--- title: "Nessus Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Nessus Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Vulnerability Management products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/130577/Nessus/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- # Nessus Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 19, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Nessus ## What is Nessus? Built for security practitioners, by security professionals, Nessus Professional is the de-facto industry standard for vulnerability assessment. Nessus performs point-in-time assessments to help security professionals quickly identify and fix vulnerabilities, including software flaws, missing patches, malware, and misconfigurations. With features such as pre-built policies and templates, group snooze functionality, and real-time updates, it makes vulnerability assessment easy and intuitive. ## What is Nessus used for? [Vulnerability Scanner](https://www.capterra.com/vulnerability-scanner-software/)[Vulnerability Management](https://www.capterra.com/vulnerability-management-software/)[Network Security](https://www.capterra.com/network-security-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 95 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 98% Neutral 2% Negative 0% Starting price $4000.2 Flat Rate, One Time Free trial available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Nessus?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/tenable-nessus/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Nessus 4.7 (95) VS. [4.6 (44)](https://www.capterra.com/p/185510/ManageEngine-Vulnerability-Manager-Plus/reviews/) Starting Price $4000.2 Flat Rate, One Time Starting Price $695 Flat Rate, Per Year Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.6 (95) Ease Of Use 4.5 (42) Value For Money 4.5 (76) Value For Money 4.5 (36) Customer Service 4.3 (73) Customer Service 4.5 (36) ## Nessus alternatives [4.7 (26)](https://www.capterra.com/p/171539/Netsparker-Web-Application-Security-Scanner/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 92% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars Highest Rated [4.9 (333)](https://www.capterra.com/p/218549/UserWay/reviews/) Starting price $69.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.8 (23)](https://www.capterra.com/p/236943/Red-Sentry/#reviews) Starting price $4200.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 100% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [CyLock EVA](https://www.capterra.com/p/253040/CyLock-Anti-Hacker/) [4.9 (42)](https://www.capterra.com/p/253040/CyLock-Anti-Hacker/reviews/) Starting price $29.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 100% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/253040/CyLock-Anti-Hacker/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/130577/Nessus/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Nessus Overview ### What problems does Nessus solve? Nessus solves the lack of visibility into known vulnerabilities, missing patches, insecure configurations, and compliance gaps across networks, servers, cloud assets, and web applications. Security analysts, IT administrators, penetration testers, and auditors use scheduled, credentialed scans and prioritized reports to identify affected systems, document findings, and guide remediation work. Answer based on 88 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from Nessus? Nessus is most used by information security analysts, security engineers, and network administrators who scan systems for vulnerabilities, prioritize remediation, and validate security controls. CISOs and information security managers use reporting to track risk and guide remediation decisions, while security consultants support client assessments, penetration testing, and compliance reviews. Answer based on 93 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is Nessus built for? Nessus is designed to identify and fix vulnerabilities for small businesses and Information Technology and Services organizations, which represent 49% and 21% of reviewers. It also serves enterprises (28%) and midsize businesses (23%), with Computer and Network Security at 19% and Computer Software at 8%. Its most common use is vulnerability scanning. Answer based on 94 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Nessus? Nessus includes vulnerability assessment and vulnerability scanning for identifying security issues across network and application environments. It provides detailed vulnerability findings with remediation information, network scanning for examining systems and subnets, and vulnerability/threat prioritization that ranks issues by severity to help organize remediation work. Answer based on 12 reviews Pricing ### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included? Nessus offers a free version and free trial, with Basic starting at $4,000.20 for a one-year license. Plan 2 costs 7,800.39 for two years, while Plan 3 costs 11,400.60 for three years. Advanced support adds 472 and training adds 230.10; reviewers describe paid pricing as both reasonable and expensive, with Pro limited to one user. Answer based on 21 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does Nessus offer? Nessus provides live online sessions, webinars, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. Live online sessions and webinars support guided instruction, while documentation and videos offer self-paced reference material for learning features and reviewing setup steps as needed. Answer based on 2 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does Nessus offer, and how do users rate the experience? Nessus offers email/help desk, FAQ/forum, knowledge base, phone support, and chat. Users often describe support as helpful and able to provide clear solutions, but experiences vary. Some report inadequate assistance with initial setup, cloud connections, agent issues, and updates, requiring independent troubleshooting. Answer based on 10 reviews Features and Usability ### How well does Nessus handle vulnerability scanning? Nessus provides flexible vulnerability scanning for networks, hosts, web applications, compliance checks, and credentialed assessments. Security teams value its current plugins, detailed findings, scheduling, and remediation guidance, though scans can consume significant resources, take longer than expected, and struggle with complex web authentication or systems protected by multi-factor authentication. Answer based on 55 reviews Features and Usability ### Is Nessus easy to use for vulnerability scanning? Nessus offers a clean, easy-to-navigate interface that helps administrators set up scans and review findings quickly. Beginners and small security teams often find deployment and basic templates straightforward, while new administrators may need time to configure advanced scans. Some users also want clearer documentation and more interface customization options. Answer based on 14 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 624 Vulnerability Management reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of vulnerability management software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Vulnerability Scanning** (**66%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Vulnerability/Threat Prioritization** (**64%**) - **Patch Management** (**64%**) Nessus supports all three features that reviewers rate most highly: **Vulnerability Scanning**, **Vulnerability/Threat Prioritization**, and **Patch Management**. Together, these capabilities help businesses identify security issues, focus on the most urgent risks, and address weaknesses faster, allowing teams to improve security coverage and reduce exposure across their environments. Vulnerability Scanning 4.8 (18) 61.11% of 18 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Discover patch statuses and vulnerabilities Vulnerability/Threat Prioritization 4.5 (20) 60.00% of 20 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Classify levels of threat and organize actions based on priorities Vulnerability Assessment 4.7 (26) 69.23% of 26 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important The process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing the vulnerabilities in a system. Risk Assessment 4.3 (6) 16.67% of 6 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Initiate collection and analysis of known risks Network Scanning 4.7 (19) 68.42% of 19 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Scanning networks to identify security threats Web-Application Security 4.3 (18) 66.67% of 18 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Identify and respond to security threats to web applications Nessus 33 features ### All Features - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - API: Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases - Application Security: Identify and respond to security threats to developed applications - Assessment Management: Creation, administration, and evaluation of assessments or tests - Audit Management: Plan, schedule, and execute organization's accounts and assets to ensure compliance with policies and laws - Audit Trail: A record of all activities within the system, including user access, changes made, etc. - Compliance Management: Track and manage adherence to policies for any service, product, process, or supplier - Compliance Tracking: Track and report regulatory data to either internal management or external stakeholders - Monitoring: Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user - Network Scanning: Scanning networks to identify security threats - Network Security: Prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources - Patch Management: Install software updates and bug fixes remotely - Penetration Testing: A simulated attack attempting to gain access to resources that they should not have access/permissions to perform operations. - Policy Management: Create, manage, and track policies and procedures within an organization - Real-Time Analytics: Analyze and gain insights into data in real-time - Real-Time Data: Receive data and information in real time - Real-Time Monitoring: Active monitoring of systems, applications, or networks - Real-Time Reporting: Active reporting of data and metrics - Reporting & Statistics: Collection, analysis, and representation of numerical data and generation of reports to understand various patterns - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - Risk Analysis: Analyze potential risks across the organization - Risk Assessment: Initiate collection and analysis of known risks - Runtime Container Security: Continuously vetting activities within the container application environment including hosts, open ports, protocols and payloads. - Threat Intelligence: Information to prevent, understand and identify cyber threats - Threat Protection: Protect incoming and outgoing communications against malware, spam, display spoofing, and other threats - Vulnerability Assessment: The process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing the vulnerabilities in a system. - Vulnerability Management: Detect (and block) vulnerabilities and threats in your applications based on vulnerability information - Vulnerability Protection: Safeguards to protect network vulnerabilities - Vulnerability Scanning: Discover patch statuses and vulnerabilities - Vulnerability/Threat Prioritization: Classify levels of threat and organize actions based on priorities - Web-Application Security: Identify and respond to security threats to web applications - Website Crawling: Crawling and indexing web pages --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.6 (95) 4.6 Based on 95 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.5 (76) Free Trial Free Version [View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/130577/Nessus/pricing/) Basic $4,000.2 Flat Rate,One Time It includes: - Accurate Visibility - Advanced Detection - Easy-to-Use - Phone/Community/Chat Support Plan 2 $7,800.39 Flat Rate,One Time It includes: - Accurate Visibility - Advanced Detection - Easy-to-Use - Phone/Community/Chat Support Plan 3 $11,400.6 Flat Rate,One Time It includes: - Accurate Visibility - Advanced Detection - Easy-to-Use - Phone/Community/Chat Support Value for money 4.5 (76) 4.5 Based on 76 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.3 (73) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.3 (73) 4.3 Based on 73 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 95 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(67) 4(26) 3(2) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful DS David S. Vice President of Global Sales Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Nessus gave me the answer as to which of my boxes needed patches, so I'll continue using it." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 November 4, 2026 It is something that cannot be realistically done manually. You point it at your network and it goes off and checks installed software versions, config files, etc. and returns a list of what needs to be patched and/or configured incorrectly. For me that is the whole purpose behind using it. I do not have time to remotely connect to 30 computers and verify their current patch level individually. In addition, it provides a documentated report that can be handed over to management when asked "Are we actually patched?" Pros After working for 10 hours and after spilling who knows what on my laptop keyboard last week - this is hard for me to type. But seriously, the only good thing I like about Nessus is the plugin output. Unlike some other scanners, Nessus will show you where the problem exists (host and port), along with the actual output from the test. This way when an administrator says its a false positive, I can copy/paste the proof right in the ticket and we're done. With other scanners, they give you a red number and a CVE # and then you spend half of your day trying to prove to them that the issue is legitimate. Cons Nessus takes forever to perform a full scan. I launched a full scan against 6 hosts late last night; left for dinner; had dinner; came home; and it was still running. I get annoyed with the constant false positives I receive from Debian & Ubuntu since the distribution backports the fixes and doesn't increment the version number. Then Nessus flags it as being broken simply based upon the version number string. Every single time I see it, I go through the motions of marking it as accepted risk with notes and a month later it pops back up and I do everything over again. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Ben S. Infrastructure Architect Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "If you are not already using Nessus as a core product for security scanning, you should start today. " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 August 12, 2026 We have been using Nessus for years, and run full scans on a regular basis. Issues are resolved as soon as possible after detection and ones that cannot be resolved are documented and reported to management. Pros Nessus is an excellent vulnerability assessment tool that can be purchased at very low cost and provides tremendous value and protection to an organization. Their support is excellent, licensing is simple, and the product is always up to date with scanning for zero-day issues. Cons The only thing I wish Nessus would improve upon would be the ability to add devices into a custom group, and then be able to select that group for different scans and reports. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer System Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "The quality is OK but they should support more API call to do automation" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 November 18, 2019 Simple, the quality of report also good. The price is reasonable for Pro version. Pros Simple interface, even end-user can use it. Easy to install. Cons Everything is good, but since they stop nessus manager, I can not find the way to do automation. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. VR Verified Reviewer Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Nessus Vulnarability Scanning Tool" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 29, 2021 Nessus is #1 Vulnerability scanning tool which I ever seen and also Nessus tool has given fullest support to get PCIDSS certificate to our organization. I strongly commanding others to protect there organization with Nessus tool. Pros Administrator can simply use predefined policy and easy to apply related product as a template. Also the reporting is 99.99% accuracy and easy to understand and easy to find a solutions. Cons When we define a bulk scan, Nessus tool is getting more Computer/Server resources. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Jeremy B. Offensive Security Consultant Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Decent product with awful price tag" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 2.0 2.0 Likelihood to Recommend 3/10 May 9, 2025 Solid product, minus reporting. But massively overpriced and undermaintained. Pros good for discovery, fingerprinting, and finding CVEs for systems/software Cons performance is pretty poor, licensing experience is poor, does not normalize scope data, does not always show its work in scan output, lots of typos in finding text, filtering does not work as well as one would hope Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Associate Professor Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Nessus: Vulnerability Scanner with Appealing Reporting Capabilities" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 July 31, 2023 Nessus is a must for network security testing and vulnerability analysis. Together with Nmap, Nessus gives a much better penetration testing and vulnerability analysis of networks and virtualized cloud infrastructures. Pros I used Nessus with nmap for testing the vulnerability of virtualized networks in controlled environments. The main motivation behind the selection of Nessus is to have a user-friendly vulnerability report with categorized network exploits and OS weaknesses. Nessus provides accurate results (though some false positives are noticed in hardened Linux environments). The advanced reporting capabilities in Nessus makes the vulnerability results easily exported and documented to relational databases. Moreover, the various Nessus reports can be compared after hardening the OS with different security configurations. Cons Nessus is very accurate but sometimes, especially with latest versions of Ubuntu, many false positives are noticed. Still Nessus results are considered highly informative and the false positives can be autonomously filtered to provide more accurate vulnerability analysis and reporting. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Kevin H. CISO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Nessus Professional Gets The Job Done" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 August 27, 2020 This product does a great job of informing your IT and security groups on what may be vulnerable in your environment. Especially if your organization is looking to begin a program, start small and use this service to build up your processes and program before sinking large amounts of money into other services or products. Pros Nessus is still the industry leader in this arena, and the ability for the product to identify vulnerabilities accurately is still the high water mark to beat. You can be up and running in just a few minutes, and the ability to have recurring scans is a great way for this product to help you with your security program. The "Plugin Output" fields help greatly when trying to determine if tests are a false positive, and lends additional credence to your system administrators when you can show them exactly \*why\* something has been detected as a vulnerability. Cons There are no ways to track vulnerabilities or your efforts to monitor them over time; this truly is just a point-in-time view of your environment unless you upgrade to a much more expensive product. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Lead Consultant Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "A Must have for MSSP" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 September 6, 2024 Pros A Professional tool that gives stellar results Cons Price can be a bit steep for small businesses Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. GR Geoffrey R. Director of Information Technology and Security Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Nessus for vulnerability scanning" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 July 24, 2019 After our first major client security audit, we implemented Nessus to run weekly internal and external vulnerability scans. Not only does this help satisfy our client demands, but it helps us find vulnerabilities in our systems and helps us find patches and solutions to the vulnerabilities. Pros Easy to set up, use and report on. We started using this application after our first major client security audit a few years ago. It's a been great tool. Cons Not much to dislike with Nessus. Maybe some better reports, and the cost could always be better, although it's not bad. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer CEO Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "We use and we like it" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 24, 2019 We implemented Nessus very easy, with the support from the vendor. Good price and very good solution. Pros We use Nessus because is very good tool to manage you vulnerabilities. Fast scan and easy to make reports and to monitor vulnerabilities. Easy to adjust the profile scan, easy to add scan targets. Good price and a lot of features. Cons We did not find any problems with the Nessus vulnerability management. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/130577/Nessus/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. 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