Open Source Nessus Alternatives

The best open source alternative to Nessus is Metasploit. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try OpenVAS or PhoneSploit Pro. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Nessus and 12 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Nessus are skipfish, OpenSCAP, Tsunami and nuclei.

Nessus alternatives are mainly Vulnerability Scanners but may also be Penetration Testing Tools or Cloud Computing Services. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Nessus.

Nessus

Paid • Proprietary
Vulnerability Scanner

The Nessus vulnerability scanner is the world-leader in active scanners, featuring high-speed discovery, configuration...

More about Nessus

Nessus alternatives page was last updated

Metasploit
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free Personal • Open Source
Penetration Testing Tool
Vulnerability Scanner
Windows
Linux
BSD
20 Metasploit alternatives
Metasploit Community Edition simplifies network discovery and vulnerability verification for specific exploits, increasing the effectiveness of vulnerability scanners such as Nexpose - for free. This helps prioritize remediation and eliminate false positives, providing true...
- - Metasploit is the most popular Windows & Linux alternative to Nessus.
- - Metasploit is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Nessus.
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Metasploit Features
Security Testing
Opinions about Metasploit as a Alternative to Nessus
Most users think Metasploit is a great Nessus alternative.
OpenVAS
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Linux
23 OpenVAS alternatives
The Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) is a framework of several services and tools offering a comprehensive and powerful vulnerability scanning and vulnerability management solution.
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OpenVAS Features
Vulnerability management
Opinions about OpenVAS as a Alternative to Nessus
Most users think OpenVAS is a great Nessus alternative.
PhoneSploit Pro
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Penetration Testing Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
19 PhoneSploit Pro alternatives
An all-in-one hacking tool written in Python to remotely exploit Android devices using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and Metasploit-Framework.
- - PhoneSploit Pro is the most popular Mac alternative to Nessus.
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PhoneSploit Pro Features
1. Command line interfacePhoneSploit Pro either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
skipfish
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
29 skipfish alternatives
A fully automated, active web application security reconnaissance tool. Key features: High speed: pure C code, highly optimized HTTP handling, minimal CPU footprint - easily achieving 2000 requests per second with responsive targets.
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skipfish Features
1. Command line interfaceskipfish either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
Heuristic Detection
Discontinued
Skipfish is no longer maintained. Last version, 2.10 beta, released in December 2012, can be still downloaded from Google Code Archive
OpenSCAP
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Linux
13 OpenSCAP alternatives
SCAP is a line of standards managed by NIST. It was created to provide a standardized approach to maintaining the security of enterprise systems, such as automatically verifying the presence of patches, checking system security configuration settings, and examining systems for...
OpenSCAP has no features, suggest some!
Tsunami
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Self-Hosted
18 Tsunami alternatives
Tsunami is a general purpose network security scanner with an extensible plugin system for detecting high severity vulnerabilities with high confidence.
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Tsunami Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsTsunami can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Vulnerability Assessment
nuclei
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Mac
Windows
Linux
18 nuclei alternatives
Nuclei is used to send requests across targets based on a template, leading to zero false positives and providing fast scanning on a large number of hosts. Nuclei offers scanning for a variety of protocols, including TCP, DNS, HTTP, SSL, File, Whois, Websocket, Headless etc.
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nuclei Features
Vulnerability Assessment
RedEye
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
10 RedEye alternatives
RedEye is an open-source analytic tool developed by CISA and DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to assist Red Teams with visualizing and reporting command and control activities. This tool, released in October 2022 on GitHub, allows an operator to assess and display...
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RedEye Features
Log parsing
BabySploit
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Penetration Testing Tool
Self-Hosted
Python
14 BabySploit alternatives
BabySploit is a penetration testing toolkit aimed at making it easy to learn how to use bigger, more complicated frameworks like Metasploit. With a very easy to use UI and toolkit, anybody from any experience level will find...
BabySploit has no features, suggest some!
Strobes
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Open Source
Vulnerability Scanner
Software as a Service (SaaS)
2 Strobes alternatives
Strobes is a one-stop-shop solution for all security stakeholders to ensure that their enterprise is well guarded against security issues and cyber attacks. Right from viewing all the security threats for every asset in the dashboard to supporting integrations with leading...
Suggest and vote on features
Strobes Features
Vulnerability Assessment
Vulnerability management
kube-hunter
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Linux
4 kube-hunter alternatives
kube-hunter hunts for security weaknesses in Kubernetes clusters. The tool was developed to increase awareness and visibility for security issues in Kubernetes environments. You should NOT run kube-hunter on a Kubernetes cluster that you don't own!
kube-hunter has no features, suggest some!
WoTT
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Open Source
Linux
Online
Software as a Service (SaaS)
6 WoTT alternatives
Improve your authentication security for your linux servers with mutual TLS (mTLS). WoTT automatically rotates private keys with our public key infrastructure (PKI) and lets you seamlessly and easily manage certificates at scale.
WoTT has no features, suggest some!