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Cybersecurity · head to head

Tenable Nessus vs Trulioo

Tenable Nessus logo

Tenable Nessus

Cybersecurity

Network vulnerability scanner

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Trulioo logo

Trulioo

Cybersecurity

Identity and business verification against national data sources in nearly 200 countries

From
On request
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: Tenable Nessus nessus Professional is $4,790 for one year, sold as an annual licence rather than a per scan or usage based fee; Trulioo per-check rates vary widely by country and data source, so a blended average from the sales conversation misleads if your volume concentrates in expensive markets.
  • They diverge on capability: Tenable Nessus covers Network scanning, Trulioo covers Person match.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Tenable Nessus and Trulioo differ
AttributeTenable NessusTrulioo
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Linux, Macos, CloudWeb, API
Founded2002Unknown

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 Tenable Nessus

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

Only in Trulioo

  • Person match
  • Business verification
  • Watchlist screening
  • Document and biometric
  • Single API
  • Workflow orchestration

What people use each for

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

Tenable Nessus

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

Trulioo

  • A payments firm onboarding across dozens of countries where building a data-source integration per market is impracticalnot Tenable Nessus
  • A marketplace verifying business sellers and needing beneficial ownership rather than just a company numbernot Tenable Nessus
  • A fintech wanting a cheap frictionless first check and reserving document scanning for the minority that fail itnot Tenable Nessus
  • A bank expanding into a market where document upload completion rates are poor and registry matching works betternot Tenable Nessus

Where each one falls short

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

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

Trulioo

  • Per-check rates vary widely by country and data source, so a blended average from the sales conversation misleads if your volume concentrates in expensive markets.
  • Coverage breadth is real but depth is uneven; a country on the map may be served by one thin source with low match rates, which you only discover in a live test.
  • You are charged per query including no-match results, so a market with poor source coverage burns budget producing nothing usable.
  • Because it aggregates third-party data, data residency and consent handling depend on the underlying provider terms, which complicates GDPR assessments in some jurisdictions.
  • Document and biometric capability is competent but not the strongest in the market, so buyers whose primary need is document fraud detection usually pair it with a specialist.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Trulioo

On request
  • Trulioo Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced per check with rates varying by country and data source
    • Person, business and watchlist checks charged separately
    • Volume commitment negotiated annually

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Trulioo if

  • You need person match.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want business verification.
Trulioo review

Questions people ask

Is Tenable Nessus or Trulioo better?
Neither clearly leads. Tenable Nessus starts at Free and Trulioo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Tenable Nessus or Trulioo?
Tenable Nessus has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Tenable Nessus and On request for Trulioo.
Does Tenable Nessus or Trulioo run on more platforms?
Tenable Nessus runs on Windows, Linux, Macos, Cloud. Trulioo runs on Web, API.
Can I use Tenable Nessus for free?
Yes. Tenable Nessus has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Trulioo starts at On request.
What is Tenable Nessus best used for?
Tenable Nessus is most often used for vulnerability scanning of servers, network devices and web applications, configuration and compliance auditing against hardening benchmarks, point in time assessments by consultants and penetration testers. Of those, vulnerability scanning of servers, network devices and web applications and configuration and compliance auditing against hardening benchmarks are not what Trulioo is typically brought in for.
What can Tenable Nessus do that Trulioo cannot?
Tenable Nessus covers Network scanning, Vulnerability detection, Configuration assessment, Malware detection. Trulioo covers Person match, Business verification, Watchlist screening, Document and biometric.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Trulioo: Does it need a document?

Not for the core product. Data-source matching uses name, address and date of birth, which is why completion rates are higher than document flows.

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
Trulioo: Are unmatched queries billed?

Yes, in general you pay per query rather than per successful match. Negotiate this explicitly if you are entering markets with thin coverage.

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
Trulioo: Can it verify companies as well as people?

Yes. Business verification including beneficial ownership is a distinct product line and a common reason to choose Trulioo over document-first vendors.

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
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