Tenable One vs Tenable Nessus

by Gralio Mar 05, 2025

Tenable One and Tenable Nessus are both vulnerability management tools, but Tenable One offers a broader range of features and a more comprehensive approach to vulnerability management. Tenable Nessus is a more focused tool that is best suited for organizations primarily concerned with network and infrastructure scanning. Choose Tenable One for a complete vulnerability management platform and Tenable Nessus for focused vulnerability scanning.

At Gralio.ai we help to simplify your decision-making process by offering detailed, side-by-side software comparisons like this one, to help you confidently choose the tool that aligns with your business goals.

This comparison was created by analysing 504 reviews and 60 websites, saving 3 hours, 18 minutes of reading.

Logo of Tenable One
Logo of Tenable Nessus

About

Tenable One is a comprehensive cybersecurity platform designed to manage and reduce your company's vulnerability to cyberattacks. It gives you a complete view of all your technology, from internal systems to cloud services, and identifies potential security weaknesses. Tenable One pinpoints the most critical risks, predicts attack paths, and provides guidance for quick remediation. This allows your IT team to focus on the most important security tasks, saving time and resources while strengthening your defenses against evolving threats.
Tenable Nessus is a widely used cybersecurity tool that finds weaknesses in your company's computer systems and applications. It scans your networks and systems for vulnerabilities like outdated software, missing security updates, and misconfigurations. Nessus provides easy-to-understand reports, helping your IT team understand the security risks and fix them quickly. This proactive approach helps prevent cyberattacks and keeps your company's data safe.

Summary

Main difference
Tenable One is a comprehensive vulnerability management platform ideal for organizations needing a holistic view of their attack surface across cloud and on-premise environments, while Tenable Nessus is a powerful vulnerability scanner best suited for organizations primarily focused on network and infrastructure vulnerability scanning.

Relative strengths of Tenable One (compared to Tenable Nessus)

  • Provides a unified view of all assets and vulnerabilities across the entire organization, including cloud and on-premise environments.

  • Offers attack path analysis to prioritize remediation efforts based on potential attack vectors.

  • Includes advanced features like vulnerability prioritization and remediation guidance.

Relative weaknesses of Tenable One (compared to Tenable Nessus)

  • Higher cost and more complex licensing structure compared to Nessus.

  • Can be more resource-intensive and require more expertise to manage effectively.

  • May have a steeper learning curve due to its broader feature set.

Who should use Tenable One VS. Tenable Nessus

Tenable One offers comprehensive vulnerability scanning and risk management. Users praise its broad coverage and risk prioritization but note concerns about cost and occasional performance issues. A strong choice for security-conscious organizations needing a unified platform.

Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability scanner that helps organizations identify and fix security weaknesses in their systems and applications. Users praise its comprehensive scanning and reporting, user-friendly interface, and detailed vulnerability descriptions. However, some users mention false positives and limitations in the free version. It's ideal for security-conscious organizations looking to proactively prevent cyberattacks.

  • Ideal for small, medium, and large businesses seeking enhanced cybersecurity.

  • Suitable for organizations across all industries.

  • Ideal for security teams of all sizes, especially in highly regulated industries.

  • Strong fit for Software, IT, Healthcare, Finance, Education, and Hospitality.

Tenable One and Tenable Nessus features

Supported
Partially supported
Not supported
Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need

  • Firewall and Access Control
    Not supported

    Tenable One focuses on vulnerability management and exposure analysis, not access control.

    Partially supported

    Tenable Nessus does not directly handle firewall or access control, but integrates with other tools that do.

  • Unified Platform
    Supported

    Tenable One provides a unified platform, consolidating findings and offering a comprehensive risk view.

    Partially supported

    Tenable Nessus does not provide a unified platform itself, but Tenable's broader ecosystem and third-party integrations offer this capability.

  • Live vulnerability detection
    Partially supported

    Tenable One indirectly supports live vulnerability assessment via Nessus integration, but not during active scans.

    Not supported

    Nessus provides vulnerability detection during scans, but not instant detection as scans run.

  • Infrastructure scanning
    Supported

    Tenable One scans infrastructure for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

    Supported

    Tenable Nessus performs comprehensive scans for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

  • Network scanning
    Supported

    Tenable One supports network scanning to identify vulnerabilities.

    Supported

    Tenable Nessus performs active scans to identify vulnerabilities across networks.

  • Vulnerability database
    Supported

    Tenable One offers a comprehensive vulnerability database, integrating data from Tenable Research and other sources.

    Supported

    Nessus provides access to a vulnerability database via its plugin library, updated daily.

Qualities

  • Value and Pricing Transparency
    -1
    Strongly negative sentiment
    +0.33
    Rather positive sentiment
  • Ease of Use
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
    +0.83
    Strongly positive sentiment
  • Reliability and Performance
    +0.11
    Neutral sentiment
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment
  • Ease of Implementation
    -0.33
    Rather negative sentiment
    +1
    Strongly positive sentiment

Tenable One and Tenable Nessus Pricing

Tenable offers various cybersecurity solutions, with pricing details available for Nessus Professional, Nessus Expert, Tenable Vulnerability Management and Tenable Web App Scanning. Multi-year licenses offer cost savings.
Plans

See full Pricing page

Tenable offers a range of cybersecurity solutions, including vulnerability management and web application scanning. Their pricing varies based on the product and chosen support options.
Plans

See full Pricing page

Tenable One and Tenable Nessus review insights

Users love

  • Comprehensive vulnerability scanning capabilities for various environments (cloud, on-premise, web applications, containers).
  • Vulnerability Priority Rating (VPR) helps prioritize remediation efforts based on risk.
  • Regularly updated vulnerability database and plugins for emerging threats.
  • User-friendly interface for scan setup, management, and basic reporting.
  • Good integration with other security tools and platforms.
  • User-friendly interface, easy to run scans.
  • Extensive vulnerability and configuration checks library.
  • Comprehensive vulnerability scanning and reporting.
  • Detailed vulnerability descriptions with CVE and remediation advice.
  • Automated scanning and reporting features.

Users dislike

  • High pricing and complex licensing model, especially for smaller companies.
  • Support responsiveness varies; some users report slow response times and unhelpful advice.
  • Limited customization options for dashboards and reporting in Tenable.io compared to Tenable.sc.
  • Occasional performance issues and slow loading times, especially with the Tenable.io interface.
  • False positives require manual review and can consume time and resources.
  • False positives can lead to unnecessary work.
  • Asset group information is difficult to manage and download.
  • Limited features in the free version.
  • Pro version limited to one user.
  • Occasional scan time inconsistencies and inaccurate results.

Tenable One and Tenable Nessus Ratings

  • G2
    4.5/5
    (227)
  • Glassdoor
    3.7/5
    (590)
  • G2
    4.5/5
    (285)
  • Glassdoor
    3.7/5
    (590)

Company health

Employee growth

2% decrease in the last year
2% decrease in the last year

Web traffic

9% increase in the last quarter
9% increase in the last quarter

Financing

March 2020 - $4M
March 2020 - $4M

How does Tenable One's predictive attack path analysis differ from Nessus's vulnerability reporting?

Tenable One goes beyond Nessus's vulnerability reporting by providing predictive attack path analysis. While Nessus identifies vulnerabilities, Tenable One simulates potential attack paths a malicious actor could exploit, showing how vulnerabilities can be chained together to compromise critical assets. This allows for proactive mitigation by prioritizing the vulnerabilities that contribute most significantly to overall risk, rather than simply addressing individual vulnerabilities in isolation as Nessus reports would suggest.

Which product offers better integration with existing security tools and platforms?

Tenable One is described as having "good integration with other security tools and platforms." There is no mention of integrations for Tenable Nessus. Therefore, Tenable One likely offers better integration capabilities.

What are the advantages of Tenable One?

Tenable One offers a broader, more unified view of security risks across all assets, including cloud, on-premise, web applications, and containers, compared to Tenable Nessus which primarily focuses on traditional network and infrastructure scanning. Tenable One also provides advanced features like attack path analysis and vulnerability prioritization (VPR) to help organizations focus on the most critical threats. This comprehensive approach helps streamline security management and improve overall risk reduction.

What are the disadvantages of Tenable One?

Tenable One's disadvantages include a high price and complex licensing model, which can be a barrier for smaller companies. Some users report slow support response times and unhelpful advice. While the interface is generally user-friendly, the platform offers limited customization for dashboards and reporting compared to other Tenable products. Finally, users experience occasional performance issues and slow loading times, and the scans can produce false positives that require manual review.

Is Tenable One cheaper than Tenable Nessus?

No, Tenable One is not cheaper than Tenable Nessus. The provided pricing information lists Tenable Nessus Professional at $3990 and Tenable Nessus Expert at $5990. While Tenable One is mentioned as an alternative to Nessus, its specific pricing is not listed. Therefore, a direct price comparison cannot be made based on the given data. However, Tenable One is described as a comprehensive platform while Nessus is a specific vulnerability scanning tool, suggesting Tenable One may include Nessus functionality and thus be more expensive.

Alternatives to Tenable One and Tenable Nessus

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CODA Footprint
Find, prioritize, and fix security gaps automatically.
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Balbix
Predicts cyberattacks, prioritizes fixes, strengthens security posture.
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Amazon Inspector
Finds security flaws in your cloud apps automatically.
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Logo of Tenable Vulnerability Management
Tenable Vulnerability Management
Finds and fixes security holes in your systems, fast.
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Page co-authored by
MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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