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Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Vulnerability Management 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
7.0
Tenable Vulnerability Management offers cost-effective vulnerability identification, improving processes, visibility, automation, and IT ecosystems despite financial metric uncertainties.
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
 

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
6.1
Tenable Support is responsive and knowledgeable, though response times and escalation process for complex issues can improve.
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
It needs improvement in response time and addressing feature requests promptly.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The technical support of Tenable Vulnerability Management is available 24/7, and whenever we require support, we can get it within five minutes.
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
We had used Tenable's expert support services in order to make sure that we run Tenable Vulnerability Management on a continuous basis and are able to utilize their services.
Deputy Global Chief Information Security Officer at Nissan Digital
 

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
7.6
Tenable Vulnerability Management scales effectively for various sectors, leveraging cloud-based infrastructure and lightweight agents for seamless deployment.
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
They can seamlessly scale the number of endpoints from 100 to 1,000,000 in a day.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Tenable Vulnerability Management is highly scalable.
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
With the growing needs of our company, Tenable Vulnerability Management is able to safely adapt.
Deputy Global Chief Information Security Officer at Nissan Digital
 

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
8.1
Tenable Vulnerability Management is praised for its reliable, stable performance, minimal downtime, and longstanding market reputation.
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
I have faced no stability issues with Tenable.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The stability is commendable, and I would rate Tenable ten out of ten.
Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The stability of Tenable Vulnerability Management is highly reliable.
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
 

Room For Improvement

Rapid7 Metasploit needs faster updates, improved tools integration, better UI, enhanced features, and updated evasion capabilities for modern defenses.
Users criticize Tenable's interface, customization, pricing, support, setup complexity, and suggest improvements for SMB compatibility and user-friendliness.
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
They should also accelerate the process of implementing new features upon request.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would suggest HP WebInspect as a better option than Tenable.io.
Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Tenable Vulnerability Management is not very effective for real-time risk prioritization for our organization's security strategy.
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
 

Setup Cost

Rapid7 Metasploit's pricing ranges from free to $20,000, with varied opinions on its affordability compared to competitors.
Tenable Vulnerability Management is costly, with prices from $2,300 to $137,000, suitable for enterprises but pricey for SMBs.
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
Tenable charges around $40 per device, while Rapid7 costs $10 to $15 per device.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would not say very expensive for Tenable Vulnerability Management; it is not prohibitive, but at the same time, there are some other tools in the marketplace which are offering the same kind of services that Tenable offers, the same kind of features that Tenable has offered at a lesser cost.
Deputy Global Chief Information Security Officer at Nissan Digital
 

Valuable Features

Rapid7 Metasploit excels in penetration testing with strong integration, comprehensive features, and efficient management in a unified platform.
Tenable offers seamless interface, robust scanning, and integration, with AI-driven prioritization and continuous updates for effective vulnerability management.
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
Tenable enables vulnerability management through potential AI integration that consolidates efforts and resolves multiple vulnerabilities simultaneously.
Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The main benefit of integration with Tenable Vulnerability Management is that there will be no lack of missing vulnerabilities when it comes to the patching environment.
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
The best features of Tenable Vulnerability Management are flexibility, breadth and scope, and the fact that their current vulnerabilities come out, and they have tests for them within a day or two.
SOC Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 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 Vulnerability Manag...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Patch Management (11th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (2nd)
 

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 Vulnerability Management is 3.2%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Tenable Vulnerability Management3.2%
Rapid7 Metasploit1.5%
Other95.3%
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.
Chethan Gowda - PeerSpot reviewer
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
Have maintained accurate vulnerability scans and gained actionable remediation insights across thousands of servers
Tenable Vulnerability Management agents are very lightweight, and the results we get are very accurate. The solutions they provide to us, assuming if one vulnerability exists, there will be a solution. The resolution they give us in wording will be the best solution. The exploit rates and the reports we get provide a lot of information, making it very easy for us to verify.The main benefit of integration with Tenable Vulnerability Management is that there will be no lack of missing vulnerabilities when it comes to the patching environment. That is one of the key aspects of why we have integrated Tenable to our patching tools. It has a vast capacity of pushing the data to our tools due to its capability and compatibility. That is also one of the reasons why we are using Tenable Vulnerability Management.
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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
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

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 Business20
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise21
 

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's the difference between Tenable Nessus and Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?
Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of the program is such that if a company should desire to handle the installation t...
What needs improvement with Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?
I don't think that there is any very specific area where enhancements need to happen in Tenable Vulnerability Management's feature sets. The only area which possibly is not a part of the feature, b...
 

Also Known As

Metasploit
Tenable.io
 

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
Global Payments AU/NZ
Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.