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Cybersecurity · head to head

Qualys VMDR vs Relativity

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
Relativity logo

Relativity

Legal

Ediscovery and legal data platform for large matters

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Relativity quote-only and expensive, typically billed on data volume, so costs escalate with matter size
  • They diverge on capability: Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Relativity covers Large-scale processing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Qualys VMDR and Relativity differ
AttributeQualys VMDRRelativity
Starting price$3/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted
CategoryCybersecurityLegal
Founded1999Unknown

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 Qualys VMDR

  • Cloud Agent
  • Scanner appliances
  • Authenticated scanning
  • TruRisk scoring
  • Asset inventory
  • Patch Management
  • Cloud connectors
  • Container sensor

Only in Relativity

  • Large-scale processing
  • Review workflow
  • Analytics and active learning
  • Application ecosystem

What people use each for

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

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 Relativity
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot Relativity
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot Relativity
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot Relativity

Relativity

  • Large litigation with very high document volumesnot Qualys VMDR
  • Corporate investigations requiring defensible, auditable reviewnot Qualys VMDR
  • Firms whose review process is already built around the platformnot Qualys VMDR

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Relativity

  • Quote-only and expensive, typically billed on data volume, so costs escalate with matter size
  • Complex enough that certified specialists are a job title, which is a real staffing cost
  • Considerable overkill for small matters, where lighter self-service tools are far cheaper

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Relativity

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Relativity review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Qualys VMDR if

  • You need cloud agent.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Api.
  • You also want scanner appliances.
Qualys VMDR review

Choose Relativity if

  • You need large-scale processing.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
  • You also want review workflow.
Relativity review

Questions people ask

Is Qualys VMDR or Relativity better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and Relativity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualys VMDR or Relativity?
Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and Relativity at On request.
Does Qualys VMDR or Relativity run on more platforms?
Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api. Relativity runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted.
What is Qualys VMDR best used for?
Qualys VMDR is most often used for a hybrid workforce where scheduled network scans miss most laptops and continuous agent-based assessment is the only way to get real coverage, pci dss external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirement, an estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three tools, organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landed. Of those, a hybrid workforce where scheduled network scans miss most laptops and continuous agent-based assessment is the only way to get real coverage and pci dss external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirement are not what Relativity is typically brought in for.
What can Qualys VMDR do that Relativity cannot?
Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring. Relativity covers Large-scale processing, Review workflow, Analytics and active learning, Application ecosystem.

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.

Relativity: What does Relativity cost?

It does not publish rates. Ediscovery is generally billed on data volume and users, quoted per matter or organisation.

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.

Relativity: Is Relativity only for law firms?

No. Corporate legal departments and government agencies use it for investigations as well as litigation.

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.

Relativity: Do I need trained staff?

In practice yes. Relativity certification is a recognised specialism, and that staffing cost is part of the total.

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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