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Qualys Exposure Management vs VAPT comparison

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2026

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

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Qualys Exposure Management
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (3rd), Container Security (10th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
VAPT
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
52nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Penetration Testing Services (6th), API Security (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Exposure Management is 3.9%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VAPT is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys Exposure Management3.9%
Qualys TotalCloud1.2%
VAPT0.3%
Other94.6%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
Ajay Paul - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Vulnerability management has prioritized high‑risk patching and simplified bulk system reporting
The primary issue is with the reporting functionality. Even though we fix vulnerabilities, the reports do not reflect the changes immediately. Sometimes we need to manually run a script to scan the systems before Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management will update the scan results. The main issue is the reporting delay, and sometimes the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management agent will not scan the system, which means we do not receive accurate reports in a timely manner. Additionally, there are many metrics for calculating vulnerabilities, such as the Qualys ID, severity scores, CVSS scores, and other metrics. The abundance of information can be confusing. These two aspects are the most significant negatives I have experienced with this tool.
Suneel Singh Tomar - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager, Information Security at Birlasoft IndiaLtd.
Governed layered vulnerability management has improved continuous scanning and remediation
We are using a couple of tools in terms of scanning and remediation. We leverage some of our in-house tools and some cloud tools, so we have a layered security architecture. Some tools work on the transport layer, some on the network layer, and some on the application layer. The team scans across those tool layers. Based on identifying gaps, they fulfill them. Everything feels accurate to me. In today's landscape, we have so many threats and threat actors working around that may damage any available entities. The team scans and finds anything that appears immediately necessary to remediate. They follow the steps accordingly. The team is working around the clock and doing their due diligence on their jobs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable feature is its agent versatility."
"Qualys TotalCloud has improved our security posture."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its cloud security posture management, Kubernetes, and container security capabilities."
"Qualys TotalCloud has saved our time by giving us better asset visibility and risk-based prioritization, as it has reduced the time spent manually reviewing CVEs and deciding what to address first."
"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."
"The dashboards are particularly valuable as they offer a comprehensive view of the environment, highlighting any misconfigurations."
"Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment for IaaS and SaaS and a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce my workload by not having to combine multiple sources."
"It's also highly customizable, allowing us to tailor it to our needs."
"The solution, overall, is very useful for our organization; it is very easy to use and there are lots of options, and we can usually easily go through it and all of the things we want to configure, and we can configure everything to our specifications very easily."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the external channel."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys Container Security is the detailed information in the reports and the remediation, which is done to make sure there are no vulnerabilities."
"What I like best about this product is that it does what it is supposed to do, which is vulnerability scanning."
"Qualys VM helps to identify the vulnerabilities on a timely basis, helping companies upgrade their networks and apply patches, and in the latest version it has added the patching capability, which is very useful."
"It gives a very good overview of the inventory assessment process, and it can be accessed across our company because it's a global tool."
"Intuitive and easy to use."
"Everything feels accurate to me."
 

Cons

"To be honest, I would move out from this tool because it does not give a full view of vulnerability."
"The response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved."
"In TotalCloud, I would suggest improvements in policy checks to cater to various inventory types like VPCs, subnets, S3 buckets, or IAMs. There is a lack of data segregation according to criticality or inventory."
"Some major banks and insurance companies require an on-premises solution for comprehensive vulnerability management, which TotalCloud does not offer."
"The onboarding process is a bit difficult. In the initial phase, it is very difficult to understand the features, what the dashboard contains, and what criteria they are using."
"There is room for improvement in vulnerability scanning, particularly for PaaS environments. Currently, Qualys does not have full access to these instances, which limits its effectiveness."
"Their support could be improved."
"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."
"However, I am not satisfied with Qualys support. The response time is slower than needed."
"The ability to manage user accounts and give rights to the operator to know about abnormalities of applications is something that needs improvement."
"Qualys currently does not have any features for scanning SCADA, IoT, and Industrial Control Systems."
"Finding things in management can be quite difficult."
"The user interface (UI) is quite complicated."
"I would like to have CSPM, a continuous scan-like cloud added to the solution."
"If you're not overly experienced and you're looking for something in their management, it can sometimes be quite difficult because they can move buttons around without sending an update."
"One area for improvement is the simplification of the process to ignore certain vulnerabilities on specific devices."
"There are so many challenges while running this vulnerability program."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"The solution is expensive."
"Qualys VM is quite expensive. It's a subscription-based license, and it's yearly. Right now, it's open for me, and I don't have any limitations or caps on the licenses. They are seeing if the product is viable for 4500 users. I can add as much as I want, and at the end of the subscription, they'll let me know how many licenses were actually used and bill me accordingly. On a scale from one to five, I would give their pricing a three. It's still expensive."
"The pricing is very competitive."
"An annual license for a single scanner costs around $3,000."
"They have recently changed the pricing model, which is now better than it was before."
"The price is very reasonable."
"In Nigerian Naira, we spend about roughly four to five million to use this solution and this is expensive compared to solutions like Nessus."
"Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance isn't expensive right now. But the price for their product bundles could be better."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise34
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise74
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvement, remediation still belongs to the cloud team, which is one of the issues we faced with Qualys...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is regarding the cloud visibility that we were not having previously. Previous...
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 la...
What advice do you have for others considering Qualys VMDR?
I have some understanding about PeerSpot, and I have visited the website. PeerSpot is similar to TrustRadius. It take...
What needs improvement with VAPT?
There are so many challenges while running this vulnerability program. It is a very complex program where everyone ha...
What is your primary use case for VAPT?
I am in a position where we govern VAPT and vulnerability management programs. My associates initiate quick scans of ...
What advice do you have for others considering VAPT?
I did not use Redscan at all. I have used formal VAPT services in my SOC role. In terms of focusing on prioritization...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Qualys, Wiz, Tenable and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: August 2026.
913,654 professionals have used our research since 2012.