

Tenable Nessus and Pentera compete in the cybersecurity vulnerability assessment category. Tenable Nessus seems to have the upper hand due to its combination of reliability, affordability, and comprehensive scanning capabilities across platforms.
Features: Tenable Nessus offers comprehensive vulnerability assessments, predictive prioritization, and extensive scanning across multiple platforms, providing reliable output with affordability. Pentera's standout features include continuous automated vulnerability assessment, automated penetration testing, and AI-based reporting, offering proactive security insights.
Room for Improvement: Tenable Nessus users suggest enhanced reporting options, such as improved PDF and Excel exports, intuitive interfaces, and better support for cloud-based scanning. For Pentera, users see potential improvement in dashboard specificity, pricing flexibility, and enhancing virtualization compatibility.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Tenable Nessus offers flexible deployment across on-premises, hybrid, and public clouds. Its technical support is generally well-regarded despite occasional delays. Pentera is mainly deployed on-premises and private cloud, with generally positive feedback on support responsiveness, though scalability support could be improved.
Pricing and ROI: Tenable Nessus is known for competitive pricing and good value, especially with unlimited IP scanning in its licensing model. Pentera, considered expensive by some, is seen as cost-effective due to detailed vulnerability insights. Users report significant ROI with both solutions by reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing network security.
Pentera has significantly affected our organization by dropping our mean time to remediate critical vulnerabilities because the remediation team can clearly evidence the exploit instead of debating CVSS scores, and our security posture has improved.
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.
We received support within one to three hours.
Whenever any issue arises, we contact the support, and they are always there for us.
The technical support is good yet could improve in terms of response time.
Whether managing 50 servers today or 500 tomorrow, performance or capacity are not hindered.
Tenable Nessus is definitely scalable, especially for license formats designed for scalability.
We have not encountered any issues with missing network items or errors in API and webhook interactions.
The stability of Tenable Nessus is extraordinary.
When the IP is imported into a system, we cannot withdraw or revoke the license.
While Pentera excels in on-premises and hybrid setups, its AWS and Azure attack path simulation is not as deep compared to others.
If I could change one thing about Pentera, I would definitely want faster navigation, which would improve my workflow.
This is Tenable's property. They want to sell Tenable Security Center, and they closed all the API capability for Tenable Nessus Professional.
An AI feature that helps them discover options without requiring them to deep dive into all features or guides them through advisory functions would be beneficial.
The documentation is not well-organized, which can be confusing when searching for solutions or specific information related to Tenable Nessus Professional.
The enterprise pricing is a big investment.
The pricing for Tenable Nessus has increased significantly, tripling over the last few years.
Tenable Nessus's pricing is adequate if it is fully utilized.
When we compare it to other solutions, it is more difficult for us to negotiate the price for Tenable Nessus than to negotiate the price with Rapid7.
I can show them a complete kill chain and how an attacker gets from the initial foothold to domain admin in our environment, step by step, with evidence.
Pentera has significantly affected our organization by dropping our mean time to remediate critical vulnerabilities because the remediation team can clearly evidence the exploit instead of debating CVSS scores, and our security posture has improved.
The best features of Pentera for me are the dashboard. The dashboard is excellent. I can see everything at a glance.
I mostly use the configuration audit feature for the audit configuration as a scan policy, and I will use it for credential audit, which helps me scan credentials access such as local administrator or root access, performing a deeper and more accurate check of local configuration settings and file systems, making it a highly recommended feature.
The scanning and reporting features are the most valuable aspects of Tenable Nessus.
The most valuable features of Tenable Nessus include its ease of access and quick usability.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Pentera | 20.0% |
| Cymulate | 14.9% |
| The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai | 14.2% |
| Other | 50.900000000000006% |
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Tenable Nessus | 3.8% |
| Wiz | 4.5% |
| Qualys VMDR | 3.9% |
| Other | 87.8% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 5 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 40 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 19 |
| Large Enterprise | 35 |
Pentera offers organizations automated vulnerability assessment and penetration testing capabilities, continuously scanning networks and managing credentials for enhanced security.
Pentera delivers automated vulnerability and penetration testing tools, providing continuous security scanning and comprehensive attack surface analysis. Its AI-based reporting identifies vulnerabilities with detailed executive reports to guide vulnerability management and remediation. Organizations gain from proactive cybersecurity strategies with features such as External Attack Surface Management and Internal Network Validation. Real-time updates ensure constant protection.
What are Pentera's Key Features?Pentera is widely used in sectors like banking, telecommunications, and government, performing security validation and compliance tests. Its real-world attack emulation and risk-based prioritization ensure secure networks without operational disruption. The solution aligns with the Mitre ATT&CK framework, supporting agentless deployment.
Tenable Nessus enhances cybersecurity by detecting vulnerabilities with comprehensive scanning, user-friendly dashboards, and automated reporting, providing value in asset management, configuration audits, and compliance.
Providing real-time monitoring and ease of use, Nessus stands out with its integration capabilities, predictive prioritization, extensive plugin system, and cost-effectiveness. It supports vulnerability assessments for networks, applications, and devices, offering detailed reports for continuous security improvement. Nessus' capabilities extend across on-premise and cloud deployments, aiding compliance and remediation processes while aligning with security standards. While robust, it could benefit from enhanced cloud capabilities, improved scanning accuracy, and more flexible licensing options.
What are the standout features of Tenable Nessus?Tenable Nessus is implemented widely across industries for internal and external vulnerability assessments and management, aiding organizations in scanning servers, workstations, and network devices. Benefiting sectors prioritize security within their unique environments, leveraging Nessus for its thorough reports and compliance assurance.
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