Nessus
Nessus is a Tenable vulnerability scanner with more than 300,000 plugins covering CVEs, configuration, and compliance checks, including credentialed scans that check installed patches on the host. It is a paid commercial product. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and is also available as a web service.
Updated
- Pricing
- Commercial
- License
- Proprietary
- Platforms
- Linux, macOS, Windows, Web
- Category
- Vulnerability Scanning
What Is Nessus?
Nessus is a Tenable vulnerability scanner with more than 300,000 plugins covering CVEs, configuration, and compliance checks, including credentialed scans that check installed patches on the host. Nessus Essentials is a free 30-day non-commercial license limited to 5 IPs with plugin updates delayed by 30 days, Essentials Plus is a paid hobbyist tier for 20 IPs, and Professional and the wider Tenable One exposure platform serve commercial use. A scanner can also be linked to Tenable One Vulnerability Management as a remote scanner.
Use Cases
Authenticated vulnerability assessment of hosts and networks, from home labs through enterprise programs.
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
- +Tenable reports coverage of more than 117,000 CVEs.
- +Credentialed scans show which systems are behind on patch installation.
- +Essentials license allows short-term lab and training use at no cost.
Limitations
- -Organization-wide exposure management is a separate commercial platform, Tenable One, which Nessus powers.
- -Scan time on large networks depends on scanner resources and network latency, so scans need tuning.
Defensive Use
Continuous or scheduled vulnerability assessment feeding prioritized remediation.
Nessus Alternatives
3 tools| Tool | License | Platforms | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclei Fast vulnerability scanner powered by community YAML templates to scan web applications, networks, and cloud targets for known defects. | MIT | Linux, macOS, Windows | Free / Commercial |
| OPENVAS Vulnerability scanner that tests network hosts against a daily-updated feed of vulnerability tests. | GPL-2.0-only (C scanner); GPL-2.0-or-later WITH x11vnc-openssl-exception (Rust) | Linux | Free / Commercial |
| runZero Asset inventory and exposure management platform with agentless discovery across IT, OT, and cloud. | Proprietary | Web | Freemium |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nessus?→
Nessus is a Tenable vulnerability scanner with more than 300,000 plugins covering CVEs, configuration, and compliance checks, including credentialed scans that check installed patches on the host. Nessus Essentials is a free 30-day non-commercial license limited to 5 IPs with plugin updates delayed by 30 days, Essentials Plus is a paid hobbyist tier for 20 IPs, and Professional and the wider Tenable One exposure platform serve commercial use. A scanner can also be linked to Tenable One Vulnerability Management as a remote scanner.
What is Nessus used for?→
Authenticated vulnerability assessment of hosts and networks, from home labs through enterprise programs.
What are the strengths of Nessus?→
- +Tenable reports coverage of more than 117,000 CVEs.
- +Credentialed scans show which systems are behind on patch installation.
- +Essentials license allows short-term lab and training use at no cost.
What are the limitations of Nessus?→
- +Organization-wide exposure management is a separate commercial platform, Tenable One, which Nessus powers.
- +Scan time on large networks depends on scanner resources and network latency, so scans need tuning.
How is Nessus used defensively?→
Continuous or scheduled vulnerability assessment feeding prioritized remediation.