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Cybersecurity · head to head

Qualys VMDR vs Termly

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
Termly logo

Termly

Cybersecurity

Legal policy generator and cookie consent banner for small websites

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Termly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Termly a standard plan licenses one website, so an agency or a business with several brand domains multiplies the headline price by the number of sites and the cheap option stops being cheap at four or five domains.
  • They diverge on capability: Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Termly covers Policy generator.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Qualys VMDR and Termly differ
AttributeQualys VMDRTermly
Starting price$3/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer website per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWeb
Founded1999Unknown

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 Qualys VMDR

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

Only in Termly

  • Policy generator
  • Automatic policy updates
  • Consent banner
  • Script auto blocker
  • Cookie scanner
  • Consent log
  • WordPress plugin
  • Do not sell handling

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

Termly

  • A small e-commerce shop that needs a privacy policy, terms and a compliant cookie banner before launch without engaging a solicitornot Qualys VMDR
  • A freelance web developer standardising the legal and consent layer across client sites, buying a licence per site or an agency arrangementnot Qualys VMDR
  • A WordPress site owner who needs scripts blocked before consent and does not have a tag manager set upnot Qualys VMDR
  • A US small business newly in scope for a state privacy law that needs a do not sell opt-out on the site quicklynot 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.

Termly

  • A standard plan licenses one website, so an agency or a business with several brand domains multiplies the headline price by the number of sites and the cheap option stops being cheap at four or five domains.
  • Generated policies are templates conditioned on questionnaire answers, so they describe the data practices you claimed rather than the ones your code performs, and a regulator comparing the policy to actual tracking finds the gap not the vendor.
  • Banner view limits apply on the lower tiers, and a site that spikes in traffic can exhaust its allowance mid month, which is the worst possible moment for consent handling to degrade.
  • It covers websites well but has little for mobile apps, so a company with an iOS and Android app alongside its site needs a second consent mechanism and a second consent record.
  • There is no data mapping, subject rights automation or vendor inventory, so any company that grows into real privacy programme obligations outgrows Termly entirely rather than upgrading within it.

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

Termly

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 basic legal policy
    • 10,000 monthly banner views
    • Cookie consent banner
  • Starter$10/month
    • 2 legal policies
    • 10 policy edits
    • 50,000 monthly banner views
  • Pro Plus$15/month
    • Unlimited banner views
    • Additional legal policies
    • Multilingual banners

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 Termly if

  • You need policy generator.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want automatic policy updates.
Termly review

Questions people ask

Is Qualys VMDR or Termly better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and Termly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualys VMDR or Termly?
Termly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3/month for Qualys VMDR and Free for Termly.
Does Qualys VMDR or Termly run on more platforms?
Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api. Termly runs on Web.
Can I use Termly for free?
Yes. Termly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month.
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 Termly is typically brought in for.
What can Qualys VMDR do that Termly cannot?
Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring. Termly covers Policy generator, Automatic policy updates, Consent banner, Script auto blocker.

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.

Termly: Does one Termly plan cover all my websites?

No. A standard plan licenses one website. Multiple domains need multiple licences or an agency arrangement, and this is the single most common surprise on the bill.

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.

Termly: Are the generated policies legally sufficient?

They are templates conditioned on your answers and are not legal advice. They are proportionate for a simple site and inadequate where actual data flows are complex or regulated.

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.

Termly: Is there a genuinely free plan?

Yes, one basic policy, one site, 10,000 monthly banner views and quarterly cookie scans, with no card required.

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.

Termly: Does it handle US state privacy opt-outs?

Yes, including a do not sell or share mechanism and regional rule sets, alongside GDPR consent for EU visitors.

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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