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Nucleus Security vs Qualys VMDR comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (8th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (6th)
Nucleus Security
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
54th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (40th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (20th), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (16th)
Qualys VMDR
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (3rd), Configuration Management Databases (3rd), Container Security (9th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nucleus Security is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 3.9%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys VMDR3.9%
Qualys TotalCloud1.0%
Nucleus Security1.0%
Other94.1%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
reviewer2850051 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Architect at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Unified vulnerability data has transformed risk prioritization and optimized remediation effort
The best features that Nucleus Security offers in my experience are the unified integrations with all of the different vulnerability management platforms. It is helping quite a lot to unify all of that. It also offers good prioritization based on the EPSS or the CVSS score, as well as different other factors including Mandiant threat intelligence and similar aspects. It helps bring it all into one big picture instead of different silos of vulnerabilities. The integrations make my job easier because I can connect my other tools, which is the most important part of this tool to bring in all the vulnerabilities from the different other tools. The prioritization changed it from chasing vulnerabilities or pushing colleagues to patch vulnerabilities to providing colleagues with their vulnerabilities and requesting remediation and patching. Nucleus Security positively impacts my organization by bringing awareness to vulnerability management since we can actually determine how many vulnerabilities we have and how critical the risk is, or we can quantify the risk overall for the company.
Vaibhav Ghule - PeerSpot reviewer
Soc Lead & Edr Administration at Persistent Systems
Continuous risk-based monitoring has strengthened incident response and vulnerability prioritization
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries lack grouping operators in Qualys VMDR. From my experience, I would appreciate improvements in the query options in Qualys VMDR, specifically in the query-building process where I would need more features and operators. Additionally, we have been facing issues with Qualys on the cloud level. We cannot download the configuration profile from the cloud agent, and it is showing a pending action for download. During 2025, we noticed outages of Qualys a couple of times. I want to mention that there is an issue with receiving timely RCA deliveries. While this is not necessarily about the tool, it relates to support. The support has not been very responsive, and we are receiving RCAs a little delayed whenever we raise support cases or communicate with the TAMs. Additionally, the UI has a slight latency, which I and my team have experienced. They have also reported this latency issue when navigating through different pages.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its cloud security posture management, Kubernetes, and container security capabilities."
"CSPM is currently the most used feature, and we are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs."
"One of the features I appreciate is the ability to generate daily reports without relying on anyone else."
"I found the initial setup user-friendly."
"One of Qualys' best features is its categorization, which allows us to see the types of assets, their security postures, and the AI-powered version of the tool."
"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"In my opinion, this is the best tool."
"The best features that Nucleus Security offers in my experience are the unified integrations with all of the different vulnerability management platforms."
"Detects new hosts along with vulnerabilities."
"We use QualysGuard to identify all network and compliance-related violations of the assets, and the detailed reports have helped us to provide a certificate of compliance or a clean sheet for our vendors."
"What I like about Qualys VM is the dashboard presentation. It's very good."
"It gives you a lot of options, and it integrates with our ServiceNow for ticketing and all."
"Qualys has a continuous endpoint monitoring feature for agent-based scanning. Once you deploy the solution, it monitors everything that is happening every 30 minutes. Then, if there are any vulnerabilities, they are reported."
"Patch supersedence."
"The most valuable features are vulnerability detection and the scanning capability to enable identification of vulnerabilities across our network."
"The most valuable features of Qualys VMDR include patch management and the use of virtual scanners to scan appliances and devices, especially those provided by vendors where we cannot manage them ourselves."
 

Cons

"The response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved."
"A feature improvement could be the inclusion of Windows OS support for container security, as it is currently only supported for Linux."
"There should be improvement from a dashboard perspective when collecting and showcasing data to lead management."
"The cloud licensing unit system is unclear, especially since "units" aren't well-defined."
"I would like the ability to disable certain default built-in policies as they can be misleading when creating dashboards. That is the top one."
"Qualys TotalCloud needs to enhance its scanning capabilities in the IP domain, as it currently lacks the functionality to resolve IPs to their corresponding domain names."
"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."
"We encountered challenges identifying the correct resource category for certain items, such as those in containers or storage."
"Nucleus Security needs a better view into exposure management, as exposure management and attack path management are missing."
"It would be nice to have an all-in-one solution that was automated and could handle the scanning and reports as well as the patching and updating."
"The IoT scan is not great."
"Support could be improved since the response can be slow."
"Qualys Container Security can improve the interface. It could be easier to navigate and be enriched."
"The feature where the solutions to issues are mentioned in the reports could be improved."
"The response time of technical support takes a while."
"There are scenarios where a vulnerability is reported once yet not in subsequent scans, even if we have not fixed it."
"The reporting and dashboards could improve in Qualys VM. However, they have improved since the previous versions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a middle management member, I do not have direct pricing knowledge, but based on the knowledge from our meetings, its pricing is competitive."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
Information not available
"I used to work there, so I never paid for the product. As an employee, we get a lifetime license for personal use, and that's what I'm using. It is a comprehensive platform, so there is a lot more to it. There could be other solutions that are probably a little bit cheaper, but it depends on what people need. Different people have different needs. It offers many things on the same platform. If you add all the things up, it should be cheaper, but I have not done any analysis specifically."
"The price is very reasonable."
"It is different for every company, but for us, it's every three years."
"It's very expensive, especially if you want to use multiple modules of Qualys."
"Qualys VM is quite expensive. It's a subscription-based license, and it's yearly. Right now, it's open for me, and I don't have any limitations or caps on the licenses. They are seeing if the product is viable for 4500 users. I can add as much as I want, and at the end of the subscription, they'll let me know how many licenses were actually used and bill me accordingly. On a scale from one to five, I would give their pricing a three. It's still expensive."
"It is a high cost product. Compared to the other solutions, it is around 15 to 20% higher in cost."
"Qualys is cheaper and more affordable than other solutions."
"Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance isn't expensive right now. But the price for their product bundles could be better."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise28
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise70
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nucleus Security?
I have a good experience with that, so we don't have much problem dealing with pricing, setup, and licensing.
What needs improvement with Nucleus Security?
I think it can be improved by making it more practical, integrated, and easier for teams to apply in real-world workf...
What is your primary use case for Nucleus Security?
I have been using Nucleus Security for the past few years in my company, particularly in the healthcare field.I use N...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that we can consider both time and money saved.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries la...
What advice do you have for others considering Qualys VMDR?
I have some understanding about PeerSpot, and I have visited the website. PeerSpot is similar to TrustRadius. It take...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, Tenable, Qualys and others in Vulnerability Management. Updated: May 2026.
899,204 professionals have used our research since 2012.