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Government · head to head

Google Cloud for Government vs Qualys VMDR

Google Cloud for Government logo

Google Cloud for Government

Government

Innovation Cloud for Government

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Only Google Cloud for Government has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Google Cloud for Government the free tier gives new customers $300 in credits, and the 20+ always-free products are capped by monthly usage limits; 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: Google Cloud for Government 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 Google Cloud for Government and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where Google Cloud for Government and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeGoogle Cloud for GovernmentQualys VMDR
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Cli, SdkWeb, Cloud, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded20081999

Identical on both: 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 Google Cloud for Government

  • FedRAMP High Authorized
  • Data Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Kubernetes
  • Assured Workloads
  • Workspace
  • Chronicle
  • Third-party 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.

Google Cloud for Government

  • Running public sector workloads on Google Cloud compute and storagenot Qualys VMDR
  • Data analytics and AI for government agenciesnot Qualys VMDR
  • Migrating agency applications off on-premises infrastructurenot 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 Google Cloud for Government
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot Google Cloud for Government
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot Google Cloud for Government
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot Google Cloud for Government

Where each one falls short

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

Google Cloud for Government

  • The free tier gives new customers $300 in credits, and the 20+ always-free products are capped by monthly usage limits
  • Pricing is pay as you go and varies by product and usage, so there is no single published rate for the platform
  • Committed use discounts of up to 57% require pre-paying for resources rather than being available on demand
  • Organizations are directed to request a quote rather than being given a published organizational price

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

Google Cloud for Government

Free
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Compute Engine
    • Cloud Storage
    • BigQuery

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 Google Cloud for Government if

  • You need fedramp high authorized.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cli, Sdk.
  • You also want data analytics.
Google Cloud for Government 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 Google Cloud for Government or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. Google Cloud for Government starts at Free and Qualys VMDR at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Google Cloud for Government or Qualys VMDR?
Google Cloud for Government has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Google Cloud for Government and $3/month for Qualys VMDR.
Does Google Cloud for Government or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
Google Cloud for Government runs on Web, Cli, Sdk. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
Can I use Google Cloud for Government for free?
Yes. Google Cloud for Government has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month.
What is Google Cloud for Government best used for?
Google Cloud for Government is most often used for running public sector workloads on google cloud compute and storage, data analytics and ai for government agencies, migrating agency applications off on-premises infrastructure. Of those, running public sector workloads on google cloud compute and storage and data analytics and ai for government agencies are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can Google Cloud for Government do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
Google Cloud for Government covers FedRAMP High Authorized, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Kubernetes. Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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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Related pages

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