Qualys Web Application Scanning vs Tenable.io Web Application Scanning comparison

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs. Tenable.io Web Application Scanning

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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 Web Application Scan...

Ranking in Application Security Tools

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (9th)

Tenable.io Web Application ...

Ranking in Application Security Tools

20th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

SubhajitAich

Security Consultant at Cognizant

A stable solution that can be used for infrastructure vulnerability scanning and web application scanning

Qualys Web Application Scanning is very complex to use, and its graphical interface is not very user-friendly. Compared to other solutions like Tenable and Rapid7, you need to navigate a lot to get the actual results out of Qualys Web Application Scanning. If I have to search for one thing within the entire console, I have to look for it randomly. It's not very easy and very comfortable to find something. Overall, it's a very good solution, but it will be very good if the tool is more user-friendly.

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Harshal Deshmukh

CEO and Managing Director at Digidata Infsystems Private Limited

Simple tool to use, good dashboard capabilities and offers asset criticality ratings

It has good dashboard capabilities and gives good results with priority ratings, asset criticality ratings, and exposure scores for vulnerabilities. It also provides automated web application scanning, which customers appreciate because it doesn't disturb the web application or hamper the business. While testing the web application, sometimes it happens that the website or application goes down. But with Tenable.io Web Application Scanning, it doesn't affect the business. It has good unified web application scanning and exposure management.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have experienced quick customer support. They have a complete list of our previous issues along with our history, which makes it faster for them to solve issues."

"It is easy to use."

"It scans web applications to identify vulnerabilities during deployment."

"Qualys' process of updating signatures is something we really appreciate, and it's way ahead of its industry peers."

"The most valuable feature of Qualys Web Application Scanning is the effective scanning that can be done."

"Licensing is the most valuable. Qualys provides the best licensing for companies. It is the best product for the development purposes of web applications. The product has a lot of integrations."

"I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."

"The vulnerability management feature is a strong one. And also the patch management feature."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pros

"Tenable provides the end analysis results covering all the published vulnerabilities and information on the market."

"We use the tool for our websites. We have a vulnerable subdomain. The tool helps to scan it for vulnerabilities."

"Our customers adopt this solution because of the replication testing and the vulnerability assessment it can do. It is a multi-faceted product."

"The most valuable feature is the reporting, which provides a good level of detail with respect to vulnerabilities."

"The most effective feature of the product is the ability to scan the entire environment."

"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is very easy to use."

"All the features are valuable to us as they offer cutting-edge scanning methods and address the latest issues with a contemporary approach. Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is highly stable. I rate it a nine out ten. Since the solution works on the Cloud, it's highly scalable. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. The setup of the solution is straightforward. The Return on Investment is substantial. I recommend the solution to all."

"Now that the license is centralized, it's a significant feature to manipulate assets based on their functions."

More Tenable.io Web Application Scanning pros

Cons

"Sometimes the response time is low because the handshake fails, and then you have to re-login and start again."

"New features need to be added, specifically LLM-based solutions."

"The reporting contains too many false positives."

"In certain cases, this product does have false positives, which the company should work on."

"We have many websites. We don't force scanning on all of them at once because it's taking some time."

"The area of false positives could be improved. There are quite a number of false positives as compared to other solutions. They could probably fine tune the algorithm to be able to reduce the number of false positives being detected."

"The solution needs to adjust its pricing. They should make it more affordable."

"There should be better visibility into the application."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning cons

"Sometimes it lags with different cloud environments."

"The market is standard for vulnerability scanning, however, the posture can be improved through Tenable's prioritization engine."

"It isn't easy to manage vulnerabilities in Tenable."

"The cloud and the on-premises versions have their own controllers, and there is no way to centrally manage controllers."

"The report customization needs to be better."

"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is not very user-friendly and you need a lot of information to get proper reports. The tool's support is not very responsive."

"The technical support should be improved. Currently, some attacks are detected while others are not."

"It would be great if there were a dashboard that is more user-friendly."

More Tenable.io Web Application Scanning cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are on an annual license for the solution and the pricing could be more affordable."

"Try the free trial of the product to understand the basic working mechanisms."

"Pricing was reasonable and competitive. It was not too far above the other products."

"From my perspective, it is a budget-friendly option."

"Qualys WAS' pricing is competitive."

"The cost is $30,000 USD for one year to cover WAS (Web Application Security) and the VM (Virtual Machine) security in a company with 200 employees."

"There are different options available with respect to licensing."

"The product has a very good licensing model."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pricing and cost advice

"It follows the same licensing scheme as Tenable.io and Tenable. sc."

"The application is extremely affordable. There are no additional costs involved with licensing. We switched to Tenable.io Web Application Scanning from other solutions due to pricing."

"I rate the product's pricing a four out of ten."

"For Tenable.io Web Application Scanning, it comes to around 6,50,000 Indian rupees, plus taxes."

"The pricing is okay."

"The price of the solution is reasonable compared to the competitors. The license cost is based on the number of users and the annual usage."

"Tenable.io Web Application Scanning is expensive for small businesses."

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845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Qualys Web Application Scanning?

The vulnerability management feature is a strong one. And also the patch management feature.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?

I find it a bit expensive compared to other competitors.

What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?

I would like it to be cheaper because it is a bit expensive compared to competitors like Tenable Nessus ( /products/tenable-nessus-reviews ). After using the product for a year, I might have more s...

What do you like most about Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?

The most effective feature of the product is the ability to scan the entire environment.

What needs improvement with Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?

The market is standard for vulnerability scanning, however, the posture can be improved through Tenable's prioritization engine. This is one key area for improvement.

What advice do you have for others considering Tenable.io Web Application Scanning?

I would recommend Tenable.io Web Application Scanning to others. I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

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Product Reports

Qualys Web Application Scanning

Download Qualys Web Application Scanning product report

Application Security Tools

Download Tenable.io Web Application Scanning product report

Tenable.io Web Application Scanning report

Also Known As

Qualys WAS

No data available

Overview

Qualys Web Application Scanning (WAS) is a fully cloud-based web application security scanner. The scanner will automatically crawl periodically and test web applications to discover potential vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. The consistent testing equips the automated service to generate consistent results, lessen false positives, and offer the ability to scale to protect thousands of websites effortlessly.

Qualys Web Application Scanning is bundled with different scanning technology to carefully scan websites for malware infections and will send notifications to website owners to assist in preventing blacklisting and brand reputation damage. As digital transformation takes place in various organizations, Qualys WAS gives organizations the ability to track and document their web app security status through its interactive reporting capabilities.

Qualys WAS empowers organizations to remediate any web application vulnerabilities quickly. Some of the key tools offered are:

Deep Scanning: All apps and APIs on your internal network and public cloud are covered by Qualys WAS deep scanning to show you any visible vulnerabilities.
DevSec Ops Tool: Detect security issues in your code while still in app development stages and generate comprehensive reports.
Comprehensive Discovery: Discover and catalog new and unknown web apps in your network.
Malware Detection: Scan a website, identify vulnerabilities, and receive alerts to any infections.

Benefits of Qualys Web Application Scanning

Qualys Web Application Scanning offers many benefits, including:

Quick Deployment: Requires no infrastructure or software to upkeep.
Effortless Scalability: Effortlessly launch a deep scan and protect thousands of websites.
Centralized Management: Manage and mend all web app vulnerabilities through a single interface.
Excellent Integration Capabilities: Integrates with Qualys Web App Firewall (WAF) for a single-click virtual patching of found vulnerabilities.
Respond to Threats Immediately: Qualys Continuous Monitoring offers the user a hands-free service by automatically launching scanning and sending notifications of a potential threat.
Cost-effective Solution: Data is analyzed in real time as Qualys WAS is an end-to-end solution; this helps avoid costs associated with managing multiple security vendors.

Reviews from Real Users

Qualys Web Application Scanning stands out among its competitors for a variety of reasons. Two of those reasons are its progressive scan and quick detection of vulnerabilities.

P.K., a senior software developer at a tech vendor, writes, "The feature that I have found most valuable is the progressive scan. It is good. It's done in 24 hours."

Nagaraj S., lead cybersecurity engineer at a tech service company, notes, "I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."

Qualys

Tenable.io Web Application Scanning safely, accurately and automatically scans your web applications, providing deep visibility into vulnerabilities and valuable context to prioritize remediation.

Tenable

Sample Customers

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.

IMDEX

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs. Tenable.io Web Application Scanning