Tenable Nessus Pros and Cons: Top 5 Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users appreciate the comprehensive and accurate vulnerability detection of Tenable Nessus, enabling efficient management of network security. (21 mentions)

Users value the high accuracy in vulnerability detection provided by Tenable Nessus, enabling effective risk management. (19 mentions)

Users praise the high accuracy of automated scanning in Tenable Nessus, enhancing vulnerability management efficiently. (18 mentions)

Users find the intuitive interface of Tenable Nessus easy to navigate, enhancing their overall user experience. (17 mentions)

Users appreciate the high accuracy and extensive plugin support of Tenable Nessus for effective vulnerability scanning. (15 mentions)

Users find the slow scanning times can disrupt production, often lasting days depending on the environment. (8 mentions)

Users find the cost of Tenable Nessus to be excessively high, impacting both maintenance and accessibility. (6 mentions)

Users note limited features in Tenable Nessus, impacting user experience and requiring additional tools for full functionality. (6 mentions)

Users express concerns about the complexity of Tenable Nessus, noting a steep learning curve and high operational costs. (5 mentions)

Users experience false positives, occasionally identifying incorrect vulnerabilities, including issues with some Windows patch updates. (5 mentions)

5 Pros or Advantages of Tenable Nessus

1. Vulnerability Identification

Users appreciate the comprehensive and accurate vulnerability detection of Tenable Nessus, enabling efficient management of network security.

See 21 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"It's an excellent vulnerability scanner."

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

We are able to quickly spot PCs that are highly vulnerable.

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Comprehensive, Actionable Vulnerability Detection with Flexible Deployment"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

Tenable Nessus issues comprehensive and accurate vulnerability detection solution that identifies systems flaws and inefficiencies Tenable offers ac

2. Vulnerability Detection

Users value the high accuracy in vulnerability detection provided by Tenable Nessus, enabling effective risk management.

See 19 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Ankit J.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Great vulnerability scanning tool, found very useful"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

Its accuracy is really high while scanning for vulnerabilities. along with this it has large supported plugins for extend coverage.

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"It's an excellent vulnerability scanner."

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

We are able to quickly spot PCs that are highly vulnerable.

3. Automated Scanning

Users praise the high accuracy of automated scanning in Tenable Nessus, enhancing vulnerability management efficiently.

See 18 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Ankit J.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Great vulnerability scanning tool, found very useful"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

Its accuracy is really high while scanning for vulnerabilities. along with this it has large supported plugins for extend coverage.

Herman .

4.0/5

"Powerful Vulnerability Scanner, Rapid Learning Curve"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

I think Tenable Nessus is a very popular toolset that stands out because of its usability, allowing me to learn and use it quickly without requiring e

4. Ease of Use

Users find the intuitive interface of Tenable Nessus easy to navigate, enhancing their overall user experience.

See 17 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Robust and reliable vulnerability scanner for all needs"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

- Ease of Use: Neat and intuitive interface, and I got use to it pretty quickly; - Frequency of use - It is easy and pleasent to use Nessus often w

Raghavendar S.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"User-Friendly IP Scanning with Audit-Friendly Compliance Reports"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

It’s very user-friendly to start a basic scan of IP addresses. As a non-developer, I was able to learn the interface quickly and run the scan without

5. Features

Users appreciate the high accuracy and extensive plugin support of Tenable Nessus for effective vulnerability scanning.

See 15 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Ankit J.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Great vulnerability scanning tool, found very useful"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

Its accuracy is really high while scanning for vulnerabilities. along with this it has large supported plugins for extend coverage.

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Robust and reliable vulnerability scanner for all needs"

What do you like about Tenable Nessus?

- Ease of Use: Neat and intuitive interface, and I got use to it pretty quickly; - Frequency of use - It is easy and pleasent to use Nessus often w

5 Cons or Disadvantages of Tenable Nessus

1. Slow Scanning

Users find the slow scanning times can disrupt production, often lasting days depending on the environment.

See 8 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Sergio C.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Clean Interface and Simple Use."

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Only Downside can be the scan time, but that is also dependent on equipment and environment.

Jaikishan R.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Reliable & Thorough Vulnerability Scanner – With a Few Quirks"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Costs can scale quickly – Advanced features and larger environments often require premium licensing. UI and reporting could be better – Custom repo

2. Expensive

Users find the cost of Tenable Nessus to be excessively high, impacting both maintenance and accessibility.

See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Comprehensive, Actionable Vulnerability Detection with Flexible Deployment"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The costs of running and maintaining Tenable Nessus is extensively high Beginners finds Tenable very difficult to run and manage, overwhelming their

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Comprehensive Security and Up-to-Date CVE Databases"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The disadvantages include the cost, the potential effect on system performance, and the requirement to manually apply patches.

3. Limited Features

Users note limited features in Tenable Nessus, impacting user experience and requiring additional tools for full functionality.

See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Simple and Effective, But Limited to One User in Pro Version"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

I dislike the fact that the professional version only allows one user

Jaikishan R.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Reliable & Thorough Vulnerability Scanner – With a Few Quirks"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Costs can scale quickly – Advanced features and larger environments often require premium licensing. UI and reporting could be better – Custom repo

4. Complexity

Users express concerns about the complexity of Tenable Nessus, noting a steep learning curve and high operational costs.

See 5 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Comprehensive, Actionable Vulnerability Detection with Flexible Deployment"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The costs of running and maintaining Tenable Nessus is extensively high Beginners finds Tenable very difficult to run and manage, overwhelming their

Jaikishan R.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Reliable & Thorough Vulnerability Scanner – With a Few Quirks"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Costs can scale quickly – Advanced features and larger environments often require premium licensing. UI and reporting could be better – Custom repo

5. False Positives

Users experience false positives, occasionally identifying incorrect vulnerabilities, including issues with some Windows patch updates.

See 5 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Ankamgari G.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Wonderful, smooth user experience and identify the known and unknown gaps in network proactively."

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

This was addressed, now we have more detection capabilities and able to identify more active vulnerabilities with less false positives alert rate.

Hemang D.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Feedback regarding tenable support"

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

ensure to have exhaustive scan so that one doesnt miss any true negative and also focus on minimizing false positives

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

Verified User in Banking

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/31/2024

"Tenable is a must for Vulnerability Scanning"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Tenable Nessus is easy to setup and easy to navigate. The reporting gives good detail to help remediate the vulnerabilities. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

I have been using Tenable Nessus for many years and I can't say I have any dislikes for the product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

10/30/2024

"Nessus is a great tool for vulnerability scanning and remediation guidance"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Nessus is a powerful tool with extensive reporting and automation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

I haven't found anything to dislike about Nessus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Government Administration

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

10/22/2024

"Great Tool"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

The Nessus scans give us insight into areas we might have vulnerabilities Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The past scans can take up disk space. I haven't found a good way to automatically remove the old ones. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Deepsan V.

IT Security Specialist

Financial Services

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5/8/2024

"Tenable Nessus professional"

4/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Nessus has one of the largest libraries of vulnerability and configuration checks, covering a wide range of systems, devices, and applications. Despite its comprehensive feature set, Nessus is known for its user-friendly interface, which can help users get up and running quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

While Nessus is known for its comprehensive vulnerability scanning capabilities, it can sometimes produce false positives, which can lead to unnecessary work for security teams. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Divi N.

software developer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/30/2024

"Best free to use vulnerability scanner"

4/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

-Free to use

-Has community version where you can use Nessus for free to some extent

-Great user interface

-It also identifies misconfiguration in code

-Versatile tool

-Great dashboards and reporting mechanism Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

-I have only used free community version and it has quite a few limitation with number of hosts and scans etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Tenable Nessus solving and how is that benefiting you?

I have used Nessus in past for red teaming and penetration testing purposes in past. it really helps in discovering vulnerabilities at early stage. It also provides detailed vulnerability analysis and reports which can be used for patching the same. It has very clean dashboard that makes it very easy to present the current status of vulnerability to the management. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Higher Education

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/19/2024

"Smooth Experience"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

I started using Nessus as an undergrad student and it was so easy that I could run scans without any tutorials. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

There is nothing to like about it. Although the UI can be modernise Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Pratik S.

Research Assistant

Computer & Network Security

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4/27/2024

"Nessus is one of the powerful tool in scanning vulnerabilities."

4.5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

The format of the report with vulnerabilities and it's associated CVE with a detailed explanation is really commendable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The limited availability of features in a free Nessus software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jatin .

Security Analyst

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/24/2023

"One stop solution for Vulnerability Detection and Management"

4/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

1. Detection capabilities are quite good in comparison to number of other similar solutions.

2. Easy to navigate and use GUI.

3. Most important, their plugin repo is always to the mark and updated, which help detects critical vulnerability without significant delays. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

1. Nothing as such to complain of, as the major purpose is being handled in very efficient way, though scan time and results sometimes remain inconsistent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Lavesh K.

L1 NOC Engineer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/14/2023

"Nessus Review"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Tenable Nessus is versatile and flexible to use. This software can be used for security scans, network scanning, vulnerability assessment, and scanning. Its interface is user-friendly and anyone can use it very easily. It has the ability to automate scanning and reporting tasks. This software can help organizations identify vulnerabilities and threats to their systems and networks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

It can be expensive and may be used in larger organizations that require high functionality and support. It is designed for a user-friendly interface but still requires knowledge or training to be useful. It consumes more time for scanning. It is up to the individual to decide whether they require this software based on their software requirements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Tenable Nessus solving and how is that benefiting you?

It is designed for vulnerability scanning and network scanning. It also identifies misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in systems or networks. This software can be beneficial for those who handle sensitive information or data, such as healthcare, financial management, and government agencies. It also helps organizations improve their security posture and prevent their systems from various types of cyber attacks, malware, threats, and viruses. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Hospitality

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/22/2023

"Leading and best vulnerability scanning tool"

4/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

1. Tenable Nessus is always up-to-date with the vulnerabilities database which scans for all the latest vulnerabilities.

2. They provide decent customer support.

3. It solves the implementation in 2 ways - agent-based and credentials-based.

4. It provides an interactive and nice GUI as well along with easy integration with other tools. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

It cannot pull asset tags itself. We need to set up a whole different automation to ingest custom asset tags into Tenable nessus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.