We mainly use it for scanning for vulnerability on our hosts, like network devices and servers; to find the vulnerabilities and do remediation. We monitor Windows and Linux workstations.
Network Security Engineer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Helps us limit our vulnerabilities and reduce exploitation
Pros and Cons
- "Among the most valuable features are scanning for vulnerabilities and the reporting. The reporting templates are okay. I like that I can see all the hosts with different vulnerabilities."
- "We use credentialed scans. They need more permissions and more changes or settings on Windows and Linux."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
It helps us limit our vulnerabilities and to reduce exploitations.
Tenable also helps us focus resources on the vulnerabilities that are most likely to be exploited.
What is most valuable?
Among the most valuable features are scanning for vulnerabilities and the reporting. The reporting templates are okay. I like that I can see all the hosts with different vulnerabilities. I can export reports to Excel to adjust them and it's a convenient way to send them to my manager. We actually use the report feature to identify all the vulnerabilities on all the hosts.
- The prioritization is done quickly and is good.
- Their VPR is good.
- I'm also able to find its features easily.
What needs improvement?
We use credentialed scans. They need more permissions and more changes or settings on Windows and Linux.
Also, Agent scanning is more efficient than credential scanning but Agent scanning is more expensive than credential scanning. I prefer, mainly, the Agent scan over the credential scan, it's better. But we will continue to use the credential scan. I would like to see Tenable make some improvements to the credential scanning; more vulnerabilities, because most of the problems have occurred on Windows Server. We have some scanning issues.
Buyer's Guide
Tenable Nessus
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Tenable Nessus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
866,483 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Tenable for just over a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's always working, no crashes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can add more scanners to the scan zone. We can also create different organizations in terms of scanning, so I think the scalability is good.
We use Tenable on 300 servers. In our office we have two or three people using the solution who are network security engineers. Two or three people are enough to take care of deployment and maintenance of Tenable.
We have plans to increase our usage. We want to increase our licenses up to about 1,000.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good. I get responses quickly and they provide quick resolution. I can look at their community to find questions or the problem. The support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Tenable, our global team used Qualys, but I myself didn't use that. The switch to Tenable was decided on by our U.S. team. It was a global strategy to move to Tenable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was good, not complex. We had the guides from Tenable to guide us through the setup. It took us two days, but one day should be good enough for the initial deployment.
Originally, we wanted to scan all our servers from multiple clouds and also on-premises, to scan the local network.
What other advice do I have?
Tenable mainly works on vulnerability scanning and prioritizing.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.

Senior Infrastructure Project Manager at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Has good vulnerability reporting and is stable and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very stable."
- "I would like to see an improvement in the ranking of high, medium and low vulnerability."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case of this solution is scanning of our external websites.
What is most valuable?
The feature I find most valuable is the vulnerability reporting.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see an improvement in the ranking of high, medium and low vulnerability.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tenable Nessus for six months now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Tenable Nessus is a very scalable solution. We have over 50 devices running on it currently, and over 50 locations. And we plan to increase our usage in the future. We use our existing team for maintenance, so we didn't have to increase our headcounts. One person is enough to do the maintenance.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
I will say the initial setup was not straightforward, and not complex either. It's medium. Technically it's not too complicated, but if you work with a good partner, they can help. The deployment took us about three to six months.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others would be to include post-implementation support for six months from the vendor to help with the fine-tuning. I rate this solution an eight out of ten. In the future, I would like to see better reporting for high impact vulnerabilities.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Tenable Nessus
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Tenable Nessus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
866,483 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Implementation Engineer at GFx Soluciones
The comprehensive coverage offered has been the most remarkable
What is our primary use case?
Nessus was used to scan vulnerabilities and compliances in our clients' networks and with this, carry out the remediation process through constant cycles in time until threats to the network are considerably reduced. The environments are small business networks (less than 50 employees), and so far there have been no major impediments in the scans performed.
How has it helped my organization?
Nessus has greatly improved the security of our clients' networks. The comfortable management of their systems makes it easier for engineers to use the codes for each vulnerability or compliance. Deploying the server to launch the scans is very easy, and only the necessary prerequisites for scanning should be fulfilled. Nessus has been very valuable to the company.
What is most valuable?
The comprehensive coverage offered by Nessus has been the most remarkable; it really does everything that has been asked of the software.
It's great, the possibility of automating implementations and really your database is immense for all the compliances and vulnerabilities.
Tenable University is great and allows to train all the personnel in charge of making the scans in an optimal and effective way.
What needs improvement?
- I think that the next versions could improve the graphical interface to make more intuitive the management of the reports.
- Additionally, it could include better features in the vulnerability scan at the language level.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Nessus is very stable and really works in diverse environments without any difficulty. The most important thing is to establish the necessary requirements.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability of this type of software does not seem so relevant.
How are customer service and technical support?
The Tenable support is very good and has really solved in a timely manner the problems that have occurred in the various projects.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In the company, Qualys was used, and it was not possible to manage the projects with this tool.
How was the initial setup?
Quite simple and comfortable.
What about the implementation team?
Internal team.
What was our ROI?
Phenomenal.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The costs are not high, considering all the support and service offered by Tenable.
What other advice do I have?
Scans using agents are very useful, and taking advantage of them is the best way to take advantage of the tool.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Security Professional at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
An affordable product that needs to improve the reporting function
Pros and Cons
- "I find the features that are most valuable are the policies that help us identify the vulnerabilities. These policies are then used for scanning instabilities and then identifying the particular vulnerabilities."
- "We have had some false positives in the past, which we hope can improve in the future."
What is our primary use case?
Primarily, I use this for assessment and administration testing.
What is most valuable?
I find the features that are most valuable are the policies that help us identify the vulnerabilities. These policies are then used for scanning and identifying instabilities.
What needs improvement?
The reporting functionality needs improvement. I think it would be beneficial to have a high level explanation for a particular user.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable, based on our past experience. We have had some false positives in the past, which we hope can improve in the future.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is fine. It is tied to the licensing agreement. We currently have 20 people using this tool in our organization. It is primarily used by people in our cellular team. If we see a need to add more users in the future, we will renegotiate our licensing agreement to do so.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not needed to contact tech support much. We contacted them about the false positives, and they were helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also evaluated Netplus.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is very straightforward and easy. We did not use a third-party installer.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think the price is fairly affordable. It provides a license that is fair.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Consultant at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reduces the amount of time spent on finding vulnerabilities.
Pros and Cons
- "Tenable Nessus streamlines the process of scanning for our organization."
- "This is still a maturing product. Tenable is only a scanner for one ability, while other solutions like Rapid7 have more tools for verification. We still have to manually verify to see if the vulnerability is a false positive or not."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case of this solution is for scanning internal networks.
How has it helped my organization?
We use Tenable Nessus for scanning. We find lots of vulnerabilities and then we reduce the time spent on finding inbox vulnerabilities. Of course, Tenable streamlines the process. It has been a positive experience overall.
Tenable can scan for missing patches for the endpoints. We can scan it and then, once we can support any endpoint without patching, we inform our users.
What is most valuable?
We wanted to do a lot of Hardening and we have to make sure that all endpoints are up to the certain Hardening standard and we propose the CIS benchmark to do this. That's why we use Tenable to do scanning frequency and to ensure the quality of the endpoints.
What needs improvement?
This is still a maturing product. Tenable is only a scanner for one ability, while other solutions like Rapid7 have more tools for verification. We still have to manually verify to see if the vulnerability is a false positive or not.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable. We have not had any major issues. It performs as scheduled and scans as needed.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, there is an issue with cloud servers. You need the internet bandwidth to do the testing. They consume a lot of bandwidth and they use the cloud scanners for the scanning.
How is customer service and technical support?
I usually use the dashboard for support. It shows the critical vulnerabilities from low to high. They are very responsive when necessary.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation was straightforward. First, we noticed whether everything was ready, then we got a license key, set up some basic scanning using a default template, and finally, we scheduled time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Tenable Nessus is much more competitive versus other solutions on the market.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We were manually scanning before using Tenable Nessus. We looked at Rapid7 but we are satisfied with Tenable Nessus.
What other advice do I have?
I would suggest that people considering this solution should choose the cloud-based solution versus the on-premise version.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Managing partner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
We can deliver a high level of consulting using this product.
Pros and Cons
- "We looked at Tenable, Qualys and Rapid7. We found Tenable was the best of all three."
- "From my point of view the solution basically is not for the big enterprise."
How has it helped my organization?
This is something that allows us to quickly get a really important information context. We can now deliver highly professional consulting using the product.
What needs improvement?
From my point of view, the solution basically is not for large enterprises. I also think there should be built-in plugins for the public cloud vendors.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'm happy with stability, there's no problem from my point of view.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For an average sized company or for smaller enterprises, this solution is suitable. But, for large enterprises it's not a good choice. We have one customer with more than 5,000 servers. I do not think it will be suitable for that customer.
How are customer service and technical support?
We communicated via email to solve our issue. The experience was quite good for us.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We switched because our previous solution was too expensive for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My advice when choosing a vendor is to always consider:
- Trustworthiness
- Quality
- Price
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at Tenable, Qualys and Rapid7. We found Tenable was the best of all three.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Manager at Medmen
Provides multiple recommendations towards the remedy of vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
- "It provides multiple recommendations towards the remedy of vulnerabilities."
- "It allows me to prioritize efforts and utilize effective technical resources."
- "They should improve the I/O reporting and the customized spreadsheet export feature."
- "Multiple steps to create an actionable plan will be a great addition to Nessus."
What is our primary use case?
I use Tenable Nessus to evaluate the security posture of multiples acquisitions before integrating them to our network.
How has it helped my organization?
Tenable Nessus has helped us visualize the security posture of acquisitions. It provides actionable recommendations to the implementation team towards security remedies.
What is most valuable?
I have found the remedy recommendation feature helpful, as it:
- Provides multiple recommendations towards the remedy of vulnerabilities.
- Allows me to prioritize efforts and utilize effective technical resources.
What needs improvement?
- They should improve the I/O reporting and the customized spreadsheet export feature.
- Multiple steps to create an actionable plan will be a great addition to Nessus.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Cybersecurity Consultant at CIA Botswana
Helps to discover and patch vulnerabilities proactively
Pros and Cons
- "Nessus' most valuable feature is vulnerability management because it helps to discover vulnerabilities proactively and integrates with patch management solutions so you can push patches."
- "Nessus' reporting could be more user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use Nessus for vulnerability management, including scanning, identifying, and assessing risks.
What is most valuable?
Nessus' most valuable feature is vulnerability management because it helps to discover vulnerabilities proactively and integrates with patch management solutions so you can push patches.
What needs improvement?
Nessus' reporting could be more user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Nessus for more than three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate Nessus' stable five out of five.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Nessus is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Tenable's technical support has a very good turnaround time.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, and deployment takes up to five days.
What was our ROI?
The ROI from Nessus is good - it allows us to proactively discover vulnerabilities and deploy patches before the worst-case scenario happens. I would rate the ROI five out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Nessus is affordable, but its licensing model could be improved with more flexibility for adding assets.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise anybody thinking of implementing Nessus that they should be competent with risk management language and do some training on the solution, otherwise, they won't understand anything. I would rate Nessus ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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Updated: August 2025
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