Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

ProtonVPN vs Qualys VMDR

ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

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 ProtonVPN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time; 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: ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ProtonVPN and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where ProtonVPN and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeProtonVPNQualys VMDR
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, Cloud, Api
Founded20141999

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 ProtonVPN

  • No-logs policy
  • Secure Core
  • Kill Switch
  • DNS leak protection
  • Tor over VPN
  • Split tunneling
  • NetShield ad-blocker
  • VPN Accelerator

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.

ProtonVPN

  • Privacy-focused browsing without subscription costnot Qualys VMDR
  • Multi-device protection with Plus plan supporting 10 devicesnot Qualys VMDR
  • Integrated access to Proton email and cloud services via Unlimited plannot 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 ProtonVPN
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot ProtonVPN
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot ProtonVPN
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot ProtonVPN

Where each one falls short

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

ProtonVPN

  • Free plan limited to one device at a time
  • Free plan restricted to 10 countries with random selection
  • Pricing amounts not clearly published; shown as variable

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

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

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 ProtonVPN if

  • You need no-logs policy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want secure core.
ProtonVPN 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 ProtonVPN or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. ProtonVPN 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, ProtonVPN or Qualys VMDR?
ProtonVPN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ProtonVPN and $3/month for Qualys VMDR.
Does ProtonVPN or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
Can I use ProtonVPN for free?
Yes. ProtonVPN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month.
What is ProtonVPN best used for?
ProtonVPN is most often used for privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost, multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices, integrated access to proton email and cloud services via unlimited plan. Of those, privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost and multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can ProtonVPN do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection. 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.

Share

Related pages

More on ProtonVPN

More on Qualys VMDR

Keep looking

Other head to heads