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Cybersecurity · head to head

Microsoft Sentinel vs Qualys VMDR

Microsoft Sentinel logo

Microsoft Sentinel

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution

From
Free
Rated
-
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
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Microsoft Sentinel billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets; 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: Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft Sentinel and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft Sentinel and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeMicrosoft SentinelQualys VMDR
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Cloud, Api
Founded19751999

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 Microsoft Sentinel

  • AI-powered analytics
  • Fusion detection
  • UEBA
  • Automated response playbooks
  • Threat intelligence
  • Hunting queries
  • Workbooks
  • Incident management

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.

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM)not Qualys VMDR
  • Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot Qualys VMDR
  • Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot 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 Microsoft Sentinel
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot Microsoft Sentinel
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot Microsoft Sentinel
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot Microsoft Sentinel

Where each one falls short

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

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
  • Commitment tier discounts require reserving daily ingestion capacity in advance, and a tier cannot be downgraded until 31 days have passed
  • Commitment tiers start at 100 GB per day, above what smaller estates ingest
  • Charges for Log Analytics, Logic Apps and Machine Learning are billed separately on top of Sentinel itself
  • The free allowance is only up to 5 MB per user per day for selected Microsoft 365 security logs
  • Promotional commitment pricing is time limited and locks in only until a stated end date

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

Microsoft Sentinel

Free
  • Pay-As-You-Go$2.46/day
    • Per GB ingested
    • 90-day retention
    • First 31 days free for new workspaces
  • Commitment TiersFree
    • 100GB to 50TB tiers
    • Up to 65% discount
    • Predictable billing
  • Microsoft 365 E5Free
    • Free data ingestion for M365 logs
    • Bundled with E5 license

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 Microsoft Sentinel if

  • You need ai-powered analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want fusion detection.
Microsoft Sentinel 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 Microsoft Sentinel or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Sentinel 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, Microsoft Sentinel or Qualys VMDR?
Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Sentinel and $3/month for Qualys VMDR.
Does Microsoft Sentinel or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
Microsoft Sentinel runs on Web, Api. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
Can I use Microsoft Sentinel for free?
Yes. Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month.
What is Microsoft Sentinel best used for?
Microsoft Sentinel is most often used for cloud-based security information and event management (siem), extended detection and response (xdr) across enterprise infrastructure, data ingestion and long-term security analytics. Of those, cloud-based security information and event management (siem) and extended detection and response (xdr) across enterprise infrastructure are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft Sentinel do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks. Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Microsoft Sentinel: How is Microsoft Sentinel pricing calculated?

Microsoft Sentinel uses a pay-as-you-go usage-based model where you pay only for data ingested, stored, and consumed. Flexible commitment tiers are available to reduce total cost of ownership, with specific rates not published on the public pricing page. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

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.

Microsoft Sentinel: Does Microsoft Sentinel require an Azure subscription?

Yes, Microsoft Sentinel requires a Microsoft Azure subscription to operate. Pricing is handled through Azure and varies based on data consumption and the commitment tier you select. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

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.

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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