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APIs · head to head

Ozone API vs Qualys VMDR

Ozone API logo

Ozone API

APIs

Standards-compliant open banking API layer for banks and regulators

From
On request
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

  • Each has a real cost: Ozone API it provides the API layer, not the core connectivity, so the bulk of the project is still integrating your own core banking systems and that cost is not in the licence.; 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: Ozone API covers Multi-standard support, Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ozone API and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where Ozone API and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeOzone APIQualys VMDR
Starting priceOn request$3/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, REST API, LinuxWeb, Cloud, Api
CategoryAPIsCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown1999

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 Ozone API

  • Multi-standard support
  • Consent management
  • Developer portal
  • Regulatory reporting
  • Premium API monetisation
  • Deployment flexibility

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.

Ozone API

  • A building society facing an open banking compliance deadline with no API team of its ownnot Qualys VMDR
  • A bank operating in several jurisdictions that must satisfy different open banking standards at oncenot Qualys VMDR
  • A regulator or standards body building national open finance infrastructurenot Qualys VMDR
  • A bank wanting to sell premium APIs beyond the regulatory minimum without building entitlement plumbingnot 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 Ozone API
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot Ozone API
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot Ozone API
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot Ozone API

Where each one falls short

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

Ozone API

  • It provides the API layer, not the core connectivity, so the bulk of the project is still integrating your own core banking systems and that cost is not in the licence.
  • Value is driven by regulatory obligation, so an institution not under a mandate struggles to build a business case for the spend.
  • It is a small UK vendor selling to large regulated institutions, which raises procurement and vendor viability questions during bank due diligence.
  • Premium API monetisation is a genuine capability but few banks have found real demand, so revenue projections used to justify the purchase often do not materialise.
  • Standards evolve continuously and each revision means a change programme in your own systems, even where Ozone absorbs the specification work at the API edge.

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

Ozone API

On request
  • Ozone API$undefined/year
    • Annual licence or managed service subscription, quoted
    • Scaling by institution size, standards in scope and API call volume
    • Implementation and core integration charged separately

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 Ozone API if

  • You need multi-standard support.
  • You work on Web, REST API, Linux.
  • You also want consent management.
Ozone API 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 Ozone API or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. Ozone API 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, Ozone API or Qualys VMDR?
Ozone API starts at On request and Qualys VMDR at $3/month.
Does Ozone API or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
Ozone API runs on Web, REST API, Linux. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
What is Ozone API best used for?
Ozone API is most often used for a building society facing an open banking compliance deadline with no api team of its own, a bank operating in several jurisdictions that must satisfy different open banking standards at once, a regulator or standards body building national open finance infrastructure, a bank wanting to sell premium apis beyond the regulatory minimum without building entitlement plumbing. Of those, a building society facing an open banking compliance deadline with no api team of its own and a bank operating in several jurisdictions that must satisfy different open banking standards at once are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can Ozone API do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
Ozone API covers Multi-standard support, Consent management, Developer portal, Regulatory reporting. Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ozone API: Is this a competitor to Plaid or TrueLayer?

No, the opposite side. Ozone is bought by the bank exposing data; Plaid and TrueLayer consume it on behalf of third parties.

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.

Ozone API: Does it connect to my core banking system?

It provides the standards-compliant API surface and adapters, but connecting your core is an integration project you scope separately.

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.

Ozone API: Which standards does it support?

UK Open Banking, Berlin Group, FDX, Consumer Data Right and Gulf regional standards, among others, from one platform.

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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