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Cybersecurity · head to head

Rapid7 InsightVM vs Visual Studio

Rapid7 InsightVM logo

Rapid7 InsightVM

Cybersecurity

Vulnerability management at scale

From
$1.62/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Visual Studio logo

Visual Studio

Developer Tools

IDE for .NET and C++ development on Windows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Visual Studio has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Rapid7 InsightVM insightVM is now sold inside Exposure Command rather than as a standalone product; Visual Studio community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rapid7 InsightVM and Visual Studio actually diverge.

Attributes where Rapid7 InsightVM and Visual Studio differ
AttributeRapid7 InsightVMVisual Studio
Starting price$1.62/monthFree
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, ApiWeb
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded2000Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Rapid7 InsightVM

  • Asset discovery
  • Vulnerability scanning
  • Risk prioritization
  • Threat intelligence
  • Custom policies
  • Remediation tracking
  • Compliance reporting
  • API access

Only in Visual Studio

Nothing recorded that Rapid7 InsightVM does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Rapid7 InsightVM

  • Vulnerability management and risk assessmentnot Visual Studio
  • Web application security scanningnot Visual Studio
  • Cloud infrastructure security monitoringnot Visual Studio

Visual Studio

  • Managing complex, large-scale projects across multiple platformsnot Rapid7 InsightVM
  • Commercial development in small businessesnot Rapid7 InsightVM
  • DevOps and automated deployment workflowsnot Rapid7 InsightVM
  • Windows/SQL Server developer and tester rolesnot Rapid7 InsightVM
  • Short-term or month-to-month IDE access needsnot Rapid7 InsightVM

Where each one falls short

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

Rapid7 InsightVM

  • InsightVM is now sold inside Exposure Command rather than as a standalone product
  • Rapid7 states pricing is not publicly listed and is provided by custom quote based on the customer's environment
  • Billing counts billable assets including devices, software, identities, cloud compute instances and applications, so the asset count grows faster than a device inventory suggests
  • Cloud security, compliance, infrastructure as code scanning and application security testing require the Ultimate package rather than Essentials
  • Volume discounts are described as commonly available for larger asset counts, so smaller buyers pay the higher unit rate

Visual Studio

  • Community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
  • Monthly subscriptions are $45 per user per month for Professional and $250 per user per month for Enterprise, and do not include perpetual use rights the way annual Standard subscriptions do
  • A standalone perpetually licensed Visual Studio Professional 2022 costs $499 as a one-time purchase, separate from the subscription tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Rapid7 InsightVM

$1.62/month
  • InsightVM$1.62/month per asset
    • Vulnerability risk management
    • Unlimited user accounts
    • 24/7 technical support
  • InsightAppSec$175/month
    • Web application security
    • Per application pricing
    • Unlimited user accounts
  • InsightCloudsec$5775/month
    • Cloud security
    • Up to 500 instances
    • Unlimited user accounts

Visual Studio

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Rapid7 InsightVM if

  • You need asset discovery.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Api.
  • You also want vulnerability scanning.
Rapid7 InsightVM review

Choose Visual Studio if

  • You want to start without paying.
Visual Studio review

Questions people ask

Is Rapid7 InsightVM or Visual Studio better?
Neither clearly leads. Rapid7 InsightVM starts at $1.62/month and Visual Studio at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Rapid7 InsightVM or Visual Studio?
Visual Studio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1.62/month for Rapid7 InsightVM and Free for Visual Studio.
Does Rapid7 InsightVM or Visual Studio run on more platforms?
Rapid7 InsightVM runs on Web, Cloud, Api. Visual Studio runs on Web.
Can I use Visual Studio for free?
Yes. Visual Studio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Rapid7 InsightVM starts at $1.62/month.
What is Rapid7 InsightVM best used for?
Rapid7 InsightVM is most often used for vulnerability management and risk assessment, web application security scanning, cloud infrastructure security monitoring. Of those, vulnerability management and risk assessment and web application security scanning are not what Visual Studio is typically brought in for.
What can Rapid7 InsightVM do that Visual Studio cannot?
Rapid7 InsightVM covers Asset discovery, Vulnerability scanning, Risk prioritization, Threat intelligence.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rapid7 InsightVM: What is the starting price for Rapid7 InsightVM?

InsightVM starts at $1.62 per month per asset, with example pricing provided for 500-asset deployments.

Source
Visual Studio: What are the pricing differences between subscription types?

Standard subscriptions include access to more benefits, such as Azure dev/test pricing, monthly Azure individual credit, software and download access, services, training, and support. Monthly subscriptions offer flexibility but fewer benefits.

Source
Rapid7 InsightVM: How much does InsightAppSec cost?

InsightAppSec starts at $175 per month per application for web application security scanning.

Source
Visual Studio: Are discounts available for startups?

There aren't any discounts available to start-ups, however an unlimited number of users within an organization can use Visual Studio Community for specific scenarios like open source work.

Source
Rapid7 InsightVM: What does InsightCloudsec cover?

InsightCloudsec starts at $5,775 per month for cloud security monitoring of up to 500 instances.

Source
Visual Studio: Who can use Visual Studio Community for free?

In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use it. Enterprise organizations (greater than 250 PCs or greater than $1M annual revenue) cannot use it beyond academic/open-source scenarios.

Source
Rapid7 InsightVM: Do Rapid7 products include unlimited user accounts?

Yes, all Rapid7 products include unlimited user accounts, 24/7 technical support, single sign-on, and customer-success team access.

Source
Visual Studio: What's the renewal pricing structure?

Enterprise standard renews at $214.09/month (after initial $499.92); Professional at $66.59/month (after $99.99).

Source
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