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Pentera vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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
5.2
Pentera automates security tests, proving valuable for retests, but rising licensing costs pose ROI challenges for some users.
Sentiment score
4.9
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management boosts efficiency, reduces costs, enhances security, and delivers a 95% ROI with 35% cost reduction.
Some customers consider the ROI favorable, but facing difficulties now due to changes in the licensing model, which has made it more expensive compared to last year.
Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd
Improvements to our security infrastructure contributed to overall business growth of approximately 150 percent over the past year.
Android Developer at Droidforge
By automating tasks, it significantly reduces the human resources required, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
Senior Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It has reduced the number of development and scripting hours along with maintenance hours.
Security Operations Manager at Solventum
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Pentera's support team is reliable and responsive, but documentation needs updating; users rate support highly despite some inconsistency.
Sentiment score
7.5
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management's customer service is highly praised for its responsiveness, effectiveness, and swift problem resolution capabilities.
The support team was knowledgeable and offered a variety of quick resolution options.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Their SMEs have sufficient knowledge, and if they are not the right contact, they quickly redirect us to someone who can help resolve issues.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate their customer support a ten out of ten.
Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Pentera is highly scalable with adaptable equipment requirements, earning strong satisfaction ratings across various enterprise environments.
Sentiment score
7.8
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management excels in scalability, supporting diverse environments with numerous users, networks, and large datasets efficiently.
We have about 300,000 assets installed with agents worldwide.
Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The scalability is excellent as we manage more than one hundred thousand assets, including over one hundred thousand endpoints, approximately 2,600 servers, and more than 1,200 network devices.
Cyber Security Specialist at UBS Financial
Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management has proven to be a highly scalable solution for us over the past couple of years.
Manager Information Security at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Pentera is praised for high stability, with most users rating it highly despite minor initial setup concerns.
Sentiment score
7.5
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is stable, highly rated, with minimal issues, and appreciated for its consistent enhancements and features.
I would rate the stability of Qualys CSAM a ten out of ten.
IT Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The product stability has notably declined over the last two months, and the performance to fulfill a page request is very slow compared to its previous performance.
SENIOR MANAGER, CYBERSECURITY THREAT, RISK & ARCHITECTURE at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
They are constantly adding capabilities.
Director of Vulnerability Management at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Pentera struggles with cost, licensing flexibility and needs better virtualization, dashboards, hardware support, and detailed credential information.
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management struggles with integration, configuration flexibility, tagging accuracy, and performance issues needing improvement.
When the IP is imported into a system, we cannot withdraw or revoke the license.
Pre-sale manager at Nam Truong Son
Qualys is currently not able to identify assets lacking DNS information.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Features enhancing the interaction with IT or security teams should be added, such as a ticketing feature that, if an issue arises in the CSAM module, enables direct ticket creation in systems like ServiceNow.
Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP
If there's one key aspect to focus on, it's discovery—the ability to identify assets that you are not aware of, even when you can see they are present.
Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Pentera's pricing receives mixed reviews, though many appreciate its value in effectively assessing ransomware protection.
Qualys offers high yet flexible pricing, valued for comprehensive features and cost-effectiveness, especially when bundled with other services.
A cost-effective solution.
Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP
I believe that the stability and reliability of Qualys offer great value for the money.
Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
A monthly subscription starting at approximately $72 per month, depending on the specific package and features included.
Android Developer at Droidforge
 

Valuable Features

Pentera offers automated vulnerability assessments with valued features like attack surface mapping, AI reporting, and quick, effective processes.
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management enhances security with real-time visibility, integration, TruRisk scoring, and simplified asset and patch management.
We can automate the Pentera processes by automatically creating scenarios to validate the system.
Pre-sale manager at Nam Truong Son
By correlating this with QDS scores, we can accurately assess the risk level of high or low QDS scores associated with each asset and monitor them accordingly.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature is the real-time visibility Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides into all assets across our development and operational environments.
Android Developer at Droidforge
It also performs scans to identify any vulnerabilities, which helps to take proactive measures before those vulnerabilities are identified by any attacker.
Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Pentera
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Penetration Testing Services (4th), Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) (3rd), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (1st)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset ...
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Patch Management (4th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (2nd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (2nd), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Pentera is designed for Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) and holds a mindshare of 24.1%, down 30.4% compared to last year.
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, on the other hand, focuses on Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), holds 10.9% mindshare, up 5.8% since last year.
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Pentera24.1%
Cymulate15.9%
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai13.6%
Other46.4%
Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management10.9%
Axonius28.5%
Armis17.9%
Other42.7%
Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM)
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd
Comprehensive attack surface coverage and real-world threat emulation strengthen security while licensing models need improvement
Comprehensive Attack Surface includes several features. Omni Attack Surface discovers, assesses, and exploits vulnerabilities across both internal networks and external assets, including cloud environments from a single platform. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Internal Network Validation test internal security controls and identify weaknesses within the internal network. Automated Penetration Testing features are provided through the Pentera Surface module. Surface provides automated validation and penetration testing features with a proactive, continuous, and highly realistic approach to cybersecurity validation, helping organizations understand and reduce their true cyber exposure. They have AI-based reporting that leverages AI to identify patterns of exploitability over time, aggregate results across sites, and highlight recurring weaknesses. They offer two types of reports: an elaborate technical report for CTOs and an Executive Summary for management. When customers see the reports after completing the POC, they are impressed by how detailed the technical report is, while management can understand what actions need to be taken to protect their network and infrastructure. Recent Gartner reports indicate that traditional VAPT companies perform vulnerability testing at specific times, which creates security gaps. Pentera provides continuous validation, running 24/7 in the infrastructure. This means when any vulnerability appears due to firmware upgrades, OS updates, or software changes, it can be automatically identified in real-time.
AN
Cyber Security Specialist at UBS Financial
Customized dashboards and quick deployment support comprehensive asset management
We use the True Risk Score for vulnerability prioritization, though we do not solely rely upon it since some assets may be decommissioned soon or not in use. From Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, we primarily focus on internet-facing assets. We have created separate tasks for internet-facing assets and track the True Risk dashboard specifically for these assets. If the True Risk Score is higher for any internet-facing assets, then we take action accordingly. The True Risk Score is very helpful for prioritization. The initial setup was straightforward and easy. We needed to create customized tags, group them twice, and validate whether the operating system detection was true positive or false positive. We encountered some false positives, which required coordination with the IT team for verification. In six months, we had approximately 20-25 machines that needed verification on a weekly basis. We coordinated with the IT team to identify the exact operating system specifications.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) solutions are best for your needs.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pentera?
What I like the most about Pentera is its solution-oriented approach.
What needs improvement with Pentera?
The licensing model has changed from earlier versions. Previously, there was a 500 IP cap, and customers needed to buy a minimum of 500 IP and consider 500 domains. In Bangladesh, many large organi...
What is your primary use case for Pentera?
Common use cases include several features. The POC is completed before any customer goes for procurement. Once the POC is done, customers appreciate features such as comprehensive attack surface co...
What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
I think the one thing Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can do better is the package management and the updating process. Knowing that you can't update any of the packages until you've done the...
What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
I primarily use it for a small, single-site, multi-source setup with multi-WAN inputs. I have a main fiber connection and a couple of failovers while managing different networks across different se...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blackstone Group Caterpillar Apria Healthcare Taylor Vinters Sandler Capital Management Drawbridge BNP Paribas British Red Cross
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Pentera vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.