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Cybersecurity · head to head

Qualys VMDR vs VUEWorks

Qualys VMDR logo

Qualys VMDR

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered vulnerability management licensed per asset, using scanner appliances and a lightweight agent.

From
$3/month
Free plan
No
VUEWorks logo

VUEWorks

Government

GIS-centred enterprise asset management for public agencies, built around Esri ArcGIS

From
On request
Free plan
No

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.; VUEWorks the product assumes a maintained enterprise ArcGIS geodatabase; agencies without one face a spatial data cleanup project before VUEWorks does anything useful, and that project is usually quoted by the same consultancy selling the software.
  • They diverge on capability: Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, VUEWorks covers Native Esri integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Qualys VMDR and VUEWorks differ
AttributeQualys VMDRVUEWorks
Starting price$3/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
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 VUEWorks

  • Native Esri integration
  • Work orders and requests
  • Inspections
  • Condition and risk
  • Capital planning
  • Pavement management
  • Mobile field access
  • Dashboards

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

VUEWorks

  • A county public works department that already runs Esri and wants work orders raised directly against map featuresnot Qualys VMDR
  • A stormwater utility recording CCTV sewer inspection results against pipe segments for regulatory reportingnot Qualys VMDR
  • A transport agency modelling pavement treatment strategies to defend a road resurfacing budgetnot Qualys VMDR
  • A city consolidating sign, signal and streetlight inventories that currently live in separate spreadsheetsnot 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.

VUEWorks

  • The product assumes a maintained enterprise ArcGIS geodatabase; agencies without one face a spatial data cleanup project before VUEWorks does anything useful, and that project is usually quoted by the same consultancy selling the software.
  • No pricing is published and deals are typically bundled with consulting services, which makes it hard to separate the software cost from the data work when comparing bids.
  • The interface is functional rather than modern, and field crews accustomed to consumer mobile apps often resist it, which undermines the data quality the capital planning depends on.
  • The Esri dependency is also an Esri cost: agencies need current ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online licensing, and that sits outside the VUEWorks quote entirely.
  • It is a small vendor with a limited partner network and a mainly North American footprint, so support and implementation capacity outside that region is thin.

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

VUEWorks

On request
  • VUEWorks Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Quoted per agency by user count and modules
    • Hosted or on-premise deployment options
    • GIS integration, data migration and configuration quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Qualys VMDR if

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

Choose VUEWorks if

  • You need native esri integration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want work orders and requests.

Questions people ask

Is Qualys VMDR or VUEWorks better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and VUEWorks at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualys VMDR or VUEWorks?
Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month and VUEWorks at On request.
Does Qualys VMDR or VUEWorks run on more platforms?
Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api. VUEWorks runs on Web, 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 VUEWorks is typically brought in for.
What can Qualys VMDR do that VUEWorks cannot?
Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring. VUEWorks covers Native Esri integration, Work orders and requests, Inspections, Condition and risk.

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.

VUEWorks: Do we need Esri ArcGIS?

Effectively yes. The asset register is the GIS, and the ArcGIS licensing sits outside the VUEWorks quote.

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.

VUEWorks: Is pricing published?

No. VUEWorks is quoted per agency by users and modules, often bundled with data collection services.

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.

VUEWorks: Can it replace Cityworks?

It occupies the same GIS-centric municipal asset management space, so yes in principle, but migration means remapping workflows and history.

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.

VUEWorks: Is there a cloud option?

Yes, VUEWorks is offered hosted as well as on-premise.

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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