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 8.3, while Tenable is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.9. Rapid7 holds a 1.4% mindshare in VM, compared to Tenable’s 5.4% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Rapid7 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Tenable users who would recommend it.

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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: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 Metasploit vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management

July 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 July 2025, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 0.8%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 Metasploit is 1.4%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Vulnerability Management is 5.4%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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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Mani Bommisetty

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

Streamlines vulnerability management with excellent reporting and potential AI integration

Tenable is user-friendly and excels in reporting. It allows me to easily fetch and schedule reports. The software's discovery feature aids in strengthening our security posture. The single-sensor installation process on various operating systems is smooth, unlike Rapid7, which requires different versions for separate systems. Furthermore, Tenable enables vulnerability management through potential AI integration that consolidates efforts and resolves multiple vulnerabilities simultaneously.

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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

"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."

"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."

"Zafran is an excellent tool."

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

"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."

"Rapid7 Metasploit is a useful product."

"The most valuable features of Metasploit include its powerful capabilities for exploitation and scanning."

"All of the features are great."

"Rapid7 has a significant advantage in providing a clear picture of my environment."

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

"Technical support has been helpful and responsive."

"The reporting on the solution is good."

More Rapid7 Metasploit pros

"The best feature of the solution is the amount of visibility it provides of the vulnerabilities."

"The solution is quite friendly."

"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Tenable is user-friendly and excels in reporting."

"It is very stable, and it is updated periodically by adding new vulnerabilities."

"It has greatly impacted us by providing asset visibility."

"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."

"Tenable is user-friendly and excels in reporting."

More Tenable Vulnerability Management pros

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."

"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."

"It is necessary to add some training materials and a tutorial for beginners."

"Rapid7 Metasploit can add a GUI feature because it is only available online."

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

"While Metasploit excels in vulnerability assessment, it could improve in vulnerability management."

"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 solution should improve the responsiveness of its live technical support."

"I would like to see more capabilities, more functions, and more features. More types of attack vectors."

"Rapid7 Metasploit could be made easier for new users to learn."

More Rapid7 Metasploit cons

"I would like the solution to cover the whole cycle of mitigation since it's an area where the solution currently lacks."

"I would rate it four out of ten. For startups, freelancers, or companies between startup and midsize, Tenable is recommended. However, for midsize or enterprise-level companies, I would not prefer it."

"More flexibility is required compared to other solutions."

"I'm not satisfied with the reporting structure."

"The only drawback of the solution is that it is expensive."

"The product is a bit expensive."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"The price could be lower."

More Tenable Vulnerability Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

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

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

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

"There are two versions available, one of which is the Pro version, and the other is the free version."

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

"We pay monthly. The pricing is reasonable."

"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."

"I use the open-source version of this product. Pricing is not relevant."

More Rapid7 Metasploit pricing and cost advice

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. It is in the middle."

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

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

"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."

"The total cost we pay for this solution is over 45K. This is for a large education organization."

"There are additional features that can be licensed for an additional cost."

"Tenable.io is not known for being a cheap product."

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

More Tenable Vulnerability Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

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?

The current pricing of Zafran Security is fair overall. They were good to work with to accommodate our organization w...

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What needs improvement with Zafran Security?

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

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What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?

Zafran Security is helping reduce the amount of critical vulnerabilities in our environments that require prompt reme...

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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?

Metasploit is cheaper than Nessus and offers a more robust community edition that provides a good experience for stud...

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What needs improvement with Rapid7 Metasploit?

While Metasploit excels in vulnerability assessment, it could improve in vulnerability management. Nessus currently h...

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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?

I don't think I have any additional features to add for improvement, as Tenable Vulnerability Management does a prett...

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Comparisons

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Qualys VMDR vs Zafran Security

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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 8% of the time

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Tenable Nessus vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 18% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon Inspector vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 9% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 5% of the time

Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Vulnerability Management

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

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Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)

July 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 Metasploit

June 2025

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Tenable Vulnerability Management

June 2025

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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

July 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: July 2025.

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