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Cybersecurity · head to head

Qualys VMDR vs SentinelOne

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
SentinelOne logo

SentinelOne

Cybersecurity

Autonomous endpoint protection and response

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.; SentinelOne enterprise pricing requires contacting sales
  • They diverge on capability: Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, SentinelOne covers AI-powered detection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Qualys VMDR and SentinelOne differ
AttributeQualys VMDRSentinelOne
Starting price$3/monthOn request
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWindows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android
Founded19992013

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), 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 Qualys VMDR

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

Only in SentinelOne

  • AI-powered detection
  • Autonomous response
  • Behavioral threat intelligence
  • Root cause analysis
  • Threat hunting automation
  • Ransomware protection
  • Container security
  • Mobile endpoint protection

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

SentinelOne

  • Endpoint detection and responsenot Qualys VMDR
  • AI-powered threat huntingnot Qualys VMDR
  • Cloud workload securitynot 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.

SentinelOne

  • Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales
  • Prices shown for 5-100 workstations may differ for larger deployments
  • Purchases must be made through authorized third-party partners

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

SentinelOne

On request
  • Singularity Complete$179.99/year
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection
    • Real-time threat detection and response
  • Singularity Commercial$229.99/year
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • All Complete features plus Identity Detection and Response
    • 90-day data retention
  • Singularity Enterprise$null/custom
    • Per endpoint pricing
    • All Commercial features plus Agentic AI SOC Analyst
    • Full Visibility and Forensics

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 SentinelOne if

  • You need ai-powered detection.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android.
  • You also want autonomous response.
SentinelOne review

Questions people ask

Is Qualys VMDR or SentinelOne better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and SentinelOne at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualys VMDR or SentinelOne?
Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and SentinelOne at On request.
Does Qualys VMDR or SentinelOne run on more platforms?
Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api. SentinelOne runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android.
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 SentinelOne is typically brought in for.
What can Qualys VMDR do that SentinelOne cannot?
Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring. SentinelOne covers AI-powered detection, Autonomous response, Behavioral threat intelligence, Root cause analysis.

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.

SentinelOne: What is SentinelOne Singularity Complete pricing?

Singularity Complete costs $179.99 per endpoint per year and includes AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection, real-time threat detection and response, 14-day data retention, and AI Security Assistant. Pricing shown for 5-100 workstations.

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.

SentinelOne: What features distinguish SentinelOne Commercial from Complete?

Singularity Commercial costs $229.99 per endpoint per year (versus $179.99 for Complete) and adds Identity Detection and Response, 90-day data retention (compared to 14-day), and Managed Threat Hunting services.

Source
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.

SentinelOne: How does partner pricing affect SentinelOne costs?

All SentinelOne purchases are made through authorized third-party partners, and partner pricing may differ from published rates. Customers should verify pricing with their authorized reseller.

Source
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.

SentinelOne: What does SentinelOne Enterprise include?

Singularity Enterprise (custom pricing, contact sales) adds Agentic AI SOC Analyst and Full Visibility and Forensics capabilities to all Commercial features, plus expert-led onboarding and training.

Source
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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