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Tenable.io Web Application Scanning vs w3af comparison

 

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

Tenable.io Web Application ...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
w3af
Ranking in Application Security Tools
39th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is 1.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of w3af is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tenable.io Web Application Scanning1.4%
w3af0.6%
Other98.0%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

HL
Security Analyst at TOPNET
Web audits have identified vulnerabilities and now provide clear visibility into compliance gaps
We have experience with Tenable.io Web Application Scanning, and we use it as well; we have approximately ten licenses for web application scanning. We use it to find vulnerabilities, but Tenable.io Web Application Scanning does not include remediation; we remediate with other products. We use the…
OS
Information Security Advisor, CISO & CIO, Docutek Services at Docutek Services
It's buggy and seems to try to do too many things, but having this on a USB drive has been valuable.
I tried to install this on numerous systems and eventually, with help, I got it running. It needs far too many dependencies installed and there's too much messing about to be of much use. Once running, it's buggy and begs the question can it be relied upon? Even within Kali it reports website time-outs, yet Zap or Burp are able to do a successful scan. I wanted this to work so much and be able to use it as an additional check of my results but have now binned it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the reporting, which provides a good level of detail with respect to vulnerabilities."
"The solution is stable."
"Tenable provides the end analysis results covering all the published vulnerabilities and information on the market."
"Now that the license is centralized, it's a significant feature to manipulate assets based on their functions."
"Our customers adopt this solution because of the replication testing and the vulnerability assessment it can do."
"The most effective feature of the product is the ability to scan the entire environment."
"It is fully automated."
"All the features are valuable to us as they offer cutting-edge scanning methods and address the latest issues with a contemporary approach. Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is highly stable. I rate it a nine out ten. Since the solution works on the Cloud, it's highly scalable. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. The setup of the solution is straightforward. The Return on Investment is substantial. I recommend the solution to all."
"The best free software for pen testing web applications."
 

Cons

"The reporting has a very limited customization capability."
"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning could improve by offering faster fuzzing."
"We have encountered some problems with the technical support from Tenable; I would rate it a five out of ten. It is not efficacious, especially the first-level support."
"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is not very user-friendly and you need a lot of information to get proper reports. The tool's support is not very responsive."
"The dashboard could be more user-friendly."
"The solution's dashboards could be improved and made more user-friendly."
"Sometimes it lags with different cloud environments."
"The market is standard for vulnerability scanning, however, the posture can be improved through Tenable's prioritization engine."
"Unfortunately, once you get around the seemingly strict set of pre-requisites to install it, it is incredibly buggy."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable compared to the competitors. The license cost is based on the number of users and the annual usage."
"The application is extremely affordable. There are no additional costs involved with licensing. We switched to Tenable.io Web Application Scanning from other solutions due to pricing."
"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is expensive for small businesses."
"It follows the same licensing scheme as Tenable.io and Tenable. sc."
"I rate the product's pricing a four out of ten."
"The pricing is okay."
"For Tenable.io Web Application Scanning, it comes to around 6,50,000 Indian rupees, plus taxes."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?
If there were a solution, I would like to see automation and an integrated remediation solution for vulnerability or patch management.
What advice do you have for others considering Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?
I do not understand what API approach means; I do not understand this term. I think Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is the best option on the market at the moment. My review rating for this pro...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?
I think the price is expensive. We do not have an idea of how much we have to pay approximately, but comparing to other products, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is expensive.
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

IMDEX
Information Not Available
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