Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Nessus comparison

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2,660 views|1,560 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Tenable Logo
11,726 views|8,496 comparisons
98% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Rapid7 Metasploit 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 Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Nessus Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The Search Engineering feature is good.""It's not possible to do penetration testing without being very proficient in Metasploit.""It contains almost all the available exploits and payloads.""The tool's most useful feature for penetration testing is its automation capabilities. With the professional edition, you can upload the results from Nessus in the Rapid7 Metasploit solution portal.""The option to generate phishing emails has proven to be very valuable in understanding the behavior of users.""Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.""The solution is open source and has many small targetted penetration tests that have been written by many people that are useful. You can choose different subjects for the test, such as Oracle databases or Apache servers.""The reporting on the solution is good."

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"The most valuable features are that it's fast, it's easy to use and it provides good reports.""I have experience with it on my attack stations, and it's pretty good to optimize. Personally, I think Nessus is quite a good product.""The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is the support it provides for any new vulnerabilities quickly.""The solution can scale well.""The scanning capabilities are most valuable when compared to Nessus.""The most valuable features of Tenable Nessus are the scanning option. Advanced scanning is highly useful. The offline config audits and application assessments are useful.""The initial setup is very straightforward.""The trial version is very good for testing whether it will suit your needs."

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Cons
"The open-source version has reporting limitations. You need to develop these capabilities yourself. Built-in reporting is an excellent feature for penetration testing, but it isn't a must-have. The solution could also cover more vulnerabilities. Metasploit has around 10,000 exploits in its library, but more is always better.""It is necessary to add some training materials and a tutorial for beginners.""Rapid7 Metasploit could be made easier for new users to learn.""Rapid7 Metasploit can add a GUI feature because it is only available online.""The solution is not user-friendly and has room for improvement.""Advanced Infrastructure should be implemented in the next release for better orchestration.""We'd like them to offer better coverage of malware.""I would like to see more capabilities, more functions, and more features. More types of attack vectors."

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"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 reports are okay, but the interface is a bit difficult to navigate in some cases.""The reporting feature needs to be improved.""They could make their reporting a little better.""Nessus' reporting could be more user-friendly.""There is room for improvement in finishing the transition to the cloud. We'd like to see them keep on improving the Tenable.io product, so that we can migrate to it entirely, instead of having to keep the Tenable.sc on-prem product.""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.""Remediation needs improvement."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I use the open-source version of this product. Pricing is not relevant."
  • "It is expensive. Our license expired, and our company is not thinking to renew because of our budget."
  • "The great advantage with Rapid7 Metasploit, of course, is that it's free."
  • "There are two versions available, one of which is the Pro version, and the other is the free version."
  • "Rapid7 Metasploit is cheaper than Tenable.io Vulnerability Management."
  • "On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product's pricing a six. So it's fairly priced."
  • "The pricing structure involves a one-time purchase cost of approximately twenty thousand dollars or euros for all customers."
  • "We pay monthly. The pricing is reasonable."
  • More Rapid7 Metasploit Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing is much more manageable versus other products."
  • "The price of Tenable Nessus is much more competitive versus other solutions on the market."
  • "I think the price is fairly affordable. It provides a license that is fair."
  • "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."
  • "We pay approximately $2,500 on a yearly basis."
  • "We have a subscription, the licensing fees are paid yearly, and I am using the latest version."
  • "We incurred a single cost for a perpetual license, although I cannot comment on the price as this is above my management level."
  • "The price is reasonable."
  • More Tenable Nessus Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I use Rapid7 Metasploit for payload generation and Post-Exploitation.
    Top Answer:Rapid7 Metasploit could be made easier for new users to learn.
    Top Answer:You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. You can easily prioritize vulnerabilities using attacker analytics. Overall, Rapid7… more »
    Top Answer: Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of the program is such that if a company should desire to handle the installation… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Ranking
    11th
    Views
    2,660
    Comparisons
    1,560
    Reviews
    7
    Average Words per Review
    402
    Rating
    7.9
    3rd
    Views
    11,726
    Comparisons
    8,496
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    422
    Rating
    8.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Metasploit
    Learn More
    Overview

    Attackers are always developing new exploits and attack methods—Metasploit penetration testing software helps you use their own weapons against them. Utilizing an ever-growing database of exploits, you can safely simulate real-world attacks on your network to train your security team to spot and stop the real thing.

    Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability management solution that aims to empower organizations to be aware of threats that both they and their customers face. It is the most deployed scanner in the vulnerability management industry. Organizations that use this product have access to the largest continuously updated global library of vulnerability and configuration checks. They can stay ahead of threats that Tenable Nessus’s competitors may be unable to spot. Additionally, Tenable Nessus supports a greater number of technologies than its competitors.

    Tenable Nessus Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Tenable Nessus include:

    • Ease of use. Tenable Nessus is designed with security administrators in mind. It is built so that users can manipulate it intuitively without having to undergo special systems training. Users can create security policies with the greatest level of ease and can initiate scans of their entire networks with only a few clicks.
    • Support and resources. Tenable Nessus has both a support system of clarification resources and technical support for users to rely on. The solution has a resource center that contains guides and tips that can clarify things that confuse users and can aid them in gaining the maximum level of value. Additionally, users can reach out to Tenable Nessus’s technical support team, which is available around the clock and is reachable via a number of methods. This makes it simple for users to get help if they need it.
    • Reduction of threat vectors. Tenable Nessus provides users with the ability to reduce the number of potential threat vectors that a hacker can exploit. It enables users to find where the vulnerabilities in their networks are so their security won’t be compromised. They can then quickly address those weak points and head off issues before any have the chance to arise.

    Tenable Nessus Features

    • Report customization. Tenable Nessus enables users to customize the security reports that their system produces. They are able to set Tenable Nessus to generate reports that contain the information that is most relevant to their business objectives. Users can also utilize these report customization capabilities to customize the formats of their reports.
    • Vulnerability triage capability. Included in the Tenable Nessus security suite is a feature that enables users to conduct a triage of their vulnerabilities. The solution can apply one of five ratings to vulnerabilities that it detects. This makes it possible for organizations to work on addressing issues by order of severity.
    • Scaling. Tenable Nessus can scale to meet an organization’s needs by migrating the network that it is connected to, to other Tenable solutions. Users can scale up their systems as their security demands increase. It is capable of reaching hundreds of thousands of systems.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Tenable Nessus is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its ease of use and its vulnerability scanning feature.

    Rallis F., the principal security architect at a technology vendor, writes, “The ease of use is the primary valuable feature. This specific version is very straightforward. I like the ability to modify it and configure it based on the different policies.”

    Sandip D., a cyber security expert at Birlasoft India Ltd, writes, “The vulnerability scanner is the most valuable feature. It's an important feature for us. We use the plugin output for that. It shows us the exact version of Nessus and what is needed for remediation. Based on that, we decide what should be remediated first to get the best result for security.”

    Sample Customers
    City of Corpus Christi, Diebold, Lumenate, Nebraska Public Power District, Prairie North Regional Health, Apptio, Automation Direct, Bob's Stores, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, Carnegie Mellon University
    Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider36%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Mining And Metals Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Security Firm9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization35%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise57%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise43%
    Large Enterprise41%
    Buyer's Guide
    Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Nessus
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Nessus and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Rapid7 Metasploit is ranked 11th in Vulnerability Management with 18 reviews while Tenable Nessus is ranked 3rd in Vulnerability Management with 75 reviews. Rapid7 Metasploit is rated 7.6, while Tenable Nessus is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Rapid7 Metasploit writes "Helps find vulnerabilities in a system to determine whether the system needs to be upgraded". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tenable Nessus writes "Unlimited assets for one price and quick, agentless results". Rapid7 Metasploit is most compared with Pentera, Acunetix, Rapid7 InsightVM, Nucleus and Wireshark, whereas Tenable Nessus is most compared with Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM, Tenable Security Center, Tenable Vulnerability Management and Microsoft Intune. See our Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Nessus report.

    See our list of best Vulnerability Management vendors.

    We monitor all Vulnerability Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.