Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Qualys VMDR vs Shift Technology

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
Shift Technology logo

Shift Technology

Insurance

AI-native fraud detection for insurance

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.; Shift Technology pricing not published on vendor website, requires demo request and quotation
  • They diverge on capability: Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Shift Technology covers Fraud detection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Qualys VMDR and Shift Technology actually diverge.

Attributes where Qualys VMDR and Shift Technology differ
AttributeQualys VMDRShift Technology
Starting price$3/monthOn request
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWeb, Api
CategoryCybersecurityInsurance
Founded19992014

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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 Shift Technology

  • Fraud detection
  • Claims automation
  • Document intelligence
  • Network analysis
  • Real-time scoring
  • Investigation workbench
  • Predictive analytics
  • Machine learning models

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

Shift Technology

  • Fraud detectionnot Qualys VMDR
  • Claims automationnot Qualys VMDR
  • SIU operationsnot Qualys VMDR
  • Subrogationnot Qualys VMDR
  • Underwriting risknot 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.

Shift Technology

  • Pricing not published on vendor website, requires demo request and quotation
  • No self-service onboarding; dedicated sales consultation mandatory
  • Solution requires on-premises deployment or custom SaaS configuration

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

Shift Technology

On request
  • Fraud Detection$undefined/year
    • Claims fraud detection
    • Network analysis
    • Real-time scoring
  • Claims Automation$undefined/year
    • Document analysis
    • Automated extraction
    • Workflow automation
  • Enterprise Suite$undefined/year
    • All modules
    • Custom models
    • Global deployment

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 Shift Technology if

  • You need fraud detection.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want claims automation.
Shift Technology review

Questions people ask

Is Qualys VMDR or Shift Technology better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and Shift Technology at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualys VMDR or Shift Technology?
Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and Shift Technology at On request.
Does Qualys VMDR or Shift Technology run on more platforms?
Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api. Shift Technology runs on Web, Api.
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 Shift Technology is typically brought in for.
What can Qualys VMDR do that Shift Technology cannot?
Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring. Shift Technology covers Fraud detection, Claims automation, Document intelligence, Network 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.

Shift Technology: How much does Shift Technology cost?

Shift Technology does not publish pricing on its website. The vendor requires a demo request and direct sales contact for custom quotations tailored to deployment scope and use cases. Pricing is quote-based and depends on specific implementation needs.

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.

Shift Technology: What is Shift Technology's licensing model?

Shift Technology operates on a custom licensing model rather than standardized tiers. Pricing and licensing are determined through consultation with the vendor based on the number of users, data volume, and specific insurance processes being automated.

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.

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 Qualys VMDR

More on Shift Technology

Keep looking

Other head to heads