# Nuclei: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 27 judge labels across 6 categories by 10 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/nuclei

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Dynamic application security testing](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/dynamic-application-security-testing/index.md) | 0% | 17 | 19% | 16 |
| [Vulnerability management platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/vulnerability-management-platforms/index.md) | 0% | 29 | 20% | 5 |
| [API security platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/api-security-platforms/index.md) | 0% | 39 | 0% | 2 |
| [Attack surface management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/attack-surface-management/index.md) | 0% | 42 | 0% | 2 |
| [Communications archiving and compliance](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/communications-archiving-and-compliance/index.md) | 0% | 57 | 0% | 1 |
| [Penetration testing as a service](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/penetration-testing-as-a-service/index.md) | 0% | 91 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "tools like Nuclei (which uses YAML templates) or commercial platforms like Invicti or Acunetix are often preferred for continuous integration" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, DAST)
- "Supplement with Nuclei if you want very fast, targeted checks for specific CVEs or misconfigurations." (Grok 4.20, DAST)
- "Nuclei, an open-source template-based scanner that has become essential for API security testing" (Claude Haiku 4.5, API security)
- "An excellent open-source tool for fast and customizable vulnerability scanning using templates" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, DAST)

## And against it

- "Nuclei used as a full DAST replacement: ... template-driven scanning is not equivalent to comprehensive authenticated application testing. Use it as a complement, not your only scanner." (Perplexity Sonar, DAST)
- "excellent for rapid, rule-based checks, but its detection is heavily dependent on available templates; it doesn't automatically crawl or infer targets" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, DAST)
- "Significant detection accuracy gaps: Claims ~67% coverage but only 22.66% actual accurate detection" (Kimi K2, Vuln management)
- "Out of the box, Nuclei is *not* a stateful, deep-crawling DAST scanner." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, DAST)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Nuclei, from 42 of the 50 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- safeguard.sh: 23
- appsecsanta.com: 15
- github.com: 12
- softwaretestinghelp.com: 11
- securityboulevard.com: 9
- aimultiple.com: 8
- reddit.com: 8
- stackhawk.com: 8
- checkmarx.com: 7
- escape.tech: 6

### Pages cited

- https://safeguard.sh/resources/blog/best-dast-tools-for-web-application-security-testing: 14
- https://safeguard.sh/resources/blog/dast-tools-list: 14
- https://softwaretestinghelp.com/dynamic-application-security-testing-dast-software: 11
- https://appsecsanta.com/dast-tools: 9
- https://safeguard.sh/resources/blog/best-dast-tools-for-ci-pipelines-open-source-and-commercial: 7
- https://checkmarx.com/learn/dast/dast-tools-key-features-and-12-solutions-to-know-in-2026: 6
- https://securityboulevard.com/2026/04/dast-tools-complete-buyers-guide-10-solutions-to-know-in-2026: 6
- https://aimultiple.com/dast-tools: 5

## Record

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