Cybersecurity · alternatives
Alternatives to Nessus
24 cybersecurity tools sit alongside Nessus in this directory. Below is what separates each from Nessus on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 2
- Cheaper to start
- 5
- Nessus starts at
- $4790/year
Why people look past Nessus
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Nessus entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Nessus starts at $4790/year. Across the 5 cybersecurity tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $4.99/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Nessus carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 2 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Nessus publishes 8 tiers, from $3500/year up to $19304.19/3 years. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Nessus pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The world's most-loved password manager
- Starts $4787.01 a month cheaper, at $2.99/month.
The world's #1 rated antivirus
- Starts $4770.01 a year cheaper, at $19.99/year.
Simplify online life with LastPass password manager
- Can be used without paying; Nessus cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Nessus's 8.
Powerful protection against evolving threats
- Starts $4754 a year cheaper, at $36/year.
- 3 tiers to Nessus's 8.
Free TOTP two-factor authentication app that gained optional cloud sync in 2023
- Can be used without paying; Nessus cannot.
- Sold on a Free, no in-app purchases model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Nessus's 8.
Real-time transaction fraud and financial crime detection for banks and payment processors
- Sold on a quote model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Nessus's 8.
Every Nessus alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nessus (this page) | $4790/year | Subscription | 8 | |
| 1PasswordThe world's most-loved password manager | $2.99/month | - | - | vs Nessus |
| Bitdefender Total SecurityThe world's #1 rated antivirus | $19.99/year | - | - | vs Nessus |
| LastPassSimplify online life with LastPass password manager | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Nessus |
| Norton 360Powerful protection against evolving threats | $36/year | - | 3 | vs Nessus |
| Google Authenticator | Free | Free, no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Feedzai | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Entrust Identity as a Service | $2/month | Per user per month | 2 | vs Nessus |
| Featurespace ARIC Risk Hub | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Dahua Technology | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Genetec Security Center | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Envysion | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| IDnow | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Delinea | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Nessus |
| DTiQ | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Hanwha Vision | On request | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Nessus |
| BeyondTrust | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| HID Global | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Fenergo | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| iDenfy | On request | Per verification | 1 | vs Nessus |
| March Networks | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Jumio | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Eagle Eye Networks | On request | Per camera per month | 1 | vs Nessus |
| Camio | $4.99/month | Per camera per month | 2 | vs Nessus |
| Beyond Identity | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Nessus |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Nessus badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (2)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- LastPass , Free
- Google Authenticator , Free
Cheaper than Nessus (5)
Entry price under Nessus's $4790/year. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- 1Password , $2.99/month
- Bitdefender Total Security , $19.99/year
- Norton 360 , $36/year
- Entrust Identity as a Service , $2/month
- Camio , $4.99/month
What you would be giving up
Nessus is most often brought in for vulnerability scanning for individual practitioners, enterprise vulnerability management, web application security assessments. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Nessus is broadly right and the question is cost, the Nessus pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Cybersecurity category lists everything the directory holds, and best cybersecurity tools ranks them.
Nessus runs on desktop, api. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Nessus alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Nessus?
- 24 other cybersecurity tools are listed in this directory, led by 1Password, Bitdefender Total Security, LastPass, Norton 360. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Nessus?
- 2 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: LastPass, Google Authenticator.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Nessus?
- Yes. 5 of the alternatives below start under Nessus's $4790/year: 1Password at $2.99/month, Bitdefender Total Security at $19.99/year, Norton 360 at $36/year, Entrust Identity as a Service at $2/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Nessus?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Nessus?
- Nessus is most often brought in for vulnerability scanning for individual practitioners, enterprise vulnerability management, web application security assessments. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Nessus?
- None of the cybersecurity tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Nessus alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Cybersecurity, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Nessus against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Nessus covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every cybersecurity tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Cybersecurity category, 24 tools beside Nessus. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.