Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenVAS VS runZero

Compare OpenVAS VS runZero and see what are their differences

OpenVAS logo OpenVAS

The Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) is a framework of several services and tools...

runZero logo runZero

runZero provides a single source of truth for exposure management across your total attack surface.
  • OpenVAS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-22
  • runZero runZero Exposure Management
    runZero Exposure Management //
    2025-06-13

runZero provides a single source of truth for exposure management across your total attack surface. Without requiring agents, authentication, or appliances, runZero delivers the most complete and accurate visibility into every asset and exposure across internal, external, IT, OT, IoT, mobile, and cloud environments — including uncovering unknown and unmanageable devices and broad classes of exposures that evade traditional tools. Founded in 2018 by HD Moore, runZero is trusted by more than 500 companies and 30,000 users worldwide to mitigate risks faster, meet compliance requirements, and improve overall security.

OpenVAS

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

runZero

$ Details
freemium $5000.0 (500 assets)
Platforms
Windows Linux Mac OSX BSD
Release Date
2019 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
TX
Founder(s)
HD Moore
Employees
50 - 99

OpenVAS features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenVAS is an open-source vulnerability scanning tool, which means it is free to use and the source code is available for customization.
  • Comprehensive Scanning
    It offers comprehensive vulnerability scanning capabilities, including a wide range of tests for network vulnerabilities, web application security, and compliance checks.
  • Regular Updates
    The tool receives regular updates, ensuring that it keeps up with the latest vulnerabilities and security threats.
  • Community Support
    OpenVAS has a strong community of users and developers who contribute to its development and provide support through forums and other channels.
  • Integration Capabilities
    OpenVAS can be integrated with other security tools and systems, enhancing its utility in a broader security infrastructure.

Possible disadvantages of OpenVAS

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up OpenVAS can be complex and time-consuming, requiring a fair amount of technical expertise.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running OpenVAS can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring significant CPU and memory, especially during large-scale scans.
  • False Positives
    Like many vulnerability scanning tools, OpenVAS can generate false positives, which can result in additional effort to validate findings.
  • User Interface
    The user interface can be less intuitive compared to some commercial vulnerability scanners, potentially increasing the learning curve for new users.
  • Limited Real-Time Capabilities
    OpenVAS is more focused on periodic scanning rather than real-time vulnerability detection and management.

runZero features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of OpenVAS

Overall verdict

  • OpenVAS is a good choice for those seeking a reliable and free vulnerability management solution. However, users should be prepared for a potentially steep learning curve and the need for manual configuration to tailor the scanner to their specific environment.

Why this product is good

  • OpenVAS is a comprehensive open-source vulnerability scanner that is widely respected within the cybersecurity community. It provides extensive scanning capabilities, a regularly updated database of vulnerabilities, and supports a wide range of network protocols. The tool is versatile and can be integrated with other software for enhanced security operations. It is well-suited for detecting vulnerabilities in the network and identifying security issues that need to be addressed.

Recommended for

    OpenVAS is ideal for small to medium-sized organizations looking for a cost-effective vulnerability scanning solution. It's also suitable for cybersecurity professionals who have the technical expertise to configure and maintain the scanner, as well as enthusiasts or students who are keen on learning more about vulnerability management using open-source tools.

OpenVAS videos

How to find Exploits with OpenVAS

More videos:

  • Review - Vulnerability Analysis with OpenVAS | Scanning and Reconnaissance
  • Review - Vulnerability Identification and Remediation Cybrary Lab | Ep. 3 Kali Linux, OpenVAS, + more

runZero videos

The Death and Rebirth of Vulnerability Management

More videos:

  • Demo - About runZero
  • Review - Rumble:In Depth Network Discovery Made Easy
  • Review - In Depth Network Discovery Made Easy Using RunZero

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenVAS and runZero)
Security
100 100%
0% 0
Monitoring Tools
87 87%
13% 13
Web Application Security
100 100%
0% 0
Network Scanning
0 0%
100% 100

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing OpenVAS and runZero.

What's the story behind your product?

runZero's answer:

runZero was founded in 2018 by HD Moore, well known in the industry as the creator of Metasploit. Over the last 25 years, HD has led penetration testing teams, helped build three successful security products, and pushed the boundaries of security research.

Throughout HD's storied career, one persistent fact stood out: organizations that care about security are still frequently compromised through assets they don’t know about. Even those who invest in mature security and IT programs still struggle to achieve full visibility into increasingly dynamic environments that endure constant change in assets, networks, and clouds. HD founded runZero to solve this problem and lay the foundation for the next generation of exposure management.

What makes your product unique?

runZero's answer:

The runZero Platform is the only total attack surface and exposure management solution that combines powerful proprietary active scanning, native passive discovery, and API integrations. Unifying these discovery approaches makes our platform unique in its ability to discover and provide accurate, detailed fingerprinting for all IT, OT, and IoT devices across on-prem, cloud, and remote environments.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenVAS and runZero

OpenVAS Reviews

Best Burp Suite Alternatives (Free and Paid) for 2023
The primary reason businesses use OpenVas is to perform comprehensive security testing of their IP addresses. This tool performs a port scan of an IP address to find any open services. Once listening services are found, they are tested for known vulnerabilities and misconfiguration using a large database of 53000 NVT checks. The results are compiled into a report that...
Burp suite alternatives
It is an open vulnerability assessment system is a software framework of services and tools offering vulnerability scanning and vulnerability assessment. The aim of OpenVAS protocol ia to be well documented to assist the developers. all products of OpenVAS are free, most components are licensed under the GNU, general public license. Its Plugins are written in NASL (Nessus...
Source: www.educba.com
10 Best Tenable Nessus Alternatives For 2021 [Updated List]
Verdict: OpenVAS is an open-source web application security scanner that will help you accurately detect vulnerabilities. It is easily configurable and can be tuned accordingly if you want to perform large-scale scans. Its use of updated data feeds makes it extremely efficient in detecting almost all types of vulnerabilities.
Best Nessus Alternatives (Free and Paid) for 2021
OpenVAS receives updates daily, which broadens the vulnerability detection coverage. It also helps in risk assessment and suggests countermeasures when the vulnerabilities in an application or network is detected.

runZero Reviews

We have no reviews of runZero yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

OpenVAS might be a bit more popular than runZero. We know about 6 links to it since March 2021 and only 5 links to runZero. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenVAS mentions (6)

  • Link CVE to installed applications?
    Otherwise your on the right path checkout the open source Greenbones OpenVAS (this was Nessus before they closed source and became corporate) or Project Discovery Nuclei. Source: about 2 years ago
  • What should I be doing as the sole sysadmin for a company to keep up with security?
    Personally, I was lucky enough to get a license to Nessus for my own scanning, however you can use OpenVAS for some free to scan. Scanners aren't 100% correct no matter where you go but it'll give you some things to look at. OpenVAS. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Wanting to protect my own homelab
    Https://openvas.org/ OpenVAS is free and fairly capable. It might struggle cpu on a pi... Might need quite a bit of ram, but I'm hoping you've got some beefier kit in your stack. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Free nessus equivalent?
    Maybe OpenVAS would fill the bill. It’s been on my list of things to check out. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Internal Vulnerability Scanning
    OpenVAS - https://openvas.org Try it first, its free, just download a prebuilt VM and you're off and running. I found it valuable for my clients. Source: almost 4 years ago
View more

runZero mentions (5)

  • Good Alternatives to Lansweeper?
    For network scanning / lite asset management I would recommend rumble.run. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Domotz vs Auvik
    Have you looked at https://rumble.run. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Guidance - Documentation
    I would start by using https://rumble.run and do recon of all the devices and services. That will give you a better understanding of what is there and what it does. You can do it by hand but this will scan whatever network subnets you give it. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Looking for software for visualising computer network topology and node information
    Rumble sounds like it might be a great fit. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Free enterprise tools for homelabbers...
    I want to add rumble to the list (https://rumble.run). Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenVAS and runZero, you can also consider the following products

Nessus - Nessus Professional is a security platform designed for businesses who want to protect the security of themselves, their clients, and their customers.

Sevco - Bring order to the chaos of your increasingly complex environment. Sevco’s real-time, multi-source cyber asset management platform helps you close security gaps, improve incident response and maintain continuous compliance.

Burp Suite - Burp Suite is an integrated platform for performing security testing of web applications.

Axonius - Cyber security asset management to see and secure all

Acunetix - Audit your website security and web applications for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other...

Armis - The leading enterprise-class agentless device security platform to address the new threat landscape of unmanaged and IoT devices.