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Government · head to head

NEOGOV vs Nessus

NEOGOV logo

NEOGOV

Government

Public sector HR suite covering civil service recruiting, onboarding, training and policy management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Nessus logo

Nessus

Cybersecurity

The most trusted vulnerability assessment solution

From
$4790/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: NEOGOV each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.; Nessus nessus Professional is $4,790 for one year, with no free or low cost commercial tier
  • They diverge on capability: NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, Nessus covers Vulnerability scanning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NEOGOV and Nessus actually diverge.

Attributes where NEOGOV and Nessus differ
AttributeNEOGOVNessus
Starting priceOn request$4790/year
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidDesktop, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2002

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 NEOGOV

  • Civil service recruiting
  • Veterans preference handling
  • GovernmentJobs.com posting
  • Onboarding workflows
  • Learning and training records
  • Policy management

Only in Nessus

  • Vulnerability scanning
  • Configuration auditing
  • Malware detection
  • Web application scanning
  • Cloud scanning
  • Compliance checks
  • Patch auditing
  • Pre-built policies

What people use each for

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

NEOGOV

  • A city or county HR department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility listsnot Nessus
  • A public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigationnot Nessus
  • An agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preferencenot Nessus
  • A school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training recordsnot Nessus

Nessus

  • Vulnerability scanning for individual practitionersnot NEOGOV
  • Enterprise vulnerability managementnot NEOGOV
  • Web application security assessmentsnot NEOGOV

Where each one falls short

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

NEOGOV

  • Each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
  • Policy management arrived through the PowerDMS acquisition rather than being built in, and the join between it and the rest of the suite still reads as two products.
  • Implementation is long and configuration heavy because the civil service rules that make the product valuable have to be encoded for your jurisdiction, and that work is billed.
  • Pricing is not published and scales with headcount, so a large agency can pay several times what a comparable one pays without knowing it unless someone reads the public contracts.
  • Private equity ownership since the Warburg Pincus investment has coincided with an acquisition led strategy, and buyers should expect further products bolted on rather than deeper integration of the existing ones.

Nessus

  • Nessus Professional is $4,790 for one year, with no free or low cost commercial tier
  • Multi year terms are the only discount route, at $9,330.95 for two years and $13,637.54 for three
  • It is a single user scanner, so team workflows mean migrating to another Tenable product
  • Tenable One vulnerability management is priced separately, starting at $3,500 a year for 100 assets

Pricing, plan by plan

NEOGOV

On request
  • NEOGOV Suite$undefined/year
    • Quoted per module and scaled by employee headcount
    • Implementation and data migration priced separately from the subscription
    • Available through cooperative purchasing and state term contracts

Nessus

$4790/year
  • Nessus Professional$4790/year
    • 1 year license
    • Best for individual security professionals
  • Nessus Professional 2-Year$9330.95/2 years
    • 2 year license with discounted rate vs. annual
  • Nessus Professional 3-Year$13637.54/3 years
    • 3 year license with discounted rate vs. annual
  • Nessus Expert$6790/year
    • 1 year license
    • Enhanced capabilities vs. Professional

Which should you pick?

Choose NEOGOV if

  • You need civil service recruiting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want veterans preference handling.
NEOGOV review

Choose Nessus if

  • You need vulnerability scanning.
  • You work on Desktop, Api.
  • You also want configuration auditing.
Nessus review

Questions people ask

Is NEOGOV or Nessus better?
Neither clearly leads. NEOGOV starts at On request and Nessus at $4790/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, NEOGOV or Nessus?
NEOGOV starts at On request and Nessus at $4790/year.
Does NEOGOV or Nessus run on more platforms?
NEOGOV runs on Web, iOS, Android. Nessus runs on Desktop, Api.
What is NEOGOV best used for?
NEOGOV is most often used for a city or county hr department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility lists, a public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigation, an agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preference, a school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training records. Of those, a city or county hr department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility lists and a public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigation are not what Nessus is typically brought in for.
What can NEOGOV do that Nessus cannot?
NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, Veterans preference handling, GovernmentJobs.com posting, Onboarding workflows. Nessus covers Vulnerability scanning, Configuration auditing, Malware detection, Web application scanning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NEOGOV: Why not use a commercial applicant tracking system?

Because civil service rules such as ranked eligibility lists, rule of three certification and veterans preference are not expressible in commercial products, so the statutory steps end up in spreadsheets.

Nessus: What is the cheapest Nessus option?

Nessus Professional starts at $4,790 per year for a 1-year license. Multi-year commitments offer discounts, with 2-year licenses at $9,330.95 and 3-year licenses at $13,637.54.

Source
NEOGOV: Can I find out what other agencies pay?

Yes. These are public procurements, so executed contract values appear in council agenda packets and state term contract listings. Read several before negotiating.

Nessus: What is the difference between Nessus Professional and Expert?

Nessus Expert costs $6,790 per year for a 1-year license (compared to $4,790 for Professional) and includes enhanced capabilities. Multi-year rates are available at discounted prices.

Source
NEOGOV: What did NEOGOV acquire?

PowerDMS, a policy management and accreditation product, in 2021, which is now sold as the policy module of the suite.

Nessus: Does Nessus offer optional support or training?

Yes, Nessus offers add-on services: Advanced Support at $400/year provides 24x365 access to phone, email, community, and chat support. On-Demand Training costs $275/year for Fundamentals course access or $385/year for both Fundamentals and Advanced courses.

Source
NEOGOV: Is it only for the United States?

Effectively yes. The value is in encoding US civil service and public safety requirements.

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