Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Speakeasy vs Tenable Nessus

Speakeasy logo

Speakeasy

Cybersecurity

AI control plane for governing enterprise agents, MCP servers, and skills

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tenable Nessus logo

Tenable Nessus

Cybersecurity

Network vulnerability scanner

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Tenable Nessus has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Speakeasy no self-serve pricing is published; every plan requires a sales conversation.; Tenable Nessus nessus Professional is $4,790 for one year, sold as an annual licence rather than a per scan or usage based fee
  • They diverge on capability: Speakeasy covers AI tool catalog, Tenable Nessus covers Network scanning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Speakeasy and Tenable Nessus actually diverge.

Attributes where Speakeasy and Tenable Nessus differ
AttributeSpeakeasyTenable Nessus
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, apiWindows, Linux, Macos, Cloud
FoundedUnknown2002

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 Speakeasy

  • AI tool catalog
  • Per-agent identity
  • Role-based access control
  • Real-time policy enforcement
  • Audit logging
  • MDM and SSO integration

Only in Tenable Nessus

  • Network scanning
  • Vulnerability detection
  • Configuration assessment
  • Malware detection
  • Compliance checking
  • Cloud security assessment
  • Mobile scanning
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Speakeasy

  • Governing AI agents at enterprise scalenot Tenable Nessus
  • Preventing shadow AI tool sprawlnot Tenable Nessus
  • Enforcing least-privilege access for agentsnot Tenable Nessus
  • Auditing AI tool call activity for compliancenot Tenable Nessus

Tenable Nessus

  • Vulnerability scanning of servers, network devices and web applicationsnot Speakeasy
  • Configuration and compliance auditing against hardening benchmarksnot Speakeasy
  • Point in time assessments by consultants and penetration testersnot Speakeasy

Where each one falls short

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

Speakeasy

  • No self-serve pricing is published; every plan requires a sales conversation.
  • The product pivoted away from its original SDK-generation offering, so past documentation and customers built on that use case are no longer the focus.
  • Requires integration with an existing identity provider such as Okta or Entra ID to be useful, so it is not a standalone solution.
  • No published free tier or trial pricing was found.

Tenable Nessus

  • Nessus Professional is $4,790 for one year, sold as an annual licence rather than a per scan or usage based fee
  • Support beyond the base entitlement costs an extra $400 per year for Advanced Support with 24x365 phone and chat access
  • The on demand training course is a separate $275 purchase for a single person for one year
  • Multi year discounts require paying for two or three years up front

Pricing, plan by plan

Speakeasy

On request
  • Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • AI tool catalog and visibility
    • Per-agent identity and access control

Tenable Nessus

Free
  • Nessus EssentialsFree
    • Up to 16 ips
    • Network scanning
    • Vulnerability assessment
  • Nessus Professional$2600/year
    • Unlimited targets
    • Enterprise features
    • Advanced analytics
  • Nessus Expert$5200/year
    • All Professional features
    • Cloud integration
    • Advanced reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Speakeasy if

  • You need ai tool catalog.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want per-agent identity.
Speakeasy review

Choose Tenable Nessus if

  • You need network scanning.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Macos, Cloud.
  • You also want vulnerability detection.
Tenable Nessus review

Questions people ask

Is Speakeasy or Tenable Nessus better?
Neither clearly leads. Speakeasy starts at On request and Tenable Nessus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Speakeasy or Tenable Nessus?
Tenable Nessus has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Speakeasy and Free for Tenable Nessus.
Does Speakeasy or Tenable Nessus run on more platforms?
Speakeasy runs on web, api. Tenable Nessus runs on Windows, Linux, Macos, Cloud.
Can I use Tenable Nessus for free?
Yes. Tenable Nessus has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Speakeasy starts at On request.
What is Speakeasy best used for?
Speakeasy is most often used for governing ai agents at enterprise scale, preventing shadow ai tool sprawl, enforcing least-privilege access for agents, auditing ai tool call activity for compliance. Of those, governing ai agents at enterprise scale and preventing shadow ai tool sprawl are not what Tenable Nessus is typically brought in for.
What can Speakeasy do that Tenable Nessus cannot?
Speakeasy covers AI tool catalog, Per-agent identity, Role-based access control, Real-time policy enforcement. Tenable Nessus covers Network scanning, Vulnerability detection, Configuration assessment, Malware detection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Speakeasy: How much does Speakeasy cost?

Speakeasy offers an Enterprise tier with features including SaaS catalog integrations, custom server creation, code mode efficiency, and serverless hosting. No specific pricing is published; interested parties contact the company to discuss pricing.

Source
Tenable Nessus: What are the three Nessus offerings?

Nessus Essentials is a free introductory offering for educators, students, and career starters, limited to 16 IPs for scanning. Nessus Professional is designed for consultants and SMBs, providing unlimited IT scans across any location. Nessus Expert is the premium offering extending Professional with web application scanning, infrastructure-as-code scanning, and external attack surface assessment up to 5 domains.

Source
Speakeasy: What is included in Speakeasy's Enterprise plan?

The Enterprise plan includes SaaS catalog integrations, custom server creation, code mode efficiency, and serverless hosting. Customers contact Speakeasy to discuss their specific pricing for these features.

Source
Tenable Nessus: What OS platforms does Nessus support?

Nessus runs on Debian/Kali Linux, Fedora, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Red Hat/CentOS, SUSE Linux, Ubuntu, and various Windows versions including Server 2008, 2012, and Windows 7-10.

Source
Tenable Nessus: Can I use Nessus to scan third-party networks as a consultant?

Yes, Tenable permits you to use Nessus to scan third-party networks. Nessus Professional is ideal for consultants.

Source
Tenable Nessus: Can Nessus perform PCI external scanning?

Yes, you can use Nessus Professional to perform external network scans as required by the PCI DSS 11.2.2 requirement.

Source
Tenable Nessus: What additional features does Nessus Expert provide?

Web application scanning, which is dynamic application security testing (DAST) providing comprehensive visibility and insight into web application security issues; scanning code repositories for vulnerabilities; and assessing external attack surface with subdomain discovery.

Source
Tenable Nessus: What support options exist for Nessus Professional?

Standard Support includes software upgrades, patches, plugin access, and 24x7 support via chat and community portal. Advanced Support adds 24x7 phone access and committed SLAs: P1 less than 2 hours, P2 less than 4 hours, P3 less than 12 hours, P4 less than 24 hours.

Source
Tenable Nessus: How frequently are Nessus plugins updated?

Nessus plugins are updated daily, based on when vendors and security research sites publish new vulnerabilities.

Source
Tenable Nessus: How does licensing work in virtual machine environments?

Whether you are using Nessus in a physical or a virtual environment, the IP addresses or hosts that you are scanning from must be licensed.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Speakeasy

More on Tenable Nessus

Keep looking

Other head to heads