Vulnerability management platforms · October 2026 Edition
Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Nessus
Ten of fourteen models named Rapid7 InsightVM first on the direct prompt; zero named Tenable Nessus. Rapid7 InsightVM was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Tenable Nessus by eleven and Rapid7 InsightVM carries 63 labels and Tenable Nessus 23, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in four categories this edition.
Named in four categories this edition.
First-choice share30%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate19%30%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#8A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels6323A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Rapid7 InsightVM reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Vulnerability Management · Rapid7 InsightVM vs Intruder · Rapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys VMDR
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the vulnerability management platforms page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Rapid7 InsightVMFirst choices, of fourteen modelsTenable Nessus
Direct100
Paraphrase511 against Tenable Nessus
Comparative201 against Tenable Nessus
Budget-constrained112 against Rapid7 InsightVM · 3 against Tenable Nessus
Scale-constrained101 against Rapid7 InsightVM
Negative009 against Rapid7 InsightVM · 2 against Tenable Nessus
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus were named in the same answer forty times, of the 187 answers naming Rapid7 InsightVM and the 83 naming Tenable Nessus. In those answers Tenable Nessus took the first choice six times and Rapid7 InsightVM seven.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | ||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | | |
Rapid7 InsightVM Tenable Nessus first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Rapid7 InsightVM on the left and Tenable Nessus on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Rapid7 InsightVM and Tenable Nessus stood in it.
Rapid7 InsightVM first, Tenable Nessus not the choice
10 of 14 modelsTenable Nessus was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Vicarius vRx
GPT-5.4 miniRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Perplexity SonarRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Qualys VMDR, Vicarius vRx
Grok 4.1 FastRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Mistral SmallRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, SureCloud
DeepSeek V4 FlashRapid7 InsightVM, Vicarius vRx alternatives: Intruder, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Qwen 3.7 FlashRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Kimi K2Intruder, Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Qualys VMDR
MiniMax M2.5Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, Tenable One
Muse Glimmer 30BRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus
Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashSecPod SanerNow, Vicarius vRx alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Nucleus Security, Rapid7 InsightVM
GPT-6 LunaTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM
Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Llama 4 MaverickIntruder alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Rapid7's Insight platform
GLM 4.7 FlashXQualys VMDR alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Level: the same share of first choices.
Rapid7 InsightVM5%#5 of 11Tenable Nessus5%#3 of 11Mid-marketThe figures above
Rapid7 InsightVM leads by twenty-six points.
Rapid7 InsightVM30%#1 of 10Tenable Nessus4%#8 of 10Enterprise
Rapid7 InsightVM leads by eight points.
Rapid7 InsightVM8%#4 of 9Tenable Nessus0%#– of 9What the models said about Rapid7 InsightVM
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“What to Avoid on a Limited Budget - Full‑featured enterprise tools (Rapid7, Qualys, Tenable.io)” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · hard negative
“Dropped in Forrester 2024 rankings; doesn't own patching engine/roadmap; prioritization gaps vs. leaders. High costs for extras.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“Lacks deep vulnerability intelligence, missing Active Directory/Entra ID visibility, limited patching features” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most mid-sized B2B companies, Rapid7 InsightVM offers the best balance of capability, prioritization intelligence, and published pricing.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Rapid7 InsightVM stands out most often in mid-market contexts for its balance of power, usability, and actionable insights” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · first choice
“Rapid7 InsightVM is the most frequently recommended vulnerability scanning and management tool for mid-sized B2B companies” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Tenable Nessus
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of six in this category shown.
“Avoid trying to scrape out a "Free" version of Nessus; Tenable discontinued its unlimited community scanner” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid Standalone "Point-in-Time" Scanners for Enterprise VM ... Why to avoid them for enterprise VM” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“scanners like older Nessus/OpenVAS versions criticized for inaccurate Windows scans or signature mismatches” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“the best starting point is Nessus Essentials (free) + a free vulnerability feed for on‑prem scanning” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend Tenable Nessus Professional as the starting point” Grok 4.1 Fast · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“useful for getting started with proven scanning technology, with the limitation of scan limits and lack of centralized reporting” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared
Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Vulnerability ManagementRapid7 InsightVM vs IntruderRapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys VMDRRapid7 InsightVM vs ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager PlusRapid7 InsightVM vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability ManagementRapid7 InsightVM vs Vicarius vRxTenable Vulnerability Management vs Tenable NessusIntruder vs Tenable NessusQualys VMDR vs Tenable NessusManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus vs Tenable NessusMicrosoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Tenable NessusVicarius vRx vs Tenable NessusAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full vuln management standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.