Tenable Nessus
Widely used vulnerability scanner that checks hosts and networks for known security flaws.
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About Tenable Nessus
Nessus, from Tenable, is one of the best-known vulnerability scanners. You point it at IP addresses or ranges and it checks the systems it finds for missing patches, known CVEs, weak configurations and exposed services, using a large library of plugins that Tenable keeps updating. Results come with severity scores and remediation guidance, and the paid Professional edition adds compliance and configuration audits, reports in several formats, offline mode and support. Nessus Essentials is a free 30-day licence for up to five IPs, aimed at evaluation and home labs; Essentials Plus is a low-cost yearly licence for students and hobbyists, and both are restricted to non-commercial use. Nessus Professional, for consultants and security teams, has unlimited IPs and is sold as an annual licence. Nessus installs on Windows, macOS and Linux and runs through a web interface. It suits pentesters, consultants and IT teams running point-in-time scans; companies wanting continuous asset-wide coverage usually move to Tenable's larger platforms.
Best for: Pentesters, consultants and IT teams that need trusted point-in-time vulnerability scans.
Pros and cons
What works
- Large, frequently updated plugin library
- Clear severity scoring and remediation guidance
- Compliance and configuration audits in Professional
Why people leave
- Free licence lasts 30 days and covers only 5 IPs
- Professional costs thousands per year
- Cheaper editions are limited to non-commercial use
Top Tenable Nessus alternatives
See all 2- 1
ZAP62.6Free and open source, a better fit if you mainly scan web applications.
- 2
Burp Suite59.6The standard for hands-on web app testing, with an automated scanner in Pro.
Why people left Tenable Nessus
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Tenable Nessus: common questions
Is Tenable Nessus free?
No, Tenable Nessus is a paid product. Essentials Plus price: $199/year (checked on Tenable Nessus's own site).
Is Tenable Nessus open source?
No, Tenable Nessus is not open source. Open-source alternatives include ZAP.
What platforms does Tenable Nessus run on?
Tenable Nessus is available for Windows, macOS, Linux and Web.
What are the best alternatives to Tenable Nessus?
The highest-ranked Tenable Nessus alternatives right now are ZAP and Burp Suite. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.