Rapid7 vs Tenable: Top Vulnerability Scanner Comparison

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Most data on the internet is prone to cyberattacks, which is why businesses tend to invest heftily in their data security. With robust vulnerability scanning and management tools from vendors like Tenable and Rapid7, organizations can enhance their security and prioritize mitigation strategies accordingly. 

This guide provides an overview of Tenable and Rapid7’s vulnerability scanning and management solutions. It compares their pricing, partnerships, and use cases so your business can decide which is the better choice for its specific needs. 

Rapid7 vs Tenable

Rapid7 vs Tenable at a glance

Category  Rapid7 Nexpose Rapid7 InsightVM  Tenable Nessus Tenable.io VM 
Pricing  30-day free trial; pricing available through sales From $2.19 to $1.62/asset per month

Professional plan for pen testers and analysts: $3,390/year

Expert plan for SMBs: $4,990/year license

Advanced support: add-on capability

Tenable.io licenses vary based on the number of supported assets.

Only 65 assets: $2,275/year

200 assets: $7,000/year

Free Trial 30-day free trial 30-day free trial 7-day free trial Free trial, unclear duration
Core Features 


Real-time risk insights

Detailed risk scoring system

Asset groups for remediation


Risk prioritization

Integrations with threat feeds

Attack surface monitoring

RESTFUL API


High CVE catalog

Customizable reports for clients

Coverage for multiple network devices


Dashboards for asset analysis

Vulnerability prioritization 

Attack surface management 

Rapid7 vs Tenable: Portfolio

Rapid7

Rapid7 logo.Rapid7 aims to eradicate barriers for businesses that find it difficult to grasp cybersecurity. The vendor uses its expertise to provide customers with an easy way to secure their data. 

Rapid7 Nexpose is an on-premises vulnerability scanner. It allows security administrators to create asset groups and tag specific assets to help prioritize remediation targets. Nexpose offers remediation reports for IT teams and specific remediation instructions.

InsightVM, Rapid7’s vulnerability management solution, locates vulnerable spots in an organization’s IT environment and offers clarity on risk management. InsightVM provides vulnerability management expertise along with application security. 

InsightVM offers a free trial for potential customers. 

Tenable 

Tenable logo.Tenable provides entirely integrated cloud-based software and is known for its expertise in employing an analytics-led approach. This approach incorporates a multitude of solutions, such as the Nessus platform, to safeguard a business’s online security online. 

Tenable’s portfolio also further incorporates web application security, attack surface management, and cloud security solutions. These solutions assist businesses in executing better ideas and effective decisions with regard to the security of their data. 

Nessus, Tenable’s vulnerability assessment tool, offers prebuilt templates for security teams and supports customizable reporting. Nessus also draws from Tenable’s research on zero-day threats. 

Tenable.io is the expanded vulnerability management platform that includes Nessus features as well as remediation recommendations. 

Read more about different types of vulnerability scans.

Rapid7 vs Tenable: Partners  

Rapid7 

Rapid7 collaborates with partners in two categories: sales and technology. While the company’s sales partners offer access to Rapid7 products, technology partners are collaborators that integrate with Rapid7 products. Highlighted security partners include Palo Alto Networks, FireEye, and CyberArk. Partners that offer storage solutions include IBM, VMware, and Microsoft. 

Tenable

Tenable is well connected with a multitude of security partners in its Cyber Exposure Ecosystem. Accompanied by its partners, Tenable curates cyber exposure data to understand cyberattacks better and reduce them. Security partners include CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Splunk, and Fortinet. Data management and storage providers in the partner ecosystem include Dell, Google Cloud, and Red Hat. 

Rapid7 vs Tenable: Use cases

Rapid7 customers

Financial organization Auden used solutions in the Rapid7 Insight platform, including InsightVM, to secure its data. Auden’s head of information security found that the InsightVM agent was lightweight when deployed on company endpoints. InsightVM and InsightIDR use the same Rapid7 interface, which made it easy for Auden to exchange information between the two solutions.  

Wireless provider Cradlepoint used both Rapid7’s MDR solution and InsightVM to secure its remote laptops and decrease phishing problems. Using InsightVM’s dashboard, Cradlepoint tracked vulnerabilities in Zoom, its primary videoconferencing platform, and viewed business risks created by cyberthreats. 

Manchester Metropolitan University used InsightVM and InsightAppSec to identify vulnerabilities and prevent phishing attacks and data breaches. The university had multiple computer operating systems, and Rapid7 could run on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Manchester’s team found that remediation steps were helpful and straightforward, and InsightVM gave them specific details like the number of vulnerabilities on a specific asset.  

Learn more about the importance of vulnerability scanning in your business infrastructure.  

Tenable customers

Initech is a global organization with 30+ sub-organizations, 40,000 users, 60,000 devices, and 150,000+ active IP addresses. Initech used a hybrid Tenable.io and Nessus Manager solution for managing Nessus Agents. Tenable.io was used for user workstation Nessus Agent scan operations, and Nessus Manager was used for servers and other permanent on-premises infrastructure. Initech then imported all Nessus Agent scan data into Tenable.sc for unified reporting and analytics.

ACME‘s environment consisted of 70,000 assets. ACME utilized the Tenable.io platform to manage agent scanning operations. The organization also used a single Tenable.sc instance to manage 40 scanners and to provide unified analytics for network and Nessus Agent assessment results.

Sprocket utilized Tenable.io for Nessus Agent management. The organization also used Tenable.io for local scan and audit information, remote network scan functionality, and integration with third-party applications via the Tenable.io API.

Does your security team need to conduct a vulnerability scan? Learn how to complete an effective vulnerability scan.

Rapid7 vs Tenable: Overall 

While Rapid7 provides top-notch expertise in terms of vulnerability management, Tenable tends to offer a variety of other solutions as well that are useful for safeguarding your data online. Numerous organizations opt for Tenable due to its diversity of services and expertise.

  Rapid7 Tenable
Portfolio  
Partners   
Use cases   
Ratings   
Overall  

Top 5 Rapid7 & Tenable alternatives

We also provide alternatives businesses should consider for enhancing their data security and cloud management: 

  • WithSecure is a good vulnerability management tool for small businesses, offering reports for each asset or device and scans based on networks and agents
  • Tripwire’s comprehensive solution provides features like advanced vulnerability prioritization to larger organizations and other businesses that need detailed controls. 
  • Alert Logic focuses specifically on network vulnerability scanning, a feature of its managed detection and response platform. 
  • Qualys is a web application scanner designed to locate OWASP top ten threats as well as other security issues in web app environments.
  • Microsoft Defender’s vulnerability management, a good choice for existing Microsoft customers, helps businesses find vulnerabilities in their endpoints and cloud workloads.

Bottom line: Rapid7 vs Tenable vulnerability scanners

Both Rapid7 and Tenable offer useful vulnerability management tools to businesses. Tenable is an excellent choice for small and medium-sized organizations with less experienced teams that need a user-friendly, easy-to-learn solution. 

Rapid7 InsightVM also receives user praise for its easy-to-use dashboard. It’s a good solution for junior security teams, too. Rapid7 also has highly detailed risk prioritization features, making it a good choice for teams that want granular information about a potential threat’s impact on their business. 

Vulnerability scanning and management solutions play an important role in organizations’ security infrastructure, detecting potential threats and in some cases helping businesses mitigate them. Tenable and Rapid7 are both strong contenders in the vulnerability management market. 

Read more about top vulnerability scanning solutions for your business.

Jenna Phipps contributed to this analysis.

Kashyap Vyas
Kashyap Vyas
Kashyap Vyas is a contributing writer to Enterprise Storage Forum. He covers a range of technical topics, including managed services, cloud computing, security, storage, business management, and product design and development. Kashyap holds a Master's Degree in Engineering and finds joy in traveling, exploring new cultures, and immersing himself in Indian classical and Sufi music. uns a consulting agency.

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