Vulnerability management platforms · November 2026 Edition
Qualys VMDR vs OpenVAS
One of fourteen models named Qualys VMDR first on the direct prompt; zero named OpenVAS. Qualys VMDR was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and OpenVAS by thirteen and Qualys VMDR carries 60 labels and OpenVAS 21, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share9%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate18%38%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#7A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels6021A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Qualys VMDR 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 Qualys VMDR · Rapid7 InsightVM vs OpenVAS · Tenable Vulnerability Management 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.
Qualys VMDRFirst choices, of fourteen modelsOpenVAS
Direct101 against OpenVAS
Paraphrase402 against OpenVAS
Comparative30
Budget-constrained033 against Qualys VMDR
Scale-constrained001 against Qualys VMDR
Negative007 against Qualys VMDR · 5 against OpenVAS
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 November 2026 Edition, Qualys VMDR and OpenVAS were named in the same answer forty-six times, of the 199 answers naming Qualys VMDR and the 86 naming OpenVAS. In those answers OpenVAS took the first choice two times and Qualys VMDR one.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Qualys VMDR and OpenVAS 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 4.20 | | | | | | |
| 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 | | | | | |
Qualys VMDR OpenVAS first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Qualys VMDR on the left and OpenVAS on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Qualys VMDR and OpenVAS stood in it.
Qualys VMDR first, OpenVAS not the choice
1 of 14 modelsOpenVAS was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.MiniMax M2.5Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight, Intruder, Tenable Nessus
Neither was the first choice, one was named
10 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: CrowdStrike, Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM, Wiz
Gemini 3.5 FlashRapid7 InsightVM, Wiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Orca Security, Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Grok 4.20Tenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management, ESET Vulnerability & Patch Mgmt, Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM, Syxsense
Mistral SmallTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Intruder, ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Qualys VMDR
DeepSeek V4 FlashManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Llama 4 MaverickIntruder alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Kimi K2Rapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Qualys VMDR
GLM 4.7 FlashXRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management, WithSecure Elements
GPT-6 LunaTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM
Muse Glimmer 30BRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: Qualys VMDR, Tenable Vulnerability Management
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Perplexity SonarRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Vicarius vRx, Wiz
Qwen 3.7 FlashRapid7 InsightVM alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight, Intruder, Tenable Nessus, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Vicarius vRx
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
OpenVAS leads by eight points.
OpenVAS8%#3 of 12Qualys VMDR0%#12 of 12Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Qualys VMDR leads at mid-market.
Qualys VMDR9%#3 of 10OpenVAS6%#7 of 10Enterprise
Qualys VMDR leads by eleven points.
Qualys VMDR11%#3 of 9OpenVAS0%#– of 9What 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 seven in this category shown.
“Avoid if support and ease-of-use are priorities; test against Tenable or Rapid7.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · hard negative
“False positive rates: Documented cases of up to 30% false positives... Overkill for SMBs — very complex for newcomers.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“UpGuard's security report for Qualys lists observations such as: "Data leakage" noted under the Qualys security rating” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“Qualys VMDR or Rapid7 InsightVM are the strongest choices. They are purpose-built for this market segment.” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Qualys VMDR or Rapid7 InsightVM are probably your best bets for a mid-sized B2B company” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend Qualys VMDR (Vulnerability Management, Detection & Response) as the top pick” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about OpenVAS
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Standalone Nessus (without a console), OpenVAS (without Kubelet/KQL integration) | Lacks the "Management" layer” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid if you need production-grade reliability — use it only for learning or very small lab environments.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“avoid pure scanners (e.g., OpenVAS) as they lack full VM features” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · hard negative
“Intruder for SaaS simplicity and Greenbone Community Edition for zero licence cost are the most frequently recommended options” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“OpenVAS (Greenbone Community Edition) is the most capable free vulnerability management tool” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“Best Free/Open-Source Option ... Completely free and open-source” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Rapid7 InsightVM vs Qualys VMDRRapid7 InsightVM vs OpenVASTenable Vulnerability Management vs Qualys VMDRTenable Vulnerability Management vs OpenVASQualys VMDR vs ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager PlusQualys VMDR vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability ManagementQualys VMDR vs IntruderQualys VMDR vs WizManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus vs OpenVASMicrosoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs OpenVASIntruder vs OpenVASOpenVAS vs WizAll 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.