing us to investigate high-risk exposures first and address them before they could become bigger security issues.
Burak AKCAGUN - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Development Manager at Axoft Ukraine
Helps with risk assessments for containers, assessing security, and ensuring container compliance
I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. Customers can conveniently view all companies in a single dashboard if they have different companies. This feature eliminates the need for different solutions and separate installations. Moreover, the solution extends beyond servers, encompassing various platforms such as VMware and Kubernetes. Additionally, end-users can install the solution from their client's perspective.
OrenBen Shalom - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Manager at Pango
Consolidates vulnerability discovery, prioritization, and remediation in a single platform
Vicarius vRx offers several advantages, especially for organizations with diverse operating systems and applications requiring frequent patching. The platform helps prioritize patch installation by identifying high-risk vulnerabilities, allowing IT teams to focus on critical threats first. This prioritization is crucial because it prevents IT teams from being overwhelmed by the constant influx of patches, enabling them to create a manageable plan and allocate resources effectively. By distinguishing between critical, high-risk, and medium-risk vulnerabilities, Vicarius vRx empowers IT teams to address the most urgent threats promptly and schedule less critical patches for later. Both native operating system updates and Vicarius vRx offer vulnerability remediation. Native OS updates allow for the patching of system vulnerabilities on Windows, macOS, and Linux. However, Vicarius vRx provides a single solution for installing both operating system and application updates by also discovering application vulnerabilities. Another valuable feature is virtual patching, which allows us to protect an asset from a specific vulnerability without installing a patch. Sometimes, installing a patch alone is insufficient and requires restarting the asset. However, production servers often cannot be restarted during the day, restricting restarts to specific timeslots. Virtual patching creates a network-based protection layer that prevents exploitation of a vulnerability, offering a temporary safeguard. While not a foolproof solution for long-term use, it's a valuable tool that reduces tension between IT and security teams by providing time to properly install patches.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Once you have your vulnerabilities fixed and your patches pushed out using Qualys TotalCloud, then you are able to eliminate threats and cyber risk."
"The scalability is good as well. I would rate it ten out of ten."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable feature is its agent versatility."
"Its dashboards are brilliant. It provides in-depth insights."
"I would rate Qualys TotalCloud ten out of ten."
"One of the features I appreciate is the ability to generate daily reports without relying on anyone else."
"The most valuable feature is extensibility."
"Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution."
"Runecast is a good partner for VMware. Once we have installed it, we can see all the problems and issues. It also has VMware knowledge-based articles."
"Agent-based scanning is the most valuable feature."
"The other products we looked at had patching tagged on another product, whereas this solely looked after the patching and vulnerabilities, which is good. We did not see any other products with such capability."
"Third-party software patching is the most valuable feature."
"Vicarius vRx's automation feature is its most valuable, allowing us to automate manual tasks, receive automated reports, and easily check device update status."
"vRx seemed to be user-friendly and very easy to use."
"The most valuable features of vRx would be virtualized patching and severity prioritization."
"Vicarius vRx has reduced meantime to remediate by 90 percent."
"Vicarius vRx's ability to patch third-party software is particularly valuable for us."
 

Cons

"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."
"The support process is inefficient due to the excessive number of replies required when submitting tickets."
"Some major banks and insurance companies require an on-premises solution for comprehensive vulnerability management, which TotalCloud does not offer."
"The main area needing improvement is integration. Although the team is strengthening TotalCloud, integration can be enhanced with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and other sources."
"One of the things that could be improved is the alerts. Qualys is a fantastic tool, especially with the TruRisk feature, but one challenge that most leaders face involves alert fatigue."
"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."
"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"
"To improve the user experience, reporting could be simplified for better comprehension by end users and project managers, facilitating issue resolution."
"The product lacks network assessment capabilities. We cannot view our network assets or scan switches, routers, or IPs for vulnerabilities and issues."
"They do have a search function for device names. They already have a list of all our devices, however, if I'm looking for something, sometimes the name does not come up at the top of the list."
"I would be happy if the patch update could be downloaded to the Vicarius server and then implemented on the client. Currently, they just send a link to the software."
"Unlike previous vulnerability management systems that relied on network scanning appliances to discover and assess endpoints, Vicarius' agent-based approach is less effective for devices like switches, routers, and printers where agent installation is impractical."
"I would appreciate additional filter options, such as the ability to filter by AWS tags."
"The network device vulnerability scans can be improved. It would be helpful to be able to mitigate those vulnerabilities using SSH or SNMP to get those those updates out to those devices. I don't know if that is possible because it doesn't run an agent. But at the very least, having that CPE information relative to network devices would be incredibly helpful."
"Areas that need improvement include the CPU usage and the delay between sending updates and receiving feedback on their status."
"Vicarius vRx's application management capabilities could be improved by allowing users to manage and uninstall applications directly within the GUI, eliminating the need for scripting and streamlining the process."
"I would like to see a way to build a virtual environment where we can test patches in real-time before we deploy."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"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."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"Runecast's pricing is cheaper than that of its competitors."
"Vicarius vRx is priced competitively within the market."
"It is in the middle. It is not the cheapest solution, but it is also not terribly expensive. We found it to be a good fit. It is fairly priced."
"I do not use other solutions, so I cannot compare its pricing to others, but its price seems okay."
"The price of vRx seems fair. None of our clients complained about the pricing. They all thought it was reasonable. Once people understood what it does, it didn't take much to get them to sign up."
"Vicarius vRx offers a competitive price point for the features it provides."
"Vicarius vRx is reasonably priced."
"Vicarius' pricing was reasonable compared to the other systems we evaluated."
"I am not sure how much it costs, but it would have saved us some costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Educational Organization
10%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
12%
Non Profit
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise32
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
 

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Vicarius vRx?
I do not use other solutions, so I cannot compare its pricing to others, but its price seems okay.
What needs improvement with Vicarius vRx?
I would be happy if the patch update could be downloaded to the Vicarius server and then implemented on the client. C...
What is your primary use case for Vicarius vRx?
We use Vicarius vRx to manage all third-party software updates. Previously, we could manage Windows updates, but thir...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Runecast Analyzer
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Our customers tell us regularly how Runecast benefits CIOs, CISOs, and both Security and Operations teams across verticals with a proactive approach that results in major time and cost savings, increased uptime and security standards complianceSuccess Highlight 75-85% troubleshooting time savings – Kiel Municipal Hospital90% time savings on reactive troubleshooting – Near East Bank90% time savings in upgrade planning– FLEXdata80% reduction in monthly incidents and issues – University of St Andrews78,000 EUR/year minimum annual cost savings – Notino100s of hours saved on security compliance with remediation scripts alone – Kiel Municipal Hospital75% time saved on troubleshooting and root cause analysis – de Volksbank
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Qualys, Tenable and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: August 2026.
910,437 professionals have used our research since 2012.