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Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Nessus comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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

Zafran Security
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
27th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (6th)
Rapid7 Metasploit
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tenable Nessus
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 0.4%. The mindshare of Rapid7 Metasploit is 1.6%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Nessus is 10.2%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

Israel Cavazos Landini - PeerSpot reviewer
Weekly insights and risk analysis facilitate informed security decisions
I appreciate the weekly insights Zafran provides, which include critical topics for networks and IT security, allowing us to evaluate which insights apply to our environment. The organization score feature is valuable to keep the leadership team updated on how our infrastructure fares security-wise. The applicable risk level versus base risk level feature is beneficial because prior to Zafran, we only used the base risk level, but now understand that risk depends on the asset itself. Zafran is an excellent tool.
Mani Bommisetty - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive insights with robust vulnerability detection and streamlined alert management
Rapid7 has a significant advantage in providing a clear picture of my environment. It provides insight and incident detection response capabilities. When deployed with the same agent in servers or endpoints, it identifies vulnerabilities and monitors data transmission to external sources. Rapid7 offers comprehensive features within one platform, eliminating the need to integrate multiple tools to see all alerts in one place.
HarshBhardiya - PeerSpot reviewer
Provided increased visibility across the organization's servers
The user interface of Tenable Nessus feels outdated and could be more user-friendly. Additionally, the documentation is not well-organized, which can be confusing when searching for solutions or specific information related to Tenable Nessus Professional. The reporting feature could be improved by allowing users to create their own templates instead of relying on predefined ones.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Zafran is an excellent tool."
"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."
"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."
"The most valuable features of Metasploit include its powerful capabilities for exploitation and scanning."
"It is scalable. It's in line with our needs."
"I don't have any other tools like it, and I always use it when I'm doing a pen test. Metasploit is a great solution for penetration testing,"
"It contains almost all the available exploits and payloads."
"Rapid7 Metasploit is a useful product."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the scripts, the modules, and the tools that the Rapid7 Metasploit framework has."
"When I compare Metasploit with Nessus, I find that Metasploit is faster and it does not burden the system as much."
"It notifies us of vulnerabilities as they arise, allowing us to respond quickly without manual intervention."
"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."
"Tenable Nessus is cheap and flexible."
"I like the fact that it was not expensive. I like that it's user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is vulnerability assessments. There are a lot of threats around the world and this solution is the first to come out with detection rules."
"A valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to understand."
"The stability is very good."
"The most valuable feature of Tenable Nessus is website scanning."
 

Cons

"Initially, we were somewhat concerned about the scalability of Zafran due to our large asset count and the substantial amount of information we needed to process."
"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."
"We'd like them to offer better coverage of malware."
"Advanced Infrastructure should be implemented in the next release for better orchestration."
"I would like to see more capabilities, more functions, and more features. More types of attack vectors."
"The database is not always updated with the latest vulnerabilities or zero-day exploits."
"While Metasploit excels in vulnerability assessment, it could improve in vulnerability management."
"Rapid7 Metasploit could be made easier for new users to learn."
"Metasploit cannot be installed on a machine with an antivirus."
"The solution should be able to support more devices."
"Online learning could be a bit better."
"We would like to have the option of using the solution for the cloud as well as on-premises with the same license at the same time. That would be very helpful."
"Sometimes, the categorization for clients was tricky at first, however, they eventually got used to it."
"Tenable Nessus could improve the reporting."
"Model OS costs (and its segregation schema for individual modules)."
"The inventory management function in this solution needs improvement."
"It wasn't very clear how the scripts are running the scans. There's information about the script but it's not straightforward. The script information for each of the plugins should be available, but it doesn't give us straightforward direct information about how it was executed. That needs to be more clear."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"There are two versions available, one of which is the Pro version, and the other is the free version."
"I have used the free version of Rapid7 Metasploit."
"It is a reasonably priced solution. I would rate it from five out of ten."
"I use the open-source version of this product. Pricing is not relevant."
"Rapid7 Metasploit is an open-source solution."
"Rapid7 Metasploit is cheaper than Tenable.io Vulnerability Management."
"It is expensive. Our license expired, and our company is not thinking to renew because of our budget."
"The pricing structure involves a one-time purchase cost of approximately twenty thousand dollars or euros for all customers."
"The price of Tenable Nessus is too expensive for each service center."
"The pricing is much more manageable versus other products."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"We have a subscription, the licensing fees are paid yearly, and I am using the latest version."
"The newer tools are quite pricey. There is a case of some fine tuning that can be done in terms of licensing. The IP based licensing that is offered makes the tool very expensive. If they want the IT industry to adopt it, the price should be looked at."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"When comparing the price of Tenable Nessus to other similar solutions, such as Acunetix, Tenable Nessus is not as expensive. It is averagely priced in the market. We pay for the solution annually."
"We paid about six thousand dollars per license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
Educational Organization
38%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?
I find that the pricing for Zafran aligns well with the comprehensive features it offers. The asset and user-based li...
What needs improvement with Zafran Security?
While Zafran Security is already a powerful tool, there are areas where it could be further improved to provide even ...
What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?
Our primary use case for Zafran involves leveraging it to enhance our vulnerability risk scoring methodology. In toda...
What do you like most about Rapid7 Metasploit?
I use Rapid7 Metasploit for payload generation and Post-Exploitation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 Metasploit?
Metasploit is cheaper than Nessus and offers a more robust community edition that provides a good experience for stud...
What needs improvement with Rapid7 Metasploit?
While Metasploit excels in vulnerability assessment, it could improve in vulnerability management. Nessus currently h...
How would you choose between Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus?
You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. Yo...
What's the difference between Tenable Nessus and Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?
Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of ...
What do you like most about Tenable Nessus?
We have around 500 virtual machines. Therefore, we conduct monthly scans and open tickets for our developers to addre...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Metasploit
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Nessus and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.