Comparison · Vexta
Vexta vs Qualys VMDR: an honest comparison.
Qualys VMDR is the vulnerability management application on the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Platform, which also spans cloud security, compliance, patching and remediation. Vexta is a focused, self-hosted vulnerability scanner with verified findings, CI/CD output and optional AI triage, built for engineering teams who want to fix findings in their own workflow.
This comparison is based on Qualys VMDR's public documentation and our own work with Vexta. We sell Vexta, so read it with that bias in mind, and check Qualys VMDR's current plans and features on their site before you decide. No paid placements, no affiliate links.
Pick Vexta if
You're a small or mid-size engineering team that wants developers to find and fix vulns in their own workflow.
Pick Qualys VMDR if
You want vulnerability management inside a wider platform that also covers policy compliance, patching and cloud security from one console.
There is no single right answer in a Vexta vs Qualys VMDR decision. Both products solve the same surface problem - finding vulnerabilities before an attacker does - but they make different bets about who is operating the tool, how much manual review is acceptable, and what the report has to look like for downstream auditors.
The honest test is this: point both at the same target and compare the findings. Vexta has a free trial; check Qualys VMDR's website for its current trial options.
Side-by-side
Vexta vs Qualys VMDR: feature comparison
| Feature | Vexta | Qualys VMDR |
|---|---|---|
| Vulnerability scanning (external + internal) | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI-triaged findings + fix guidance Qualys prioritises with TruRisk and offers Agentic AI for prioritisation, exploit validation and remediation; Vexta can add an LLM-written fix recommendation to each finding when you connect your own LLM API key. | ✓ | ✓ |
| CI/CD-native (developer workflow) Via Qualys web app and container scanning plugins (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions and others). | ✓ | ✓ |
| Single-binary install | ✓ | ✕ |
| Self-host option Qualys Private Cloud Platform runs the platform on-premises. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Enterprise GRC / compliance dashboards | ∼ | ✓ |
| SCA + container image scanning Vexta scans dependency manifests and lockfiles (SCA); it does not scan container images. | ∼ | ✓ |
| How you buy | Self-serve, sign up today | Free 30-day VMDR trial; subscriptions by quote |
| Pricing | Free trial, then published plans | By quote |
Common questions
Is Vexta missing something Qualys has that we'd need?
Possibly, depending on your scope. Qualys covers more than vulnerability scanning: policy and configuration compliance across many frameworks such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, NIST and ISO 27001, patch management and remediation, cloud security, and 100+ integrations including ServiceNow, Jira and Splunk. If you need those in one platform, Qualys is built for that. Vexta focuses on vulnerability scanning, reports and fix guidance.
Can Vexta replace Qualys for our SOC 2 / ISO 27001 audit?
It can support the vulnerability-management control. Vexta Enterprise exports compliance evidence packs (PDF) for SOC 2, PCI-DSS v4, GDPR, DPDP and DORA, listing scans run and findings fixed and still open in the audit period, and tags findings to ISO 27001 and HIPAA controls. Whether a given report is accepted is at your auditor's discretion.
How quickly can we get started?
Vexta: download the binary, activate your license key and start a scan from the dashboard. Qualys offers a free 30-day VMDR trial from its website; ask Qualys about the setup steps for your environment.
What about scale - does Vexta handle large enterprises?
Vexta Enterprise includes unlimited scans per month, unlimited seats with role-based access (priced per seat, minimum 5) and single sign-on through OIDC, and like every Vexta plan it runs on your own infrastructure. We have not published a tested asset ceiling, so if you plan to scan a very large estate, talk to us first.
Try Vexta on one target.
No agents to install, no card to enter, no SDR call. Start with the free trial.