Rapid7 Metasploit vs Tenable Vulnerability Management comparison

Rapid7 and Tenable are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Rapid7 is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.4, while Tenable is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.1. Rapid7 holds a 1.2% mindshare in VM, compared to Tenable’s 4.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Rapid7 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Tenable users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Rapid7 Metasploit and Tenable Vulnerability Management compete in the cybersecurity landscape, offering unique advantages. Rapid7 Metasploit appears to excel in penetration testing agility, while Tenable surpasses with its extensive feature suite and comprehensive coverage.

Features: Rapid7 Metasploit is recognized for its diverse exploitation tools, adaptable modules, and strong penetration testing capabilities. Tenable Vulnerability Management provides detailed vulnerability assessments, constant monitoring, and network security integration, offering deep insights.

Room for Improvement: Rapid7 Metasploit could enhance its vulnerability management sophistication, improve its reporting capabilities, and offer more continuous monitoring features. Tenable Vulnerability Management might work on easing user interaction complexity, reducing initial setup time, and expanding its exploitation toolset.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rapid7 Metasploit offers a simple setup with robust support for quick resolution. Tenable Vulnerability Management provides a cloud-based deployment model for easy integration, supported by strong infrastructure that ensures consistent service excellence.

Pricing and ROI: Rapid7 Metasploit is seen as cost-effective, providing significant returns due to its specialized testing capabilities. Tenable Vulnerability Management, though requiring higher initial investment, offers substantial long-term ROI through its comprehensive security features and risk assessment.

To learn more, read our detailed Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management

September 2025

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 Metasploit is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Vulnerability Management is 4.5%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tenable Vulnerability Management	4.5%
Zafran Security	1.0%
Rapid7 Metasploit	1.2%
Other	93.3%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Israel Cavazos Landini

Associate Director IT Security Operations at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

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.

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Mani Bommisetty

Infrastructure patching Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

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Chethan Gowda

Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS

Have maintained accurate vulnerability scans and gained actionable remediation insights across thousands of servers

Tenable Vulnerability Management agents are very lightweight, and the results we get are very accurate. The solutions they provide to us, assuming if one vulnerability exists, there will be a solution. The resolution they give us in wording will be the best solution. The exploit rates and the reports we get provide a lot of information, making it very easy for us to verify.The main benefit of integration with Tenable Vulnerability Management is that there will be no lack of missing vulnerabilities when it comes to the patching environment. That is one of the key aspects of why we have integrated Tenable to our patching tools. It has a vast capacity of pushing the data to our tools due to its capability and compatibility. That is also one of the reasons why we are using Tenable Vulnerability Management.

Read full review

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 saw benefits from Zafran Security almost immediately after deploying it."

"Overall, we have seen about eighty-seven percent reduction of the number of vulnerabilities that require urgency to remediate, specifically the number of criticals."

"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."

"The reporting on the solution is good."

"It's not possible to do penetration testing without being very proficient in Metasploit."

"The Search Engineering feature is good."

"Rapid7 offers comprehensive features within one platform, eliminating the need to integrate multiple tools to see all alerts in one place."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the scripts, the modules, and the tools that the Rapid7 Metasploit framework has."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"All of the features are great."

"It contains almost all the available exploits and payloads."

More Rapid7 Metasploit pros

"I would rate Tenable's dashboards and reporting capabilities for illustrating security posture a nine out of ten, with ten being the best."

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

"The solution is very simple to use."

"The vulnerability scanning is the most important aspect of the solution for us."

"The solution creates vulnerability tickets within the VM profile but should also include them under the Remediation tab so the fixes can be viewed in the ticketing queue."

"The initial setup is mostly straightforward."

"The vulnerability management itself is the most valuable feature as well as references to the mitigation techniques."

"Tenable Vulnerability Management is the backbone of our vulnerability management and has affected my organization positively."

More Tenable Vulnerability Management pros

Cons

"I think the ability to have some enhanced reporting capabilities is something they can improve on, as they have good reports but we have asked for some specific reporting enhancements."

"The dashboarding and reporting functionality of Zafran Security is an area that definitely could use some improvements."

"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."

"We'd like them to offer better coverage of malware."

"Support is another area where improvement is needed, particularly for assisting non-security users."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. The time taken to fetch reports based on the number of events can be extensive, unlike Tenable, which is more user-friendly and faster."

"The initial setup was a bit "tweaky" for the open-source version."

"Advanced Infrastructure should be implemented in the next release for better orchestration."

"Metasploit cannot be installed on a machine with an antivirus."

"The database is not always updated with the latest vulnerabilities or zero-day exploits. If a vulnerability arises a month or two ago, it might not be included in the database, which is something I would like to see improved."

"The solution is not user-friendly and has room for improvement."

More Rapid7 Metasploit cons

"Technical support from Tenable is rated six out of ten. It needs improvement in response time and addressing feature requests promptly."

"The product could be easier to set up on the cloud."

"It would be helpful if Tenable could be more clear with regard to everything the solution can and cannot do with the particular license that you have."

"I'd like to see them improve their support."

"The initial setup is complex and has room for improvement."

"The solution seems to focus too much on enterprises, and they really need a product that works for SMBs."

"More flexibility is required compared to other solutions."

"Tenable.io Vulnerability Management could be improved with an increased number of dashboards and MSSP integration."

More Tenable Vulnerability Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It is expensive. Our license expired, and our company is not thinking to renew because of our budget."

"The cost is approximately $15 per device."

"I have used the free version of Rapid7 Metasploit."

"We pay monthly. The pricing is reasonable."

"It is a reasonably priced solution. I would rate it from five out of ten."

"The great advantage with Rapid7 Metasploit, of course, is that it's free."

"Rapid7 Metasploit is an open-source solution."

"Rapid7 Metasploit is cheaper than Tenable.io Vulnerability Management."

More Rapid7 Metasploit pricing and cost advice

"The solution is not too expensive."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing an eight. So, it is a pretty expensive solution."

"Yearly payments are to be made toward the licensing cost of the product. It is neither a cheap nor an expensive product."

"Compared to other VM solutions, Tenable.io Vulnerability Management is expensive."

"The cost is determined by the number of endpoints, which is approximately one dollar per endpoint."

"Tenable.io Vulnerability Management's pricing solution model isn't great."

"A yearly payment has to be made toward the solution's licensing costs."

"Tenable charges around $40 per device."

More Tenable Vulnerability Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?

Since we stood Zafran Security up in our private cloud, we handle the maintenance on our side. As we opted not to use...

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What needs improvement with Zafran Security?

In terms of areas for improvement, Zafran Security is doing a really great job as a new and emerging company. Oftenti...

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What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?

My use cases for Zafran Security revolve around two primary areas. One is around vulnerability management and priorit...

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What do you like most about Rapid7 Metasploit?

I use Rapid7 Metasploit for payload generation and Post-Exploitation.

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

The pricing of Rapid7 Metasploit is quite affordable. It has a free version that many customers start with, and after...

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What needs improvement with Rapid7 Metasploit?

The automated approach in the audits or in the hacking testing with Rapid7 Metasploit could be improved because even ...

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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 ...

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What do you like most about Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?

The tool has an easy-to-use interface.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?

Tenable Vulnerability Management is not very effective for real-time risk prioritization for our organization's secur...

See all answers

Comparisons

Wiz Code vs Zafran Security

Compared 32% of the time

Vulcan Cyber vs Zafran Security

Compared 14% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Zafran Security

Compared 7% of the time

Nucleus vs Zafran Security

Compared 6% of the time

HackerOne vs Zafran Security

Compared 5% of the time

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Tenable Nessus vs Rapid7 Metasploit

Compared 15% of the time

Pentera vs Rapid7 Metasploit

Compared 11% of the time

Acunetix vs Rapid7 Metasploit

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon Inspector vs Rapid7 Metasploit

Compared 9% of the time

Arctic Wolf Managed Risk vs Rapid7 Metasploit

Compared 4% of the time

More Rapid7 Metasploit Competitors

Tenable Nessus vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 11% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon Inspector vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 6% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 5% of the time

Snyk vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 2% of the time

More Tenable Vulnerability Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Zafran Security

October 2025

Download Zafran Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 Metasploit

October 2025

Download Rapid7 Metasploit product report

Buyer's Guide

Tenable Vulnerability Management

October 2025

Download Tenable Vulnerability Management product report

Also Known As

No data available

Metasploit

Tenable.io

Overview

Zafran Security integrates with existing security tools to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities effectively, proving that most critical vulnerabilities are not exploitable, optimizing threat management.

Zafran Security introduces an innovative operating model for managing security threats and vulnerabilities. By leveraging the threat exposure management platform, it pinpoints and prioritizes exploitable vulnerabilities, reducing risk through immediate remediation. This platform enhances your hybrid cloud security by normalizing vulnerability signals and integrating specific IT context data, such as CVE runtime presence and internet asset reachability, into its analysis. No longer reliant on patch windows, Zafran Security allows you to manage risks actively.

What are the key features of Zafran Security?

Threat Exposure Management: Utilizes existing tools to prioritize vulnerabilities and manage threats.
Integrative Analysis: Combines security data with IT context for precise vulnerability management.
Real-time Risk Reduction: Enables immediate risk management without waiting for patches.
Hybrid Cloud Compatibility: Functions across diverse cloud environments for comprehensive security.

What benefits can users expect from Zafran Security?

Improved Security: Enhances protection by efficiently identifying and mitigating risks.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces unnecessary patching expenses by confirming non-exploitable vulnerabilities.
Time Savings: Frees developers to focus on root causes by handling immediate threats.
Comprehensive Insight: Offers a holistic view of security threats and vulnerabilities.

In industries where security is paramount, such as finance and healthcare, Zafran Security provides invaluable protection by ensuring that only exploitable vulnerabilities are addressed. It allows entities to maintain robust security measures while allocating resources efficiently, fitting seamlessly into existing security strategies.

Zafran Security

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.

Rapid7

Managed in the cloud and powered by Tenable Nessus, Tenable Vulnerability Management (formerly Tenable.io) provides the industry's most comprehensive vulnerability coverage with real-time continuous assessment of your organization. Built-in prioritization, threat intelligence and real-time insight help you understand your exposures and proactively prioritize remediations.

Tenable

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

Global Payments AU/NZ

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management

September 2025

Free Report: Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management

Find out what your peers are saying about Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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