# Vulnerability management platforms for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "vulnerability management platform" and as "vulnerability scanning and management tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/vulnerability-management-platforms/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/vulnerability-management-platforms/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Intruder leads with 45% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 56 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Intruder](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/intruder/index.md) | 45% | 0% | 56 |
| 2 | [ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/manageengine-vulnerability-manager-plus/index.md) | 9% | 6% | 31 |
| 3 | [Tenable Nessus](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tenable-nessus/index.md) | 5% | 32% | 37 |
| 6 | [OpenVAS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/openvas/index.md) | 5% | 50% | 26 |
| 7 | [Rapid7 InsightVM](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/rapid7-insightvm/index.md) | 5% | 54% | 39 |
| 8 | [ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/eset-vulnerability-patch-management/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 14 |
| 9 | [Tenable Vulnerability Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tenable-vulnerability-management/index.md) | 4% | 68% | 37 |
| 10 | [Qualys VMDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/qualys-vmdr/index.md) | 4% | 62% | 47 |
| 11 | [NinjaOne](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ninjaone/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 12 | [Vicarius vRx](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/vicarius-vrx/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 11 |
| 16 | [Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-vulnerability-management/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 21 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 82 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Intruder; alternatives ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Rapid7 InsightVM
- GPT-5.4 mini: Tenable Vulnerability Management; alternatives Rapid7 InsightVM, Tenable Nessus
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Aikido Security; alternatives Action1, Intruder, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management
- Perplexity Sonar: Astra Security; alternatives Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus
- Grok 4.20: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus; alternatives ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management
- Mistral Small: Intruder, NinjaOne; alternatives Aikido Security, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Intruder; alternatives ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Tenable Nessus
- Llama 4 Maverick: Vicarius vRx; alternatives Intruder, UpGuard
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Tenable Vulnerability Management; alternatives GitHub Advanced Security, Qualys VMDR, StackHawk, Wiz
- Kimi K2: Intruder; alternatives ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management, OpenVAS, Tenable Nessus
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Intruder, Qualys VMDR; alternatives ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management, NinjaOne, Tenable Vulnerability Management
- MiniMax M2.5: ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management, Qualys VMDR; alternatives Rapid7 InsightVM, Vicarius vRx
- GPT-6 Luna: Rapid7 InsightVM; alternatives Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Tenable Nessus
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Intruder; alternatives ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, NinjaOne, Tenable Nessus

## Sources the answers cite

79 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- vicarius.io: 47 answers, 81 citations
- orca.security: 41 answers, 42 citations
- techrepublic.com: 36 answers, 38 citations
- upguard.com: 36 answers, 38 citations
- g2.com: 32 answers, 53 citations
- axis-intelligence.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- intruder.io: 25 answers, 35 citations
- comparitech.com: 25 answers, 30 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://orca.security/resources/blog/best-vulnerability-management-tools (40 answers)
- https://techrepublic.com/article/top-vulnerability-management-tools (36 answers)
- https://upguard.com/blog/top-vendor-vulnerability-tools (35 answers)
- https://axis-intelligence.com/best-vulnerability-management-tools-tested (32 answers)
- https://vicarius.io/articles/10-consolidated-vulnerability-management-platforms-for-mid-market-security-and-it-teams (23 answers)
- https://vicarius.io/articles/top-5-solutions-for-vulnerability-management (21 answers)
- https://motadata.com/blog/vulnerability-management-tools (18 answers)
- https://securityboulevard.com/2024/06/top-15-vulnerability-management-tools-for-your-business (18 answers)
- https://pdq.com/blog/best-vulnerability-management-tools (17 answers)
- https://riskwatch.com/vulnerability-management-software (17 answers)

## Warned against

- Qualys VMDR: 29 of 47 labels negative. "What to avoid for small B2B ... Qualys VMDR and Rapid7 InsightVM — excellent tools but designed for mid-market/enterprise scale" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, direct prompt)
- Tenable Vulnerability Management: 25 of 37 labels negative. "Users find the high costs of Tenable Vulnerability Management prohibitive, especially for organizations with tight budgets." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Rapid7 InsightVM: 21 of 39 labels negative. "Generally best avoided unless you have 500+ assets and a full-time security engineer. It is considered complex and resource-intensive for small businesses" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- OpenVAS: 13 of 26 labels negative. "Platforms like OpenVAS (part of the Greenbone suite) are powerful and free, but they come with significant hidden costs in labor and maintenance." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Intruder at 46%.

- Intruder: 59% to 46%, −13. Cleared the floor by 2 points · rank 1 of 76, unchanged.
- OpenVAS: 11% to 4%, −7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 2 → 6 of 76.
- Tenable Nessus: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 7 → 3 of 76.
- Rapid7 InsightVM: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 69 → 7 of 76.
- Qualys VMDR: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 70 → 9 of 76.
- ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus: 7% to 10%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 → 2 of 76.
- Tenable Vulnerability Management: 7% to 4%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 → 8 of 76.
- ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 of 76, unchanged.
- Vicarius vRx: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 10 of 76.
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 16 of 76.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.