SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs Tenable Nessus comparison

Sophos and Tenable are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Sophos is ranked #44 with an average rating of 8.3, while Tenable is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Sophos holds a 0.5% mindshare in VM, compared to Tenable’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Sophos users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Tenable users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between SecureWorks Taegis VDR and Tenable Nessus based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Vulnerability Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs. Tenable Nessus Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs. Tenable Nessus

June 2026

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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 TotalCloud

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SecureWorks Taegis VDR is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Nessus is 3.8%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Tenable Nessus	3.8%
Qualys TotalCloud	1.0%
SecureWorks Taegis VDR	0.5%
Other	94.7%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Robert Orłowski

IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.

Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities

Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.

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Mohammad Jundiah

Solutions Architect at QDS

Centralized threat detection has improved incident response and now reduces alert fatigue

SecureWorks Taegis VDR's best features include unified detection and response, as it pulls in alerts and logs from all my different tools such as EDR, SIEM, firewall, cloud services, and Windows machines, collecting everything into one clean dashboard where I can view all these items and eliminate the need to hunt through ten dashboards to piece a threat together. I find it very easy to navigate and customize the dashboard to fit my team's needs once everything is set up, and it is very simple to view the dashboard after setup. Cloud and hybrid support is another valuable feature of SecureWorks Taegis VDR, as it supports on-premise and cloud workloads, managing endpoints and network traffic to provide centralized visibility regardless of where my assets live, whether in the cloud or on-premise. SecureWorks Taegis VDR has positively impacted my organization because of its ease of use. The positive impacts include faster incident response, as I can detect, investigate, and contain threats much faster because it shows the full attack path in one place with deeper analysis of everything, and it reduces alert fatigue by consolidating alerts into one or two high-confidence incidents, which improves analysis efficiency and morale.

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MohammedJaffir

Founder at Cipheroot

Has enabled me to reduce false positives and perform deep credential auditing with seamless integrations

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. Regarding integration capabilities, we can integrate Tenable Nessus with SIM tools such as Splunk, IBM QRadar, and Azure Sentinel, as well as with ticketing systems such as ServiceNow, Jira, and Slack. There is no complexity as it is very easy to integrate everything. In terms of the reporting feature, while vulnerability scanning can throw some false positives, Tenable Nessus has very few, achieving a reduction of 75% to 80% false positives with manual analysis needed. We can generate standard Nessus reports that typically include host summaries and vulnerabilities by host and plugin, alongside solutions and remediation recommendations. The main benefits I get from Tenable Nessus are complete asset inventory and comprehensive attack surface management, allowing us to prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk, focusing on true risk and threat path analysis.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is extensibility."

"It is a cloud-native app that integrates with both IaaS and SaaS. It seamlessly integrates with other platforms."

"Qualys TotalCloud fulfills all these needs."

"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its cloud security posture management, Kubernetes, and container security capabilities."

"By integrating TotalCloud, we have significantly reduced vulnerabilities in our deployment pipeline."

"I would definitely recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."

"The best part I like is the on-demand scans."

"Qualys TotalCloud has significantly improved our organization by automating our reporting processes, reducing the time spent on report creation from two hours to less than fifteen to twenty minutes."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"I chose SecureWorks Taegis VDR because I trust SecureWorks, having worked with McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, Kaspersky, Carbon Black, Cylance, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Cortex XDR, and more, and I would say SecureWorks Taegis VDR is outstanding among all the other vendors in terms of functionality, ease of access, and UI friendliness."

"SecureWorks Taegis VDR's best features include unified detection and response, as it pulls in alerts and logs from all my different tools such as EDR, SIEM, firewall, cloud services, and Windows machines, collecting everything into one clean dashboard where I can view all these items and eliminate the need to hunt through ten dashboards to piece a threat together."

"It is a one-stop solution for different needs with separate APIs. The product offers different solutions for different companies."

"The most valuable feature is the breadth of vulnerabilities that it finds. It's able to find across a lot of different platforms and operating systems. It's also able to combine local testing with network-based testing."

"Tenable Nessus has provided increased visibility across the organization's servers."

"Tenable Nessus has a good performance, is very user-friendly, and is easy to use."

"The value that Tenable Nessus brings to my company is significant because we can see risks; it is also good to see the pages risk and system risks, and it saves money."

"The features of Tenable Nessus that I have found most valuable are its reliability and its ability to collate a dependable output, where we are able to get the same vulnerability when we test manually. The output is quite reliable."

"Tenable Nessus is good. It's the best vulnerability solution in the industry."

"It gives you an unlimited IP scan, is a cheap solution compared to Rapid7 or Qualys, and is very user-friendly so customers can easily scan their network."

"The solution is very good at vulnerability management."

More Tenable Nessus pros

Cons

"There should be improvement from a dashboard perspective when collecting and showcasing data to lead management."

"Two areas for improvement in Qualys TotalCloud are the speed of the public cloud platform and vulnerability detection."

"The cloud licensing unit system is unclear, especially since "units" aren't well-defined."

"There is room for improvement in the support."

"I sometimes have difficulty detecting or uninstalling certain versions of applications, which I have to do manually."

"The vulnerability part is good, but the policy compliance module needs improvement because it involves a lot of manual work. Specifically, the remediation part of the controls requires enhancements."

"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."

"Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its accuracy for non-Windows operating systems."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"I would like to improve SecureWorks Taegis VDR by enhancing the dashboard to provide a holistic view with granular data."

"There is always room for improvement in SecureWorks Taegis VDR, especially regarding user interface and navigation, as the platform is powerful but the UI can feel complex for new users."

"The price could be more reasonable. I used the free Nessus version in my lab with which you can only scan 16 IP addresses. If I wanted to put it in the lab in my network at work, and I'm doing a test project that has over 30 nodes in it, I can't use the free version of Nessus to scan it because there are only 16 IP addresses. I can't get an accurate scan. The biggest thing with all the cybersecurity tools out there nowadays, especially in 2020, is that there's a rush to get a lot of skilled cybersecurity analysts out there. Some of these companies need to realize that a lot of us are working from home and doing proof of concepts, and some of them don't even offer trials, or you get a trial and it is only 16 IP addresses. I can't really do anything with it past 16. I'm either guessing or I'm doing double work to do my scans. Let's say there was a license for 50 users or 50 IP addresses. I would spend about 200 bucks for that license to accomplish my job. This is the biggest complaint I have as of right now with all cybersecurity tools, including Rapid7, out there, especially if I'm in a company that is trying to build its cybersecurity program. How am I going to tell my boss, who has no real budget of what he needs to build his cybersecurity program, to go spend over $100,000 for a tool he has never seen, whereas, it would pack the punch if I could say, "Let me spend 200 bucks for a 50 user IP address license of this product, do a proof of concept to scan 50 nodes, and provide the reason for why we need it." I've been a director, and now I'm an ISO. When I was a director, I had a budget for an IT department, so I know how budgets work. As an ISO, the only thing that's missing from my C-level is I don't have to deal with employees and budgets, but I have everything else. It's hard for me to build the program and say, "Hey, I need these tools." If I can't get a trial, I would scratch that off the list and find something else. I'm trying to set up Tenable.io to do external PCI scans. The documentation says to put in your IP addresses or your external IP addresses. However, if the IP address is not routable, then it says that you have to use an internal agent to scan. This means that you set up a Nessus agent internally and scan, which makes sense. However, it doesn't work because when you use the plugin and tell it that it is a PCI external, it says, "You cannot use an internal agent to scan external." The documentation needs to be a little bit more clear about that. It needs to say if you're using the PCI external plugin, all IP addresses must be external and routable. It should tell the person who's setting it up, "Wait a minute. If you have an MPLS network and you're in a multi-tenant environment and the people who hold the network schema only provide you with the IP addresses just for your tenant, then you are not going to know what the actual true IP address that Tenable needs to do a PCI scan." I've been working on Tenable.io to set up PCI scans for the last ten days. I have been going back and forth to the network thinking I need this or that only to find out that I'm teaching their team, "Hey, you know what, guys? I need you to look past your MPLS network. I need you to go to the edge's edge. Here's who you need to ask to give me the whitelist to allow here." I had the blurb that says the plugin for external PCI must be reachable, and you cannot use an internal agent. I could have cut a few days because I thought I had it, but then when I ran it, it said that you can't run it this way. I wasted a few hours in a day. In terms of new features, it doesn't require new features. It is a tool that has been out there for years. It is used in the cybersecurity community. It has got the CV database in it, and there are other plugins that you could pass through. It has got APIs you can attach to it. They can just improve the database and continue adding to the database and the plugins to make sure those don't have false positives. If you're a restaurant and you focus on fried chicken, you have no business doing hamburgers."

"The professional version is not very scalable. It's not really scalable considering the number of assets and clients that I have."

"Tenable Nessus could improve the reporting."

"They should improve the I/O reporting and the customized spreadsheet export feature."

"In Nessus Professional, the main drawback was that we could have a single-user login password. So it could be better in terms of security."

"It would be better if they had application-level support for mobile devices. They don't have anything to scan mobile devices. Tenable Nessus doesn't have a mobile application vulnerability assessment. I also have issues with the false positive rates. The product has limited features."

"The accuracy of the vulnerability assessment is not up to par yet, as false alarms and false positives occur often."

"While Tenable Nessus is a good enterprise solution, the high price would likely make it prohibitive to smaller organizations."

More Tenable Nessus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."

"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable. It helps us to manage things with very few resources."

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."

"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."

"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."

"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"Cost-wise, it's an affordable tool."

"I think the price is fairly affordable. It provides a license that is fair."

"The solution has a single price for unlimited assets."

"We have a subscription, the licensing fees are paid yearly, and I am using the latest version."

"The is a free version of Tenable Nessus available."

"Its pricing is great and can't be improved. It is very cheap. It is less than 2,000 pounds a license, and you can't really ask for more. It has unlimited IPs and unlimited scans. There are no particular pricing constraints. The only additional cost is the inherent cost of the people to actually review the actual scans."

"Nowadays, your vulnerability applications are going to be kind of pricey because lots of them, including Rapid7, are based upon a base price, but then they add in the nodes. That's where they get you. If you're a big network, obviously, you need to scan everything. Therefore, it's going to be costly. The risk and insurance money associated with having ransomware on my networks is going to cost me more money, time, and marketing than the price of the tool. That's why I'm speaking only as an information security officer to security operations. This is the tool that is there in my toolbox to say whether we vulnerable or not. At this point, I don't care about how much it costs my company to have it because if I wasn't able to report it and we got ransomware, then who cares? I'm probably going to be out of business because it happened. That's why I don't care about the price. I have it, and I could use it effectively and do my report. At the end of the day, even if we get ransomware, as long as I reported it, followed my protocol, and put in the change, irrespective of whether it was ignored or denied, I did my job."

"Its price is high for Libya. The companies here in Libya don't have the awareness of and a good budget for cybersecurity services. If you want them to go for a product, you need to provide something different. This differentiation is related to the price. They should give about 40% to 45% discount per person on the current cost."

More Tenable Nessus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

17%

Construction Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	29

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	40
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	35

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?

The price is very expensive, actually.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?

Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...

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What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?

Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SecureWorks Taegis VDR?

My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for SecureWorks Taegis VDR is that it was very costly on a ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SecureWorks Taegis VDR?

My main use case for SecureWorks Taegis VDR is as a central detection and response platform. For detection and respon...

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What advice do you have for others considering SecureWorks Taegis VDR?

My advice for others looking into using SecureWorks Taegis VDR is to consider its tool consolidation feature, as it r...

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How would you choose between Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus?

You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. Yo...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tenable Nessus?

Based on my experience, the pricing for Tenable Nessus is somewhat higher, but customers still want to pay for it, so...

See all answers

Comparisons

Wiz vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 6% of the time

JupiterOne vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

Nucleus Security vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

More Qualys TotalCloud Competitors

Qualys VMDR vs SecureWorks Taegis VDR

Compared 20% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs SecureWorks Taegis VDR

Compared 18% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs SecureWorks Taegis VDR

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs SecureWorks Taegis VDR

Compared 12% of the time

Balbix BreachControl vs SecureWorks Taegis VDR

Compared 8% of the time

More SecureWorks Taegis VDR Competitors

Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 7% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 7% of the time

Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 4% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 4% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Tenable Nessus

Compared 4% of the time

More Tenable Nessus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys TotalCloud

June 2026

Download Qualys TotalCloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Vulnerability Management

June 2026

Download SecureWorks Taegis VDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Tenable Nessus

May 2026

Download Tenable Nessus product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

No data available

Overview

Qualys TotalCloud enhances security posture across cloud environments with continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and risk visualization, ensuring efficient threat assessment and automated remediation for improved cyber risk reduction.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a robust suite of security tools essential for organizations managing multi-cloud infrastructures. By integrating cloud accounts and automating workflows, it supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering comprehensive vulnerability management and zero-day detection. The platform's user-friendly design, combined with its extensive risk management and unified threat assessment capabilities, enables organizations to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. TruRisk Insights provides clear insights on cyber risks, while the automation options streamline patch management and scanning processes. API integration across IaaS and SaaS environments further enhances resource allocation efficiency and saves time, addressing misconfigurations across cloud environments.

What are the most important features of Qualys TotalCloud?

Accurate Vulnerability Reports: Delivers precise and actionable insights for risk mitigation.
Zero-Day Detection: Identifies and addresses zero-day vulnerabilities proactively.
Unified Threat Assessment: Offers comprehensive evaluation of threats across the environment.
Extensive Risk Management: Manages risks effectively with advanced insights and prioritization.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides non-stop surveillance for vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud-Native Automation: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts using automation.
FlexScan for Internet-Facing VMs: Scans external VMs efficiently to detect vulnerabilities.
Dashboard Risk Visualization: Clear visualization helps prioritize vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances threat detection and response across clouds.
Time Savings: Automation reduces time spent on manual vulnerability management.
Resource Efficiency: Better allocation of resources through streamlined workflows.
Enhanced Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities for effective mitigation.
Integrated Cloud Accounts: Facilitates seamless cloud management and security.

Qualys TotalCloud is deployed in sectors needing rigorous vulnerability management, such as finance and healthcare. Companies utilize it to secure multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP, focus on compliance, and integrate security into CI/CD pipelines to detect and remedy threats pre-deployment.

Qualys

SecureWorks Taegis VDR is a proactive cybersecurity platform designed for vulnerability detection, empowering teams to effectively manage threats.

SecureWorks Taegis VDR stands out for its advanced threat recognition capabilities. Designed to support IT professionals in identifying and mitigating risks, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools for vulnerability management. This platform leverages real-time data analytics and threat intelligence to prioritize vulnerabilities and streamline resolutions. Tailored for specialists aiming for enhanced network security, Taegis VDR integrates seamlessly into cybersecurity strategies to optimize threat response and compliance. Its user-centric interface allows for intuitive navigation and efficient threat prioritization.

What are the key features of SecureWorks Taegis VDR?

Real-Time Threat Detection: Continuously identifies emerging threats to keep networks secure.
Vulnerability Prioritization: Efficiently ranks risks to streamline mitigation efforts.
Comprehensive Reporting: Enhances visibility with detailed analytics and summaries.
Seamless Integration: Easily incorporates into existing IT infrastructure.

What benefits and ROI should be considered when evaluating SecureWorks Taegis VDR?

Cost Efficiency: Reduction in time spent on manual threat analysis leads to cost savings.
Improved Security Posture: Enhances the overall defense mechanism with proactive threat management.
Increased Compliance: Helps maintain compliance with industry regulations through robust reporting.
Operational Efficiency: Streamlined workflows boost productivity by automating routine tasks.

In healthcare, SecureWorks Taegis VDR bolsters patient data protection through continuous monitoring. Financial sectors utilize its real-time analytics for rapid threat assessment, minimizing potential breaches. Manufacturing benefits from its streamlined integration, enhancing overall operational security.

Sophos

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?

Comprehensive Scanning: Covers platforms for in-depth vulnerability detection.
User-Friendly Dashboards: Simplifies monitoring with intuitive interfaces.
Automated Reporting: Streamlines data presentation and dissemination.
Integration Capabilities: Connects seamlessly with other tools for enhanced functionality.
Predictive Prioritization: Focuses on vulnerabilities with the greatest impact potential.

What benefits and ROI should users expect when evaluating Tenable Nessus in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides strong value for investment in anomaly detection.
Real-Time Monitoring: Keeps security threats in check continuously.
Asset Management: Aids in tracking and securing organization-wide assets.
Detailed Reporting: Offers clear insights into compliance and security posture.

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.

Tenable

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University

Buyer's Guide

SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs. Tenable Nessus

June 2026

Free Report: SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs. Tenable Nessus

Find out what your peers are saying about SecureWorks Taegis VDR vs. Tenable Nessus and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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