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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Dulam M.

Senior Cyber Security Analyst

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

8/29/2022

"Experience with Nessus"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

It helps reporting missing critical patches that can cause security flaws. It helps security analyst to find out vulnerabilities and gives solutions, criticality score and where that vulnerability exists. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Scan plugins are not customizable and it is difficult for the teams to write new/adapted plugins to detect or scan for vulnerabilities the product doesn't cover. When we get the report from Nessus most of the vulnerabilities are false positives and we need to re-verify them manually. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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

Nessus is the finest tool for vulnerability scans, in fact it provides discoveries and more importantly correct findings, because it is focused on scanning the system's and application and it doesn't perform penetration testing or exploit vulnerabilities with thousands of plugins updated on a regular basis. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Adeel S.

Bug hunter

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3/11/2022

"Vulnerability Assessment Tool"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Nessus use for vulnerability assessment purpose and fulfill compliance, upto date database, a great list of predefined templates and plugins, and can find out zero days vulnerabilities with accuracy. Nessus almost cover the Vulnerability Assessment of Network devices such endpoint, servers and virtulization platform and cloud infra. Nessus multiple Report templete such as Technical and Exective Summery. Perform a credential scan and non credential scan, when you perform credentail scan, find out more depth vulnerabilities. Nessus suggest solutions to fix the vulnerability and a community version is available. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

I can't dislike this product because every product has some limitations, so please ignore it. Nessus scans are more time taking to complete the assessment, and the license is very costly. Nessus checks network-infa to find out the vulnerabilities/loopholes that malicious hackers/attackers could exploit and get into your system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Tenable Nessus:

My recommendation for those who are working in the corporate sector, and vendor side. This product can use a vulnerability analyst, Penetration Tester, Network analyst, DevOps team during development. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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

Using for Vulnerability assessment and deep analysis of network infrastructure to find the security flaws.

- Fulfill the compliance requirement

- Find out gaps

We use the Nessus scanner to scan the computers to know whether the products/applications installed on the system requirements to be patched with the latest updates/upgrades. Nessus team working very hard, day by day they improving their product, I hope they can't inconvenient their customer.

- I'll recommend Nessus documentation

- Blogs

- Security Guidelines

- Community resources Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Shubham S.

CTF Player

Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/31/2022

"The best vulnerability assessment product and service"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Nuessus offers best-in-class vulnerability assessments to various companies, I really like the quality of finding of various vulnerabilities and there are so much less possibility of false positive bugs, which makes it more good and great product Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

There is nothing to be disliked about but there is one thing which is customer support they have to improve and apart from that it is the best vulnerability assessment solution Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Harsh P.

Enterprise IT consultant

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/4/2022

"Wonderful Vulnerability Analysis tool specially for Network and Host vulnerability analysis"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

This is the best and 100% accurate automatic tool for network and host vulnerability assessment. It's a very easy and useful tool for finding any loophole in the network and host with a minimal false-positive result. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Nothing to dislike about this tool, but the only thing is that it takes some time to give results because they scan every vulnerability, so it takes time. Otherwise, it works well and gives a very accurate result. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/18/2022

"Nessus - Easy to use vulnerability scanner"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

I like the ease of use and setup of the application. It has built in updates to track the latest CVV's and is always up to date. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Would be helpful to disable / ignore certain things that are found. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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

It is solving internal vulnerability scanning. We can self identify exploits that need to be remediated. The scan findings are easy enough to know what needs to be done to fix the vulnerability. We are able to do that inhouse and not have a 3rd party company access to our internal network. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Abhinav R.

Regional Manager

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/6/2022

"Great"

4/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Ease to select the scan template and customise the same. The graphical representation of findings and its description. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Having an auto pause and resume scan feature will be helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

ISAIAS G.

Pentester

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

7/26/2022

"Increíble Escáner de Vulnerabilidades"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

The best thing about Nessus is the ease with which it can be launched and understood. The use it is given and the categorization of vulnerabilities are also important. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The price of the PRO version is too high for it to be just a vulnerability scanner. Also, the automatic reports should improve. And of course, false positives should be controlled. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Justin P.

President/ Principal Consultant

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/14/2022

"Nessus Review for Server Vulnerabilities and Device Baselines"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Nessus has provided a lot of help in determining new and current Common Vulnerabilities and Exploits (CVE) to both on-prem and cloud-based servers. It boosted the security posture of these in-scope IT assets and helped in updating the versions of the apps and platforms in it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Nothing much. Report types may be improved and contents can be consolidated better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Tenable Nessus:

Nessus is like a de-facto standard for your vulnerability scanning needs. Allocate time to know the features so you can maximize them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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

Baselining the network, platforms, and hardware devices ensures that we are following the best practices. Nessus helps us achieve it through one of its features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Dave Q.

Head, Cyber and Information Security Audit

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/16/2022

"Nessus Review DQ"

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

Up-to-date plugins that brings out all kinds of vulnerabilities Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

Its unable to do a complete scan of well-segmented networks Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jason W.

NOC & SOC Team Lead - Senior Data Center Network & Telephony Engineer

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

6/9/2022

"I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a seriously great software."

5/5

What do you like best about Tenable Nessus?

The ease of use and the reports are helpful to explain what is going on. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Tenable Nessus?

The data generated can be overwhelming and hard to display to a customer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Tenable Nessus:

This is the industry standard for scanning vulnerabilities. You won't regret this purchase. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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

We utilize the Nessus Product to scan our data centers nightly and it allows our SOC team to remediate the issues quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.