Qualys Web Application Scanning vs Rapid7 AppSpider comparison

Qualys and Rapid7 are both solutions in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category. Qualys is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.7, while Rapid7 is ranked #32. Qualys holds a 2.1% mindshare in SAST, compared to Rapid7’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Qualys users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Rapid7 users who would recommend it.

Qualys Web Application Scan...

Read 40 Qualys Web Application Scanning reviews

3,874 Views
2,828 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Rapid7 AppSpider

Read 14 Rapid7 AppSpider reviews

1,341 Views
711 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Qualys Web Application Scan...

Rapid7 AppSpider

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Qualys Web Application Scanning and Rapid7 AppSpider are leading competitors in web application security. Based on user insights, Rapid7 AppSpider appears to have an advantage with its advanced analytics and integration features.

Features: Qualys offers robust scanning, thorough vulnerability detection, and effective risk management. Rapid7 excels with advanced analytics, a comprehensive feature set, and an extensive integration ecosystem.

Room for Improvement: Qualys can enhance its third-party integrations and improve technical aspects. Rapid7 needs to improve its documentation, reduce setup complexity, and address support response times.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Qualys provides straightforward deployment and reliable service, enhancing its accessibility. Rapid7 offers initial complexity but allows powerful customization, balancing deployment challenges with configurability benefits.

Pricing and ROI: Qualys is cost-effective with a clear pricing structure, ensuring efficient ROI. Rapid7 is considered higher in cost but delivers substantial ROI with feature-rich offerings and strong post-deployment value.

To learn more, read our detailed Qualys Web Application Scanning vs. Rapid7 AppSpider Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs. Rapid7 AppSpider

September 2025

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Helped 872,008 peers since 2012

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 Web Application Scan...

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

10th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (13th)

Rapid7 AppSpider

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

32nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Static Application Security Testing (SAST) category, the mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 2.1%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 AppSpider is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Qualys Web Application Scanning	2.1%
Rapid7 AppSpider	0.5%
Other	97.4%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

AnkitSharma13

Security Officer at Cisco

Web scanning needs improvement but offers good vulnerability detection

The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does. If Qualys Web Application Scanning could improve its crawling capability, it would be more user-friendly. Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities, which isn't as beneficial from my point of view. The Vulnerability Management also relies heavily on version numbers and will flag vulnerabilities based on the component version, but it doesn't check if a real fix exists, leading to flags on components that actually have workarounds available.

Read full review

Rizwan-Alam

Head Information Security at Akhtar Fuiou Technologies

Easy automated web app scanning, but gives many false positives and isn't always stable

One of the challenges I have with AppSpider is that it gives you a lot of false positives, especially when compared to other solutions. This is the main aspect that I hope to see Rapid7 improve on. Beyond reducing false positives, I would also like to see them implement better reporting features, particularly in the executive summary type of reports which need to be user-friendly and easily understood by non-technical people. The recommendations and solutions on these reports could always be improved to make them more relevant, too. Lastly, the stability isn't that great, and sometimes it becomes non-responsive. I feel like the stability of the application is very average and currently needs more work.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Qualys Web Application Scanning is accurate and provides minimal false positives."

"The most valuable feature is that we are able to scan the services and put credentials like a user ID password. We can verify the vulnerability level."

"The vulnerability management feature is a strong one. And also the patch management feature."

"The Qualys Web Application Scanning solution offers a single comprehensive console and consolidated reporting, covering all aspects from on-prem to cloud and compliance, etcetera."

"QualysGuard web-based scanner is very useful for performing external penetration and PCI scans from remote locations."

"The tool links vulnerabilities with DDIs and gives a complete overview of the application. The continuous monitoring capability is good."

"Licensing is the most valuable. Qualys provides the best licensing for companies. It is the best product for the development purposes of web applications. The product has a lot of integrations."

"It scans web applications to identify vulnerabilities during deployment."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pros

"The most valuable feature is the reporting, which is compliant with international standards."

"The solution is highly stable, rated at ten out of ten."

"AppSpider's most valuable feature is reporting - everything is stored in the local database so it can be sent to other machines."

"I like the ability the product has to detect vulnerabilities quickly, when it has been released in our environment, then displaying them to us."

"The most valuable feature of Rapid7 AppSpider is the vulnerability reporting data. Additionally, the data is reported in a convenient way rather than seeing them as a PDF. We are able to generate all the reports exactly what we want in a flexible way."

"Rapid7 AppSpider is good at managing different applications. It uses applets and generates reports to cover the PCA/GDPR compliance requirements."

"One of the most valuable features of AppSpider is its broad range of authentication identification, which is a key reason for its utilization."

"It is really accurate and the rate of false positives is very low."

More Rapid7 AppSpider pros

Cons

"The area of false positives could be improved. There are quite a number of false positives as compared to other solutions. They could probably fine tune the algorithm to be able to reduce the number of false positives being detected."

"One area for improvement is the user interface. The new UI, which was recently upgraded, feels more complex and less user-friendly than the old version."

"The product's pricing could be better."

"The solution needs to adjust its pricing. They should make it more affordable."

"The support could be faster."

"The software’s pricing could be improved."

"I have dealt with Qualys's technical support, and any enhancements are challenging. I would rate them a five out of ten."

"In certain cases, this product does have false positives, which the company should work on."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning cons

"The product needs to be able to scale for large companies, like ours. We have millions of IP addresses that need to be scanned, and the scalability is not great."

"AppSpider could improve in the area of integration. They need to add more integration opportunities."

"The tech support is responsive but issues remain unresolved."

"The enterprise interface is too simple. It should be more customizable."

"One of the challenges I have with AppSpider is that it gives you a lot of false positives, especially when compared to other solutions."

"It needs better integration with mobile applications."

"Integration could be better."

"AppSpider has some problems with the RAM needed while scanning."

More Rapid7 AppSpider cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From my perspective, it is a budget-friendly option."

"Try the free trial of the product to understand the basic working mechanisms."

"The product is expensive, at least initially, in comparison to other products in this category."

"Qualys WAS' pricing is competitive."

"The cost is $30,000 USD for one year to cover WAS (Web Application Security) and the VM (Virtual Machine) security in a company with 200 employees."

"We normally purchase an annual license."

"I rate the software’s pricing a six out of ten."

"There are different options available with respect to licensing."

More Qualys Web Application Scanning pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost depends on the number of users."

"The price of Rapid7 AppSpider cost 9,000 annually but there is limited usage. Large companies are able to negotiate a better price or a better deal for the usage with the vendor."

"The price is pretty fair."

"It is expensive if you want to buy the Enterprise version that is able to scan multiple applications at once."

"AppSpider is closed-source software and you need to acquire a license in order to use it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	27

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Qualys Web Application Scanning?

The vulnerability management feature is a strong one. And also the patch management feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?

Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 AppSpider?

The price is not high, but for Japanese customers, localization may incur additional costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rapid7 AppSpider?

For Japanese customers, localization is needed. The product should offer a GUI in Japanese and provide Japanese reports for end-users.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rapid7 AppSpider?

Our clients use AppSpider to address security concerns for their websites. It is particularly used by customers who require security assessments.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 8% of the time

Acunetix vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 6% of the time

HCL AppScan vs Qualys Web Application Scanning

Compared 5% of the time

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Rapid7 InsightAppSec vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 32% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 11% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 10% of the time

Acunetix vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 9% of the time

HCL AppScan vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 4% of the time

More Rapid7 AppSpider Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Web Application Scanning

October 2025

Download Qualys Web Application Scanning product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 AppSpider

October 2025

Download Rapid7 AppSpider product report

Also Known As

Qualys WAS

AppSpider

Overview

Qualys Web Application Scanning (WAS) is a fully cloud-based web application security scanner. The scanner will automatically crawl periodically and test web applications to discover potential vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. The consistent testing equips the automated service to generate consistent results, lessen false positives, and offer the ability to scale to protect thousands of websites effortlessly.

Qualys Web Application Scanning is bundled with different scanning technology to carefully scan websites for malware infections and will send notifications to website owners to assist in preventing blacklisting and brand reputation damage. As digital transformation takes place in various organizations, Qualys WAS gives organizations the ability to track and document their web app security status through its interactive reporting capabilities.

Qualys WAS empowers organizations to remediate any web application vulnerabilities quickly. Some of the key tools offered are:

Deep Scanning: All apps and APIs on your internal network and public cloud are covered by Qualys WAS deep scanning to show you any visible vulnerabilities.
DevSec Ops Tool: Detect security issues in your code while still in app development stages and generate comprehensive reports.
Comprehensive Discovery: Discover and catalog new and unknown web apps in your network.
Malware Detection: Scan a website, identify vulnerabilities, and receive alerts to any infections.

Benefits of Qualys Web Application Scanning

Qualys Web Application Scanning offers many benefits, including:

Quick Deployment: Requires no infrastructure or software to upkeep.
Effortless Scalability: Effortlessly launch a deep scan and protect thousands of websites.
Centralized Management: Manage and mend all web app vulnerabilities through a single interface.
Excellent Integration Capabilities: Integrates with Qualys Web App Firewall (WAF) for a single-click virtual patching of found vulnerabilities.
Respond to Threats Immediately: Qualys Continuous Monitoring offers the user a hands-free service by automatically launching scanning and sending notifications of a potential threat.
Cost-effective Solution: Data is analyzed in real time as Qualys WAS is an end-to-end solution; this helps avoid costs associated with managing multiple security vendors.

Reviews from Real Users

Qualys Web Application Scanning stands out among its competitors for a variety of reasons. Two of those reasons are its progressive scan and quick detection of vulnerabilities.

P.K., a senior software developer at a tech vendor, writes, "The feature that I have found most valuable is the progressive scan. It is good. It's done in 24 hours."

Nagaraj S., lead cybersecurity engineer at a tech service company, notes, "I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."

Qualys

SPAs, APIs, mobile—the evolution of application technology is measured in months, not years. Is your web application security testing tool designed to keep up? AppSpider lets you collect all the information needed to test all the apps so that you aren’t left with gaping application risks.

Our dynamic application security testing (DAST) solution crawls to the deepest, darkest corners of even the most modern and complex apps to effectively test for risk and get you the insight you need to remediate faster. With AppSpider on your side (or, rather, all of your sides), you’ll be able to scan all the apps today and always be ready for whatever comes next.

Rapid7

Sample Customers

BskyB, Cartagena, ClearPoint Learning Systems, Connect Group, du, Fortrex Technologies, HBOR, HDI, Highlights for Children, The Lithuanian State Enterprise Centre of Registers, City of Miami Beach, Microsoft, MidlandHR, MSCI Inc., Northern Arizona University, Ofgem, Olympus Europa, PhoneFactor, RTL Nederland, ThousandEyes, VGZ Organisatie B.V.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs. Rapid7 AppSpider

September 2025

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