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Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Security Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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
4.3
Rapid7 Metasploit efficiently identifies vulnerabilities and saves costs but is average for experienced users or those using Qualys/Nessus.
Sentiment score
6.5
Tenable Security Center boosts ROI by minimizing costs, enhancing security, reducing manpower needs, and preventing costly data breaches.
Metasploit has helped save time, especially with testing websites or VIPD projects.
Information security engineer at Cyberisk
The ROI can be very rapid for organizations using vulnerability assessment for the first time.
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
If we cannot adjust how to operate the solution, then it becomes very difficult, so hearing and initial tuning are very important.
Marketing Expert at J's communication
Through the use of Tenable Security Center, my clients achieve more efficient patching and gain visibility and understanding of security operations, leading to improved resilience and infrastructure insight.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
Rapid7 Metasploit support has mixed reviews, with helpful resources but varying response times and effectiveness compared to Cisco.
Sentiment score
7.4
Tenable Security Center customer support is responsive and knowledgeable, with U.S. support rated higher than the European counterpart.
Rapid7 sometimes struggles with queries from non-security people, whereas Tenable is more patient.
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
The customer support is excellent
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Longer response times and less thorough assistance.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
They are helpful and were very helpful to us, coordinating with us on several issues.
Head of Information Security at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.1
Rapid7 Metasploit's scalability opinions vary, some see limitations, others appreciate flexibility; performance varies by project and infrastructure.
Sentiment score
8.0
Tenable Security Center is praised for its seamless scalability, adaptability, and integration, accommodating diverse organizational needs and sizes effectively.
Metasploit can handle big projects and is already prepared for them.
Information security engineer at Cyberisk
Rapid7 Metasploit is highly scalable.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Rapid7 Metasploit has limited scalability based on my experience, as the customer receives the full functionality of the product with the license.
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
I can scale it extensively with the use of agents, allowing scanning in restrictive environments and loosely connected devices.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
Scalability is a bit limited with Tenable Security Center.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Rapid7 Metasploit's stability is highly praised, with recent versions improving and rated 8-9/10, despite occasional network issues.
Sentiment score
8.0
Tenable Security Center is highly stable and reliable, handling large tasks efficiently with users rating its stability highly.
I have never faced any technical issues or downtimes.
Information security engineer at Cyberisk
I find Metasploit to be very stable, and I would rate its stability as a nine out of ten.
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
The stability of the solution is outstanding.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Room For Improvement

Rapid7 Metasploit needs faster updates, improved tools integration, better UI, enhanced features, and updated evasion capabilities for modern defenses.
Users desire improved reporting, third-party integration, interface design, vulnerability handling, web scanning, pricing, support, and user-friendly features.
While you can check the vulnerability, and the system will tell you there is no vulnerability, usually, a human can change one, two, or three parameters and using the same technique and the same scripts can break the system.
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The database is not always updated with the latest vulnerabilities or zero-day exploits.
Information security engineer at Cyberisk
The time taken to fetch reports based on the number of events can be extensive.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's important for Tenable to catch up on testing capabilities that are present in solutions like Qualys.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The reports and plugins for reports and scans could benefit from enhancements.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Translating reports into European languages is especially relevant in Central Eastern Europe, where clients often require reports in local languages.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Setup Cost

Rapid7 Metasploit's pricing ranges from free to $20,000, with varied opinions on its affordability compared to competitors.
Tenable Security Center is costly per asset, with options including subscription and perpetual licenses, generally pricier than competitors.
The cost is approximately $15 per device.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Metasploit is cheaper than Nessus and offers a more robust community edition that provides a good experience for studying Metasploit.
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
After that, they usually purchase the commercial part of the solution due to its deep integration with InsightVM.
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The product is somewhat pricey, reflecting its valuable features and status as a high-quality solution in the vulnerability management market.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Tenable Security Center is quite expensive, particularly for the CEE region, causing us to lose cases due to its pricing.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
The price of Tenable Security Center is not so high; it's relatively a cheaper solution.
Marketing Expert at J's communication
 

Valuable Features

Rapid7 Metasploit excels in penetration testing with strong integration, comprehensive features, and efficient management in a unified platform.
Tenable Security Center offers comprehensive vulnerability management with intuitive tools, strong integration, and flexible compliance for effective threat detection.
Rapid7 offers comprehensive features within one platform, eliminating the need to integrate multiple tools to see all alerts in one place.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
InsightVM searches for potential threats and vulnerabilities of the infrastructure, and after that, Rapid7 Metasploit validates whether we can break the system using this vulnerability or threat, serving as a validator component of the InsightVM solution.
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The most valuable features of Metasploit include its powerful capabilities for exploitation and scanning.
Information security engineer at Cyberisk
We obtained good reports showing when patches were closed and the details of each patch, including who executed it and everything related to the patching process until it was closed.
Head of Information Security at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Tenable Security Center provides an overall score of vulnerabilities, comparing an organization with others in the same industry.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
The most effective feature of Tenable Security Center for detecting vulnerabilities is its capability for critical mapping.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Rapid7 Metasploit
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tenable Security Center
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (12th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Rapid7 Metasploit is 1.5%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Security Center is 3.1%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Tenable Security Center3.1%
Rapid7 Metasploit1.5%
Other95.4%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1247523 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Extensive exploit database and seamless integration enhance penetration testing capabilities
The automated approach in the audits or in the hacking testing with Rapid7 Metasploit could be improved because even the same attack you provide today will go in different ways another day. I prefer when the auditor or pen-tester provides the attack in a non-automated mode. For some, it might be a valuable option, but I'm not sure it's valuable for us, as after the attack has been provided, we should release a report detailing how it transpired and what the customer should improve to block this way of attack. If the attack was provided in an automated mode, you cannot receive sufficient information that helps with this final report for the customer. While you can check the vulnerability, and the system will tell you there is no vulnerability, usually, a human can change one, two, or three parameters and using the same technique and the same scripts can break the system. Rapid7 Metasploit could be improved in areas concerning the experience with finding particular scripts pre-installed in the solution. Customers, administrators, and pen-testers spend considerable time trying to locate the specific component they need by the name of the technique or the name of the attack, so any improvements in making it easier to find those predefined components by name or timeframe would be beneficial. Search filters could be a correct improvement.
OndrejKOVAC - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
Empower clients with risk-based vulnerability management through continuous workflow and valuable insights
Tenable Security Center could improve by implementing more dynamic data displays and translating reports into European languages. This is especially relevant in Central Eastern Europe, where clients often require reports in local languages. Additionally, the licensing model could be more flexible for managed security providers, similar to a pay-as-you-go model.
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Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Rapid7 Metasploit?
I use Rapid7 Metasploit for payload generation and Post-Exploitation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 Metasploit?
The pricing of Rapid7 Metasploit is quite affordable. It has a free version that many customers start with, and after that, they usually purchase the commercial part of the solution due to its deep...
What needs improvement with Rapid7 Metasploit?
The automated approach in the audits or in the hacking testing with Rapid7 Metasploit could be improved because even the same attack you provide today will go in different ways another day. I prefe...
What do you like most about Tenable SC?
The tool's dashboard and reporting capabilities match our company's needs since we are able to modify the basic view to create a new dashboard, and it works out very well for our needs.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tenable SC?
The price of Tenable Security Center is not so high; it's relatively a cheaper solution.
What needs improvement with Tenable SC?
We did conduct a long implementation which relates to what I think can be improved about Tenable Security Center. In some cases, we needed to refer back to Tenable itself, and in other cases, we ne...
 

Also Known As

Metasploit
Tenable.sc, Tenable Unified Security, Tenable SecurityCenter
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Corpus Christi, Diebold, Lumenate, Nebraska Public Power District, Prairie North Regional Health, Apptio, Automation Direct, Bob's Stores, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, Carnegie Mellon University
IBM, Sempra Energy, Microsoft, Apple, Adidas, Union Pacific
Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Security Center and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.