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Tenable Nessus

Tenable Nessus

Vulnerability assessment scanner that finds, prioritizes, and helps remediate security weaknesses.

softwareSecurity Auditingvulnerability-scanningsecurity-auditingpenetration-testing
Our Verdict

Best for

Security teams needing a trusted, actively updated vulnerability scanner with strong risk prioritization.

Skip if

You need a fully managed, agentless enterprise vulnerability management platform rather than a scanner product.

What is Tenable Nessus?

Nessus is Tenable's vulnerability assessment scanner, used to discover vulnerabilities and misconfigurations across operating systems, network devices, and applications. It covers over 117,000 CVEs through more than 319,000 detection plugins, with roughly 100 new plugins released weekly, and prioritizes findings using CVSS v4, EPSS, and Tenable's own VPR risk scoring. The product ships with 450+ pre-built policy and compliance audit templates and guided remediation workflows to help teams act on results rather than just collect them. Nessus Professional and Nessus Expert are sold as annual subscriptions, with Expert adding external attack surface scanning and expanded web application scanning.

SpecificationsAI-estimated

deploymentDesktop App
open source❌ No
api available✅ Yes
support optionsAdvanced Support add-on, Documentation, Training

Key Features of Tenable Nessus

Scans for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations across operating systems, network devices, and applications.
Covers 117,000+ CVEs using over 319,000 detection plugins, with roughly 100 new plugins added weekly.
Prioritizes findings using CVSS v4, EPSS, and Tenable's own VPR risk scoring.
Ships with 450+ pre-built policy and compliance audit templates for common frameworks.
Provides guided remediation workflows to help teams fix issues, not just find them.
Includes web application scanning covering a set number of domains, expandable on higher tiers.
Runs on a range of hardware, including small deployments like Raspberry Pi for distributed scanning.

Use Cases for Tenable Nessus

1

Routine internal vulnerability scanning

IT security teams run scheduled Nessus scans across servers and endpoints to catch new vulnerabilities before attackers do.

2

Compliance auditing

Organizations use Nessus's compliance templates to verify systems meet frameworks like PCI DSS or CIS benchmarks.

3

Pre-deployment security checks

DevOps teams scan new infrastructure for misconfigurations before it goes into production.

4

External attack surface discovery

Security teams use Nessus Expert to identify internet-facing assets an attacker could target.

Pros & Cons of Tenable Nessus

Pros

  • Industry-standard, widely trusted scanner
  • Extensive and frequently updated CVE/plugin coverage
  • Multiple risk-scoring models for prioritization
  • Flexible deployment including low-cost hardware

Cons

  • Annual pricing is a significant investment for small teams
  • Web app scanning is limited by FQDN count on base tier
  • Requires security expertise to interpret and act on results effectively

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Nessus Professional and Expert?

Nessus Expert adds external attack surface scanning and expanded web application scanning on top of everything included in Nessus Professional.

How many vulnerabilities can Nessus detect?

Nessus covers over 117,000 CVEs through more than 319,000 plugins, with new plugins released roughly weekly.

Does Nessus help with compliance audits?

Yes, Nessus includes over 450 pre-built policy and compliance audit templates for common regulatory and security frameworks.

Can Nessus run on low-cost hardware?

Yes, Nessus can be deployed on small hardware such as a Raspberry Pi for distributed scanning setups.

Pricing Overview

View full pricing →
Paid (Subscription)

Nessus Professional

$4,790

Nessus Expert

$6,790

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About the Product

Unclaimed Listing
Target AudienceSecurity teams and IT professionals performing vulnerability assessment and compliance audits

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Tags

vulnerability-scanningsecurity-auditingpenetration-testingcompliance-auditrisk-prioritization

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