Cybersecurity · alternatives
Alternatives to Tenable
20 cybersecurity tools sit alongside Tenable in this directory. Below is what separates each from Tenable on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 16
- Cheaper to start
- 7
- Tenable starts at
- $3500/year
Why people look past Tenable
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Tenable entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Tenable starts at $3500/year. Across the 8 cybersecurity tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $20.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Tenable carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 16 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Tenable publishes 5 tiers, from $3500/year up to On request. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Tenable 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.
Stop breaches with AI-native cybersecurity
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Starts $3492.01 a device/month cheaper, at $7.99/device/month.
- 4 tiers to Tenable's 5.
Open-source authentication and two-factor portal for reverse proxies
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Tenable's 5.
Vulnerability scanner for container images and filesystems
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Tenable's 5.
Headless identity and user management API
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Sold on a Open-source self-hosted, with a paid managed network model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Tenable's 5.
Open-source identity provider with flexible authentication flows
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Sold on a Open-source core with a paid enterprise tier model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Tenable's 5.
Open-source vulnerability and misconfiguration scanner
- Can be used without paying; Tenable cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Tenable's 5.
Every Tenable 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenable (this page) | $3500/year | Subscription | 5 | |
| CrowdStrike FalconCloud-native endpoint and cloud security platform | Free, then $7.99/device/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Tenable |
| Authelia | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Grype | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Ory Kratos | Free | Open-source self-hosted, with a paid managed network | 1 | vs Tenable |
| authentik | Free | Open-source core with a paid enterprise tier | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Trivy | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Aikido | Free | Subscription with free tier | 4 | vs Tenable |
| Socket | Free, then $25/month | Per-developer monthly subscription with tiered access | 4 | vs Tenable |
| Chainguard | Free, then $19000/year | Licensing by artifact type and team size | 7 | vs Tenable |
| Endor Labs | Free | Seat-based per contributing developer with volume discounts | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Doppler | Free, then $21/month | - | 3 | vs Tenable |
| Arnica | Free, then $300/year | Per-identity subscription with annual discount | 3 | vs Tenable |
| Infisical | Free, then $20/month | - | 5 | vs Tenable |
| Akeyless | Free | Usage-based pricing units that vary by product module | 2 | vs Tenable |
| Windscribe | Free, then $3/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Tenable |
| TunnelBear | Free, then $9.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Tenable |
| Sysdig | On request | Custom pricing based on number of hosts, events processed, or time series data | - | vs Tenable |
| Legit Security | On request | Contact sales for custom pricing | - | vs Tenable |
| Tanium | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Tenable |
| Veracode | On request | Quote | - | vs Tenable |
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 Tenable badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (16)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- CrowdStrike Falcon , Free, then $7.99/device/month
- Authelia , Free
- Grype , Free
- Ory Kratos , Free
- authentik , Free
- Trivy , Free
- Aikido , Free
- Socket , Free, then $25/month
Cheaper than Tenable (7)
Entry price under Tenable's $3500/year. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- CrowdStrike Falcon , Free, then $7.99/device/month
- Socket , Free, then $25/month
- Doppler , Free, then $21/month
- Arnica , Free, then $300/year
- Infisical , Free, then $20/month
- Windscribe , Free, then $3/month
- TunnelBear , Free, then $9.99/month
What you would be giving up
Tenable is most often brought in for comprehensive vulnerability scanning for enterprise networks, cloud security monitoring and compliance for aws, azure, gcp, identity and access management risk assessment, operational technology security for industrial systems, attack surface management for third-party risk. 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 Tenable is broadly right and the question is cost, the Tenable 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.
Tenable runs on cloud, web. 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 Tenable alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Tenable?
- 20 other cybersecurity tools are listed in this directory, led by CrowdStrike Falcon, Authelia, Grype, Ory Kratos. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Tenable?
- 16 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: CrowdStrike Falcon, Authelia, Grype, Ory Kratos, authentik.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Tenable?
- Yes. 7 of the alternatives below start under Tenable's $3500/year: CrowdStrike Falcon at Free, then $7.99/device/month, Socket at Free, then $25/month, Doppler at Free, then $21/month, Arnica at Free, then $300/year.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Tenable?
- 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 Tenable?
- Tenable is most often brought in for comprehensive vulnerability scanning for enterprise networks, cloud security monitoring and compliance for aws, azure, gcp, identity and access management risk assessment, operational technology security for industrial systems, attack surface management for third-party risk. 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 Tenable?
- 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 Tenable 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 Tenable against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Tenable 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, 20 tools beside Tenable. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.