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Government · head to head

AWS GovCloud vs Qualys VMDR

AWS GovCloud logo

AWS GovCloud

Government

Secure Cloud for Government

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Qualys VMDR logo

Qualys VMDR

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered vulnerability management licensed per asset, using scanner appliances and a lightweight agent.

From
$3/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AWS GovCloud access is restricted to vetted US entities, with account holders screened for US citizenship or permanent residency; Qualys VMDR licensing is per asset and each capability is its own subscription, so patch management, endpoint detection, web application scanning, container security and policy compliance are separate line items, and the platform demonstrated in a proof of concept is rarely the platform in the quote.
  • They diverge on capability: AWS GovCloud covers FedRAMP High Authorized, Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AWS GovCloud and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where AWS GovCloud and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeAWS GovCloudQualys VMDR
Starting priceOn request$3/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
PlatformsWeb, Cli, SdkWeb, Cloud, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded20061999

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in AWS GovCloud

  • FedRAMP High Authorized
  • ITAR Compliant
  • DOD SRG Levels
  • Isolated Infrastructure
  • Full AWS Services
  • Third-party Tools
  • Government Systems
  • Security Tools

Only in Qualys VMDR

  • Cloud Agent
  • Scanner appliances
  • Authenticated scanning
  • TruRisk scoring
  • Asset inventory
  • Patch Management
  • Cloud connectors
  • Container sensor

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

AWS GovCloud

  • Hosting controlled unclassified information for US federal agenciesnot Qualys VMDR
  • Workloads requiring FedRAMP High, ITAR or DFARS compliancenot Qualys VMDR
  • Defence and public sector systems needing US-person operationnot Qualys VMDR
  • Regulated contractors handling government datanot Qualys VMDR

Qualys VMDR

  • A hybrid workforce where scheduled network scans miss most laptops and continuous agent-based assessment is the only way to get real coveragenot AWS GovCloud
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot AWS GovCloud
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot AWS GovCloud
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot AWS GovCloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

AWS GovCloud

  • Access is restricted to vetted US entities, with account holders screened for US citizenship or permanent residency
  • Separate IAM, console, CLI and APIs from commercial AWS, so accounts and tooling do not carry across
  • Not every AWS service is available in the two GovCloud regions
  • Pricing is not published on the product page

Qualys VMDR

  • Licensing is per asset and each capability is its own subscription, so patch management, endpoint detection, web application scanning, container security and policy compliance are separate line items, and the platform demonstrated in a proof of concept is rarely the platform in the quote.
  • Ephemeral cloud instances consume asset entitlement until they age out of inventory, so an autoscaling group that creates and destroys hosts hourly can burn licence capacity on machines that existed for minutes, and controlling that means tuning purge policies rather than tuning the cloud.
  • Authenticated scanning produces materially better results than unauthenticated, but it requires storing and rotating privileged credentials for every target platform, which is a security project in its own right, and teams that skip it receive reports full of unconfirmed potential findings that nobody trusts.
  • The console is a set of modules with separate interfaces, search syntaxes and report engines, so an analyst moving between vulnerability management, policy compliance and web application scanning learns each one, and cross-module reporting usually ends in a spreadsheet or a script against the API.
  • The tool surfaces findings far faster than any organisation can remediate them, and it does not solve the ownership problem: without an agreed prioritisation policy and a named owner in IT operations, a first scan producing tens of thousands of findings becomes a dashboard that everyone learns to ignore.

Pricing, plan by plan

AWS GovCloud

On request
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Compute
    • Storage
    • Database

Qualys VMDR

$3/month
  • VMDR$3/month
    • Per asset
    • Vulnerability scanning
    • Detection
  • VMDR+$5/month
    • All VMDR features
    • Advanced analytics
    • Cloud integration
  • VMDR Complete$7/month
    • All VMDR+ features
    • Threat intel
    • Response automation

Which should you pick?

Choose AWS GovCloud if

  • You need fedramp high authorized.
  • You work on Web, Cli, Sdk.
  • You also want itar compliant.
AWS GovCloud review

Choose Qualys VMDR if

  • You need cloud agent.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Api.
  • You also want scanner appliances.
Qualys VMDR review

Questions people ask

Is AWS GovCloud or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. AWS GovCloud starts at On request and Qualys VMDR at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AWS GovCloud or Qualys VMDR?
AWS GovCloud starts at On request and Qualys VMDR at $3/month.
Does AWS GovCloud or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
AWS GovCloud runs on Web, Cli, Sdk. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
What is AWS GovCloud best used for?
AWS GovCloud is most often used for hosting controlled unclassified information for us federal agencies, workloads requiring fedramp high, itar or dfars compliance, defence and public sector systems needing us-person operation, regulated contractors handling government data. Of those, hosting controlled unclassified information for us federal agencies and workloads requiring fedramp high, itar or dfars compliance are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can AWS GovCloud do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
AWS GovCloud covers FedRAMP High Authorized, ITAR Compliant, DOD SRG Levels, Isolated Infrastructure. Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AWS GovCloud: Is AWS GovCloud pricing different from standard AWS?

The page does not disclose specific pricing for AWS GovCloud (US). It mentions 'AWS Savings Plans' as a flexible pricing model but provides no actual costs. Users must contact AWS directly via the 'Contact us' link or visit AWS pricing calculators for estimates.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Agent or scanner: which do I need?

Usually both. The agent covers endpoints and servers you control and gives continuous data; scanners cover devices you cannot install an agent on, such as network gear, printers and appliances, and provide the external perimeter view.

AWS GovCloud: Who is eligible to use AWS GovCloud?

AWS GovCloud (US) is restricted to verified U.S. government agencies and entities meeting specific screening requirements. Commercial organizations and individual users cannot use this service.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Does it patch as well as detect?

Yes, through the Patch Management module, which is a separate subscription using the same agent. Core VMDR detects and prioritises but does not deploy fixes.

AWS GovCloud: Can I try AWS GovCloud before committing to a contract?

The page does not disclose whether a free trial or evaluation period is available for AWS GovCloud. Pricing and trial information would need to be obtained by contacting AWS directly.

Source
Qualys VMDR: How are assets counted for licensing?

By the number of assets in inventory, which includes cloud instances and containers depending on the modules in use. Short-lived cloud assets count until they are purged, so purge settings directly affect what you consume.

Qualys VMDR: Can I keep the data in a specific region?

Yes. Qualys operates several regional platform instances and you choose which one your subscription lives on. Moving between them later is not trivial, so decide before onboarding.

Qualys VMDR: Does it scan web applications?

Web Application Scanning is a separate module licensed per application, not part of core VMDR, and it is a dynamic scanner with the usual limits around authenticated flows in single-page applications.

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