Vulnerability management platforms · October 2026 Edition
Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Qualys VMDR
One of fourteen models named Tenable Vulnerability Management first on the direct prompt; one named Qualys VMDR. Both were named by all fourteen models and Tenable Vulnerability Management carries 61 labels and Qualys VMDR 65, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share16%9%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate30%26%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#4A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels6165A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Tenable Vulnerability Management reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Rapid7 InsightVM was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Vulnerability Management · Rapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys VMDR · Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Intruder
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.
Tenable Vulnerability ManagementFirst choices, of fourteen modelsQualys VMDR
Direct112 against Tenable Vulnerability Management · 2 against Qualys VMDR
Paraphrase402 against Tenable Vulnerability Management · 3 against Qualys VMDR
Comparative66
Budget-constrained122 against Tenable Vulnerability Management · 3 against Qualys VMDR
Scale-constrained322 against Tenable Vulnerability Management · 1 against Qualys VMDR
Negative0010 against Tenable Vulnerability Management · 8 against Qualys VMDR
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, Tenable Vulnerability Management and Qualys VMDR were named in the same answer 141 times, of the 171 answers naming Tenable Vulnerability Management and the 179 naming Qualys VMDR. In those answers Qualys VMDR took the first choice eleven times and Tenable Vulnerability Management twenty-four.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Tenable Vulnerability Management and Qualys VMDR 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 | | | | | |
Tenable Vulnerability Management Qualys VMDR first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Tenable Vulnerability Management on the left and Qualys VMDR on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Tenable Vulnerability Management and Qualys VMDR stood in it.
Tenable Vulnerability Management first, Qualys VMDR an alternative
1 of 14 modelsQualys VMDR was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-6 LunaTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM
Qualys VMDR first, Tenable Vulnerability Management an alternative
1 of 14 modelsTenable Vulnerability Management was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GLM 4.7 FlashXQualys VMDR alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.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
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
Neither was named
5 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Gemini 3.5 FlashSecPod SanerNow, Vicarius vRx alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Nucleus Security, Rapid7 InsightVM
Mistral SmallRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, SureCloud
Llama 4 MaverickIntruder alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Rapid7's Insight platform
MiniMax M2.5Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, Tenable One
Muse Glimmer 30BRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus
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.
Tenable Vulnerability Management4%#7 of 11Qualys VMDR4%#8 of 11Mid-marketThe figures above
Tenable Vulnerability Management leads by seven points.
Tenable Vulnerability Management16%#2 of 10Qualys VMDR9%#4 of 10Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Tenable Vulnerability Management32%#2 of 9Qualys VMDR32%#1 of 9What the models said about Tenable Vulnerability Management
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Full‑featured enterprise tools (Rapid7, Qualys, Tenable.io) without a dedicated security team” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · hard negative
“Standard enterprise scanners (like Tenable or Qualys) are incredibly powerful, but their interfaces and configurations are built for dedicated, full-time security operations centers” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Tenable is known for being expensive. It is also highly complex; without a dedicated team to configure the workflows, the platform can become a repository of data” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · soft negative
“Also a Leader in the 2025 Gartner MQ, positioned highest in Ability to Execute and furthest for Completeness of Vision.” Grok 4.1 Fast · comparative prompt · first choice
“If you need the absolute deepest vulnerability coverage across the broadest set of environments ... → Tenable One” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“The best vulnerability management platform for a company with a limited budget is Tenable Vulnerability Management” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Qualys VMDR
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Full‑featured enterprise tools (Rapid7, Qualys, Tenable.io) without a dedicated security team” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · hard negative
“it is frequently cited in user reviews as a platform where you should be cautious due to its high cost, high false positive rates, and poor support” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · soft negative
“Qualys VMDR also produces false positive and false negative alerts, making report generation time-consuming, and its interface is complex” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Holistic approach with comprehensive coverage... Best for: Enterprises needing broad asset coverage and real-time insights.” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · first choice
“Qualys VMDR | TruRisk scoring, unified cloud architecture, easy to use | Mid-market looking for a consolidated platform” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Tenable, Qualys, and Rapid7 InsightVM remain the three pure-play leaders that buyers should shortlist first” Muse Glimmer 30B · scale prompt · first choice
Also compared
Rapid7 InsightVM vs Tenable Vulnerability ManagementRapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys VMDRTenable Vulnerability Management vs IntruderTenable Vulnerability Management vs ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager PlusTenable Vulnerability Management vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability ManagementTenable Vulnerability Management vs Vicarius vRxTenable Vulnerability Management vs Tenable NessusIntruder vs Qualys VMDRQualys VMDR vs ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager PlusQualys VMDR vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability ManagementQualys VMDR vs Vicarius vRxQualys VMDR 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.