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Cequence Security vs Qualys Web Application Scanning 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

Cequence Security
Ranking in Application Security Tools
24th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Bot Management (7th), API Security (6th)
Qualys Web Application Scan...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Cequence Security is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys Web Application Scanning1.7%
Cequence Security0.6%
Other97.7%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Paulo Estevao - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Sales Engineer at e-Safer
Comprehensive API discovery has enabled us to block bots in real time and improve compliance reporting
Cequence Security can continue evaluating and evolving the machine learning and the AI that they have because attackers are using more AI, making it faster to learn how to attack APIs and business logic. When Cequence Security invests in their AI, they will provide quicker protection that our customers need, and the way that attackers think can be translated into security measures on Cequence Security workflows and baseline. They need to improve faster in the AI environment because the possibility of attackers is growing, which is something that must be improved continuously as we need quicker releases since the market demands it. Regarding accuracy and reliability, the AI has a baselining that allows it to learn from attacks, but it needs to improve more because in the Brazilian market, we have a creative environment for attackers who are familiar with the business logic of our customers, making it easier for them to imitate legitimate users during attacks. Thus, they need to enhance behavior analysis to differentiate themselves from all other products on the market. Latency can be a significant issue in bigger environments, especially since the architecture requires uninterrupted traffic to ensure customers can finish transactions. The defender component managing inline traffic holds all traffic and has mechanisms to control latency, allowing fallback during high-risk situations, but the sensor used for mirroring traffic is outdated and does not work properly.
AnkitSharma13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Web scanning needs improvement but offers good vulnerability detection
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does. If Qualys Web Application Scanning could improve its crawling capability, it would be more user-friendly. Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities, which isn't as beneficial from my point of view. The Vulnerability Management also relies heavily on version numbers and will flag vulnerabilities based on the component version, but it doesn't check if a real fix exists, leading to flags on components that actually have workarounds available.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It uses machine learning algorithms to detect attacks and manage API inventory."
"Cequence Security has positively impacted our organization by giving us a lot of visibility from the market point of view since it competes with much bigger companies such as Akamai, Salt, and Imperva."
"Qualys Web Application Scanning is robust and mature from industry standards."
"Key features include: Cloud-based, so the installation is not so tedious, easily deployed, highly scalable, and provides comprehensive reporting."
"Automated scanning has significantly improved our web application security management by reducing manual work."
"​This product is designed for easy scalability and can easily scale up ​without major challenges."
"The advantage of Qualys Web Application Scanning lies in its user-friendly dashboard and appealing reports, which are useful for presentation to leadership."
"It protects against zero-day vulnerabilities, like Heartbleed."
"It scans web applications to identify vulnerabilities during deployment."
"​QualysGuard web-based scanner is very useful for performing external penetration and PCI scans from remote locations.​"
 

Cons

"It is expensive."
"Latency can be a significant issue in bigger environments, especially since the architecture requires uninterrupted traffic to ensure customers can finish transactions."
"Deployment can be complicated."
"We procured around 110 licenses for Web Application Scanning, but we have issues running concurrent scans. I don't currently have the option to trigger scans for all 100-plus websites. The default limit is around 10 conference scans. It's not very scalable, to be honest, because of the limitation that they put on concurrent scans."
"Sometimes the response time is low because the handshake fails, and then you have to re-login and start again."
"The UI is not user-friendly and you don't have a yearly reporting facility where you can slice and dice in different jobs."
"The solution needs to adjust its pricing. They should make it more affordable."
"New features need to be added, specifically LLM-based solutions."
"The virus code updates are not frequent enough."
"There should be better visibility into the application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Licensing was based on the number of assets that you want to scan on your network. You can also do licensing on subscription. On subscription, it is easier and more flexible. You tell Qualys that you want to move from the 1000 to 2000 band or the 3000 or 5000 band, then they will give you the quotation for it. Once you pay for it, applying the licensing is quite easy and effective."
"Qualys WAS' pricing is competitive."
"The product is expensive, at least initially, in comparison to other products in this category."
"It is an expensive platform."
"Qualys Web Application Scanning's pricing is a bit expensive compared to other solutions available in the market."
"Qualys has an IT-based licensing based on a yearly license, which is a good way of handling it. However, in some cases, when we do the PCI scanning, the host will not like the scanning and we lose the IT license. So, this could be improved."
"​It is best to be an institutional buyer and directly contact the sales team, as they can provide over-the-top discounts for bulk orders​."
"The product has a very good licensing model."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cequence Security?
Cequence Security can continue evaluating and evolving the machine learning and the AI that they have because attackers are using more AI, making it faster to learn how to attack APIs and business ...
What is your primary use case for Cequence Security?
My main use case for Cequence Security is that my company is an integrator for Cequence Security, so we deliver this product to our customers in financial, banking, healthcare, and other sectors. A...
What advice do you have for others considering Cequence Security?
I can give Cequence Security a rating of 10 because this product genuinely makes a difference for our customers, and they do not need to lock in to Akamai does, which is significant for our custome...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.
What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
I use Qualys Web Application Scanning, and we are using Vulnerability Management. By Vulnerability Management, I mean not TotalCloud; they have some on-premises solutions also. Patch Management and...
 

Also Known As

Cequence ASP, Cequence Unified API Protection Platform
Qualys WAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Lbrands, Ulta Beauty
BskyB, Cartagena, ClearPoint Learning Systems, Connect Group, du, Fortrex Technologies, HBOR, HDI, Highlights for Children, The Lithuanian State Enterprise Centre of Registers, City of Miami Beach, Microsoft, MidlandHR, MSCI Inc., Northern Arizona University, Ofgem, Olympus Europa, PhoneFactor, RTL Nederland, ThousandEyes, VGZ Organisatie B.V.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cequence Security vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.