Qualys vs Vulnios: Which Vulnerability Scanner is Right for You in 2026?

Qualys vs Vulnios: Side-by-Side Comparison

Choosing between Qualys and Vulnios? Both platforms offer vulnerability management, but they take fundamentally different approaches. Here's an honest breakdown.

Pricing

Qualys VMDR starts at approximately $4,000/year for small environments, with per-asset pricing that scales quickly. Enterprise deployments commonly run $15,000-50,000+/year.

Vulnios starts at $0/month with a permanent free tier (5 scans/month). Pro is $49/month, Pro+ is $149/month with API access and SSO. No per-asset pricing — scan anything.

Engine Coverage

Qualys: Proprietary scanning engine with deep compliance coverage (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, CIS benchmarks). Strong network vulnerability scanning. Limited container and IaC scanning compared to open-source alternatives.

Vulnios: 48 open-source engines including Trivy, Grype, Nuclei, Semgrep, ClamAV, YARA, Checkov, KICS, Gitleaks, and CAPEv2. Covers containers, Git repos, web apps, IaC, SAST, secrets, and malware — all in one scan.

OSINT & Threat Intelligence

Qualys: Threat intelligence integrated into VMDR findings. No standalone OSINT capability.

Vulnios: Full OSINT intelligence dashboard with 435+ real-time feeds, geopolitical risk tracking, CVE radar with EPSS scoring, dark web monitoring, and AI-generated threat briefs. Available both standalone and embedded.

Key Differences

| Feature | Qualys VMDR | Vulnios |

|---|---|---|

| Starting Price | ~$4,000/yr | $0/month (free tier) |

| Scanning Engines | 1 (proprietary) | 48 (open-source) |

| Container Scanning | Limited | Full (Trivy, Grype, Syft) |

| IaC Scanning | Limited | Checkov, KICS, Terrascan, tfsec |

| SAST | No | Semgrep, Bandit |

| Dark Web Monitoring | No | Yes (Pro+) |

| OSINT Dashboard | No | Yes (435+ feeds) |

| EPSS Scoring | Yes | Yes |

| Self-Hosted Workers | Cloud-only agents | Yes (air-gapped support) |

| MSP Multi-Tenancy | Enterprise only | Built-in |

| Free Tier | No | Yes (permanent) |

Who Should Choose Qualys?

Large enterprises with existing Qualys contracts

Organizations needing deep PCI-DSS compliance reporting

Teams focused primarily on network vulnerability scanning

Who Should Choose Vulnios?

Startups and SMBs who need enterprise-grade scanning at 10x lower cost

MSSPs managing multiple client environments

Teams doing container + code + infrastructure scanning

Organizations that want OSINT and dark web monitoring in one platform

Anyone who wants to try before buying (free tier, no credit card)

Bottom Line

Qualys is a proven enterprise player — but it comes with enterprise pricing. Vulnios delivers comparable vulnerability detection with 48 engines at a fraction of the cost, plus OSINT intelligence and dark web monitoring that Qualys doesn't offer.

Try Vulnios free: vulnios.com/sign-up

Free Security Score: vulnios.com/scan