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HackerOne vs Qualys VMDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.0
HackerOne offers high ROI when no costs are involved, but results vary; support enhances efficiency, impacting cost and awareness.
Sentiment score
7.0
Qualys VMDR enhances ROI by streamlining management, improving compliance, reducing vulnerabilities, saving time, and minimizing breaches effectively.
We receive rewards without needing to invest any money, so the return on investment is substantial.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
For someone who is starting or in the middle, it is very difficult because you can spend 20 hours sending 20 reports but none of them gets anything.
QA Engineering Lead at kintsugi
We saw a return on investment through significant savings in time, money, and resources.
System Admin at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
HackerOne offers proactive support with priority service for higher tiers, timely hacker collaboration, and reliable technical assistance.
Sentiment score
6.6
Qualys VMDR support is responsive and helpful, but users note occasional delays and suggest better response time and depth.
We have priority support because we are a higher tier, and with high report volumes, the turnaround time is very good.
Senior software developer at Simplifyvms
Technical support at HackerOne has slowed down considerably compared to four years ago.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
The ease of collaboration with ethical hackers on HackerOne has been quite good.
Senior Security Professional at Oportun, Inc.
We usually get on calls with tech support, and they are very helpful.
Works at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
The response time takes a while.
Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The technical support provided by Qualys is pretty good.
System Admin at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
HackerOne efficiently scales with organizational growth, supporting multiple bounties and users, effectively managing expanding security needs.
Sentiment score
7.9
Qualys VMDR is highly scalable, supporting numerous assets efficiently with customizable management and seamless cloud-based architecture.
It is a large platform with many programs and clients.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
HackerOne is very scalable because we can put bounties for any number of hackers at the same time and test thoroughly.
Senior software developer at Simplifyvms
Scalability depends on the license and the number of assets being monitored.
System Admin at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Qualys VMDR can handle scalability, although increasing the inventory can raise the licensing costs.
Information Security Analyst at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Qualys VMDR's scalability is good, and the customer support is good.
Cyber Security Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
HackerOne is generally stable and reliable, with most users experiencing seamless performance, despite occasional minor issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
Qualys VMDR is highly stable, reliable, and effective, with minimal downtime and challenges mostly due to user-side issues.
HackerOne was down for some time and the response was not good.
QA Engineering Lead at kintsugi
Qualys VMDR is stable.
Cyber Security Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

HackerOne faces slow triage, poor deduplication, restricted access, communication gaps, and bias; automation and AI could improve this.
Qualys VMDR needs improved support, efficient reporting, UI, asset notifications, reduced tool dependency, better pricing, and comprehensive resources.
There are no clear guidelines for being invited to programs and conferences.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities.
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
When reporting something, the platform should indicate that it was reported in the previous year or on a specific date, which would give us more insight into what action we have taken on that issue.
Senior Security Professional at Oportun, Inc.
It does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately.
System Admin at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
If AI features were integrated, it could enhance the capabilities significantly.
Information Security Analyst at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
One area where Qualys VMDR can be improved is the missing feature for deploying agents for over 1,000 assets, as we need to do it manually.
Cyber Security Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

HackerOne provides a free, open-source platform with a 20% award commission, plus optional subscriptions for advanced enterprise features.
Qualys VMDR pricing is high for small businesses but offers flexibility, discounts, and comprehensive features for larger enterprises.
The cost is rated as one since there is no need to pay anything, not even a fee or commission.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
I have not experienced any costs since I use HackerOne independently, just logging into the site, hunting bugs, and submitting them without any expenses.
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
I would rate the pricing between seven to eight out of ten.
System Admin at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
I have a notion that Qualys might be more expensive than Rapid7.
Information Security Analyst at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
Works at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

HackerOne offers robust collaboration tools, AI enhancements, customizable bounties, and seamless integration, benefiting hackers and organizations efficiently.
Qualys VMDR offers user-friendly management, real-time insights, and powerful integrations, significantly improving vulnerability prioritization and remediation efficiency.
It has a very simple user interface, and it gives you a quick response—if you submit a bug, someone reaches out to you within minutes, telling you they will verify the bug, and it can be verified in just a few days, sometimes even less than a day, which stands out for me.
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
HackerOne is a very good platform with the trust of different companies including Shopify, PayPal, and Uber.
Senior software developer at Simplifyvms
HackerOne is larger than WebCloud and has a better reputation than BugCloud, which results in a smoother process.
dApp Auditor at Hacken
The prioritization of vulnerabilities has improved our remediation efforts by around thirty to thirty-five percent.
Works at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
It impacts my workflow overall, with the patch management features as it has the missing patches listed in detail, making it easier to get a comprehensive report and providing some dashboards that offer visual representation.
JMS, RPSG Ventures Limited at RP Sanjiv Goenka Group
Qualys VMDR's continuous monitoring capabilities help us respond to emergent threats by enabling my team to reach out to the security engineers whenever there is any detection of a vulnerability, informing them about it, and creating an incident.
Soc Lead & Edr Administration at Persistent Systems
 

Categories and Ranking

HackerOne
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
30th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (18th), Bug Bounty Platforms (2nd), Penetration Testing Services (2nd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (8th), AI Observability (12th)
Qualys VMDR
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (3rd), Configuration Management Databases (3rd), Container Security (9th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of HackerOne is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 4.4%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys VMDR4.4%
HackerOne0.7%
Other94.9%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ruphus Muita - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior ICT Security Consultant at Applied Principles Limited
Has improved my motivation to submit bugs consistently through fast response and clear filtering
I think HackerOne can be improved by allowing new users to gain access to certain programs that are only open to known, renowned users. Sometimes new users don't receive invites just because they are new, despite potentially being very skilled hackers, so I feel new users should get more chances and opportunities. I am currently satisfied with the rewards, response time, and other aspects of the platform, so I don't have anything else to add about the necessary improvements. I give HackerOne a nine out of ten because if new hackers are given more opportunities, it could be a perfect 10 for me. However, the reason I gave a nine is that I don't have much to complain about; I specifically love the program and don't have many concerns.
Vaibhav Ghule - PeerSpot reviewer
Soc Lead & Edr Administration at Persistent Systems
Continuous risk-based monitoring has strengthened incident response and vulnerability prioritization
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries lack grouping operators in Qualys VMDR. From my experience, I would appreciate improvements in the query options in Qualys VMDR, specifically in the query-building process where I would need more features and operators. Additionally, we have been facing issues with Qualys on the cloud level. We cannot download the configuration profile from the cloud agent, and it is showing a pending action for download. During 2025, we noticed outages of Qualys a couple of times. I want to mention that there is an issue with receiving timely RCA deliveries. While this is not necessarily about the tool, it relates to support. The support has not been very responsive, and we are receiving RCAs a little delayed whenever we raise support cases or communicate with the TAMs. Additionally, the UI has a slight latency, which I and my team have experienced. They have also reported this latency issue when navigating through different pages.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise70
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HackerOne?
I have not experienced any costs since I use HackerOne independently, just logging into the site, hunting bugs, and submitting them without any expenses.
What needs improvement with HackerOne?
HackerOne has trust from companies such as Shopify, PayPal, and Uber, which provides a stronger brand perception and competitive market positioning. However, I reduced my rating by one mark because...
What is your primary use case for HackerOne?
I use HackerOne for the bug bounty platform to find security issues. When we discover vulnerabilities, we receive awards for them. Before testing any new payment API for public release, we can have...
What do you like most about Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that we can consider both time and money saved.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries lack grouping operators in Qualys VMDR. From my experience, I would appreciate imp...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

HackerOne Assets, HackerOne Pentesting Services, HackerOne Security Assessments, HackerOne Vulnerability Management
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Anthropic, Crypto.com, General Motors, GitHub, Goldman Sachs, Uber, and the U.S. Department of Defense
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about HackerOne vs. Qualys VMDR and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,664 professionals have used our research since 2012.