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Tenable Nessus pros and cons

Vendor: Tenable
4.2 out of 5
Badge Leader

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Tenable Nessus is highly valued for its vulnerability detection and management capabilities.
Users appreciate the easy setup and straightforward installation process of Tenable Nessus.
Tenable Nessus integrates effectively with other tools and supports streamlined scanning processes.
Many users find Tenable Nessus to be cost-effective and scalable, offering significant value for its affordability.
The reporting feature of Tenable Nessus is robust and provides insightful recommendations for vulnerability remediation.

CONS

False positives are an issue with Tenable Nessus, causing unnecessary work and confusion.
The reporting feature in Tenable Nessus is cumbersome and not user-friendly.
Pricing has become a significant concern, as it has increased dramatically in recent years.
Integration with other vendors' IPS solutions could be improved to automate processes.
Scalability issues exist, particularly for large enterprises needing flexible pricing and licensing options.
 

Tenable Nessus Pros review quotes

MohammedJaffir - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Cipheroot
Oct 21, 2025
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.
Kayhan Kayihan - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at RSU Consultancy
Sep 8, 2025
The solution provides time saving and cost saving benefits.
reviewer1917156 - PeerSpot reviewer
Freelancer And CEO at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Mar 6, 2026
For me, the key value is the ease of use and integration with SIEMs because it has built-in integrations with IBM QRadar and others.
Learn what your peers think about Tenable Nessus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
NW
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
Jul 7, 2025
The best features of Tenable Nessus include its compatibility with other applications such as SIEM and other apps, allowing Tenable Nessus to work smoothly with them.
HarshBhardiya - PeerSpot reviewer
SOC Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Nov 11, 2024
The scanning and reporting features are the most valuable aspects of Tenable Nessus.
DH
Security Center Coordinator at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
Mar 27, 2025
The most valuable features of Tenable Nessus include its ease of access and quick usability.
Amit Beniwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Al Hassan LLC
Jul 4, 2024
You can then direct your team to create a report on the discovered vulnerabilities.
JT
Former Employee of Orange Business Services as Head of Security Engineering at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
May 11, 2023
Security is the key number because it can start to scan with a few clicks instead of credits, which is a bit complicated. So simplicity is the first advantage. Then the generated reports are well done and easy to present to management. The quality of the scan is quite good in detecting the severity. The solution has simplicity. Also, it has frequent updates so that is also a valuable feature.
Matthew Weisler - PeerSpot reviewer
Sole Proprietor at Core-Infosec
Feb 16, 2023
Quick assessments, compliance scores, and results are provided without having to do agents.
DD
Assistant Director for Computing and Network infrastructure at SRCE
Mar 11, 2024
We have around 500 virtual machines. Therefore, we conduct monthly scans and open tickets for our developers to address identified vulnerabilities. These scans cover the servers, other network equipment, and appliances in our infrastructure.
 

Tenable Nessus Cons review quotes

MohammedJaffir - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Cipheroot
Oct 21, 2025
Tenable Nessus is very costly compared to OpenVAS and sits on the higher side.
Kayhan Kayihan - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at RSU Consultancy
Sep 8, 2025
The integration part is not good because five years ago, Tenable Nessus had more integration capability. After that, Tenable changed their policies and strategy.
reviewer1917156 - PeerSpot reviewer
Freelancer And CEO at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Mar 6, 2026
Based on my experience, the pricing for Tenable Nessus is somewhat higher, but customers still want to pay for it, so it remains acceptable.
Learn what your peers think about Tenable Nessus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
NW
Senior Security Consultant at ITSEC Asia
Jul 7, 2025
The most that Tenable Nessus could improve is its speed because they might have put a lot of effort into compatibility issues that downgrade the speed.
HarshBhardiya - PeerSpot reviewer
SOC Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Nov 11, 2024
The user interface of Tenable Nessus feels outdated and could be more user-friendly.
DH
Security Center Coordinator at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
Mar 27, 2025
The pricing point has increased significantly in recent years. The product's pricing has roughly tripled within the last couple of years, making us reconsider renewing the license for the scanner.
Amit Beniwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Al Hassan LLC
Jul 4, 2024
Tenable Nessus could include a broader range of IT assets.
JT
Former Employee of Orange Business Services as Head of Security Engineering at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
May 11, 2023
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.
Matthew Weisler - PeerSpot reviewer
Sole Proprietor at Core-Infosec
Feb 16, 2023
It would be nice for the professional module to include some of the reports available in the expert module.
DD
Assistant Director for Computing and Network infrastructure at SRCE
Mar 11, 2024
One significant drawback we encounter is the tool's tendency to flag patched packages incorrectly. For instance, if a package is patched by Debian maintainers but not updated to a major or minor version, Nessus may still flag it as vulnerable based on its database. This discrepancy leads to false alarms and requires our developers, system admins, and DevOps teams to address them.