Table of contents
- Why Do Teams Look for Tenable Alternatives?
- What Should You Look for in a Tenable Alternative?
- 1. Orca Security — Best Overall for Cloud-Native Risk Beyond Network Vulnerability Management
- 2. Wiz — Closest Agentless Cloud-Native Peer
- 3. Palo Alto Networks Cortex — Broadest Platform Consolidation (ASM + Exposure + SOC)
- 5. SentinelOne Singularity — Best for Unified Endpoint Protection Plus AI-Driven Investigation
- 6. Qualys — Closest Like-for-Like VM Replacement
- 7. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management — Best for Microsoft-Centric Security Stacks
- 8. Rapid7 — Best for SecOps Teams Needing VM Plus SIEM
- 9. Aikido Security — Broadest Developer-First Code-to-Cloud Platform
- 10. Snyk — Best for Developer-First Open Source and Code Scanning
- How Do You Choose the Right Tenable Alternative for Your Team?
- Where Orca Fits
- Frequently Asked Questions about Tenable Alternatives
Many security teams adopted Tenable for network and infrastructure vulnerability management, and it still does that job well. But as cloud estates grow to include containers, serverless functions, and infrastructure-as-code pipelines, the gap between what Tenable covers and what teams actually need to protect becomes harder to ignore. That gap, not any fundamental product failure, is what sends architects looking for alternatives.
This article evaluates ten Tenable alternatives across cloud-native platforms, endpoint-rooted solutions, traditional VM replacements, and developer-first tools. Each entry states who it fits best and where it falls short, so you can match the right option to your team’s actual workload.
Why Do Teams Look for Tenable Alternatives?
Tenable has genuine strengths: CIEM and identity analysis capabilities, and network vulnerability scanning remain market standards. The challenge is that cloud-native security requires coverage Tenable wasn’t originally built to provide. Teams building a mature cloud security program find three specific scope gaps that drive the search for alternatives:
- Workload and runtime depth. Cloud Exposure and Hexa AI add runtime signals, but they don’t match the full agentless workload depth, malware, secrets, exploitability-ranked vulnerabilities, and PII in one pass, that purpose-built cloud platforms deliver.
- Attack path analysis. Tenable surfaces toxic combinations on a single asset, but doesn’t model the multi-stage lateral movement across misconfigurations, identities, workloads, and data that shows how an attacker reaches crown-jewel assets.
- Application security beyond IaC. Tenable covers IaC scanning, but there is no native SAST, SCA, secrets detection, or code-to-runtime tracing, so full-lifecycle AppSec still needs a separate toolchain.
These gaps don’t make Tenable a bad product. They make it an incomplete one for teams operating multi-cloud, container-heavy environments.
What Should You Look for in a Tenable Alternative?
Before comparing individual tools, it helps to have a consistent evaluation rubric. The five criteria below apply whether you’re looking for a full platform replacement or a specialized complement. For a deeper look at how agentless cloud security vendors stack up against these criteria, the differences are worth understanding before you shortlist.
| Criteria | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Cloud-native platform breadth | Coverage spans CSPM, CWPP, and container/serverless workloads, not just network-level VM scanning. |
| Unified data model | Findings from posture, workload, identity, and code scanning feed a single risk model rather than siloed dashboards from bolted-on acquisitions. |
| Attack path and exploitability context | The platform maps how individual findings chain together into real attack paths, prioritized by exploitability and asset criticality. |
| Developer workflow fit | Security findings surface in pull requests, CI/CD pipelines, and IDE integrations, not just SOC consoles. |
| Pricing transparency | Licensing is predictable and tied to assets or workloads, not gated behind opaque enterprise negotiations or per-module add-ons. |
1. Orca Security — Best Overall for Cloud-Native Risk Beyond Network Vulnerability Management
Orca Security is the strongest option for teams whose primary gap is cloud-native coverage, specifically workload-level visibility, attack path analysis, and shift-left scanning, without deploying agents. Orca pairs agentless SideScanning, for broad, no-touch coverage across VMs, containers, and serverless, with the Orca Sensor for real-time runtime detection where you want it. You get full breadth without agents on every workload, plus deep runtime visibility, all correlated in one data model. The Unified Data Model connects findings across CWPP, CSPM, CIEM, and CNAPP into one risk graph, and its attack path analysis maps chains of exposure using MITRE ATT&CK techniques tied to crown-jewel asset identification. That agentless-first approach reduces operational overhead while providing application-level context teams need to prioritize risk.
Key Features
- Agentless SideScanning reads workload data directly from cloud APIs and snapshots, covering VMs, containers, and serverless with no agents to deploy or maintain.
- Orca Sensor adds real-time runtime visibility and detection for the workloads that need it, so runtime depth doesn’t require an agent on everything.
- Unified Data Model correlates vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, identity risks, sensitive data exposure, and malware findings in a single connected context.
- CIEM in context: identity and entitlement risk correlated in the same graph as workloads, data, and attack paths, so it is prioritized by real exposure rather than in isolation.
- AI security in the same platform: AI-BOM inventory, AI-SPM posture, and runtime detection for prompt injection and model exfiltration.
- Attack path analysis visualizes how an attacker could move laterally from an initial foothold to critical assets, prioritized by real exploitability.
- Shift-left scanning covers container images and IaC templates in CI/CD pipelines, catching risks before deployment.
Best for: Mid-to-large multi-cloud teams that need one platform for cloud workload protection, posture, and attack-path visibility without managing agents.
Where Tenable leads: Identity and entitlement analysis is its deepest area, from the Ermetic heritage.
2. Wiz — Closest Agentless Cloud-Native Peer
Wiz is architecturally the nearest peer to Orca: agentless, cloud-native, and built around a graph-based model that connects related risks rather than listing them flat. Gartner’s 2025 Market Guide for CNAPP recognizes both Orca and Wiz as representative vendors, and both cover the core CNAPP capabilities. The practical difference is architectural lineage and fit: Orca’s Unified Data Model was a single architecture from day one, and buyers usually decide between the two on their specific cloud mix and workload types.
Best for: Teams that want an agentless, cloud-native CNAPP and are weighing the two market leaders side by side.
Watch out: Wiz is priced for enterprise budgets, so run a proof of concept on your own stack rather than a feature-list comparison.
3. Palo Alto Networks Cortex — Broadest Platform Consolidation (ASM + Exposure + SOC)
Cortex offers the widest platform footprint of any entry on this list. It spans attack surface management (Xpanse), exposure management, and SOC operations (XSIAM) under one umbrella. For large enterprises looking to consolidate security tooling across cloud posture, endpoint, and SOC workflows, Cortex is a serious contender. The value is consolidation across domains, fewer vendor contracts, unified telemetry, and AI-driven prioritization. Understanding what a CNAPP should actually solve helps frame whether Cortex’s breadth matches your team’s specific cloud security needs.
Best for: Large enterprises with budget and appetite for full-platform standardization across security operations, exposure management, and cloud posture, particularly those already using Palo Alto products.
Watch out: Cortex delivers its best value when multiple modules are adopted together. Teams purchasing a single module may find the procurement and deployment investment disproportionate to the return. Implementation timelines tend to be longer than cloud-native-only platforms.
4. CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security — Best for Teams Already Standardized on Falcon
Falcon Cloud Security makes the most sense for organizations that already run CrowdStrike’s endpoint agent across their fleet and want to extend that investment into cloud workload protection and exposure management. The agent-based architecture means teams get runtime visibility and threat detection capabilities that benefit from Falcon’s existing threat intelligence. The trade-off is that agentless and agent-based security models serve different operational realities, and Falcon’s reliance on agents adds operational friction in ephemeral, containerized, or serverless environments where agent deployment is impractical.
Best for: Security teams with an established Falcon endpoint deployment looking to consolidate cloud workload protection under the same platform and SOC workflow.
Watch out: Falcon’s agentless mode covers inventory and posture, but deep runtime protection still requires the Falcon sensor per workload, so serverless and ephemeral containers get less depth than agent-covered hosts.
5. SentinelOne Singularity — Best for Unified Endpoint Protection Plus AI-Driven Investigation
SentinelOne’s Singularity platform is best suited for enterprises that want to consolidate endpoint protection, vulnerability management, and AI-driven threat investigation in one EDR-rooted platform. Purple AI enables autonomous threat investigations using natural language queries, reducing the manual effort analysts spend triaging alerts. Singularity Vulnerability Management integrates CISA KEV and EPSS data for risk-based prioritization, and Singularity MDR adds managed detection and response. For teams weighing the distinctions between AI agents, agentless, and agent-based security, SentinelOne sits firmly in the agent-based camp with an AI investigation layer on top.
Best for: Enterprises that want EDR, VM, and AI-assisted investigation consolidated under one vendor, especially those already evaluating managed detection and response services.
Watch out: SentinelOne is agent-based and endpoint-rooted; its VM module is newer and its cloud posture depth trails purpose-built cloud-native platforms.
6. Qualys — Closest Like-for-Like VM Replacement
Qualys is the most direct one-to-one replacement for Tenable’s traditional vulnerability management. Its cloud agent covers on-premises and cloud workloads, and its policy compliance module maps to major frameworks. Qualys does not publish pricing publicly; VMDR is quoted per asset and scales with asset count and module selection.
Best for: Teams whose primary need is network and infrastructure VM scanning with compliance reporting.
Watch out: Qualys is not a cloud-native posture platform in the same sense as Orca or Wiz; it fits when the gap is VM scanning quality or licensing, not cloud-native depth.
7. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management — Best for Microsoft-Centric Security Stacks
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management fits teams already standardized on Microsoft 365 and Defender for Endpoint. It folds vulnerability assessment, software inventory, and security baselines into the Defender console, with no extra agent for Windows endpoints already enrolled, and integrates with Secure Score and Defender for Cloud.
Best for: Microsoft-centric teams whose infrastructure runs on Azure with endpoints managed through Intune and Entra ID.
Watch out: Mixed-stack teams running AWS, GCP, or OCI still need separate tooling for cross-cloud coverage, and non-Microsoft software gets less depth.
8. Rapid7 — Best for SecOps Teams Needing VM Plus SIEM
Rapid7’s value proposition centers on bundling vulnerability management (InsightVM) with SIEM and incident detection (InsightIDR) under one contract. For security operations teams that want correlated visibility between vulnerabilities and active threats without managing separate vendor relationships, Rapid7 is a practical choice. It’s not built for developer-facing AppSec or deep cloud-native posture management. For a detailed look at Rapid7 InsightVM’s capabilities, the platform’s SecOps orientation is clear.
Best for: SecOps teams that want VM and SIEM/detection capabilities from a single vendor, with unified dashboards and correlated alerting across vulnerability and threat data.
Watch out: Pricing for Rapid7 varies significantly based on module selection and asset count. InsightVM is typically priced per-asset, while bundled InsightIDR pricing depends on data ingestion volume, making total cost harder to predict without a scoping exercise.
9. Aikido Security — Broadest Developer-First Code-to-Cloud Platform
Aikido positions itself as a complete security platform covering the entire software development lifecycle, spanning SAST, SCA, secrets detection, IaC scanning, container scanning, DAST, and cloud posture in a single interface. Its AutoFix feature generates remediation pull requests directly in developer workflows, reducing the handoff between security findings and code changes. Aikido frames itself against Tenable Nessus as a code-to-cloud platform versus Tenable’s infrastructure and network vulnerability management focus. For teams evaluating open source application security tools, Aikido’s breadth across the developer toolchain is notable.
Best for: Engineering-led teams that want one tool covering code-to-cloud security, particularly organizations where developers own security remediation and want findings surfaced in their existing Git and CI/CD workflows.
Watch out: Aikido covers code, cloud, and runtime but not network or infrastructure vulnerability management, the inverse of Orca’s cloud-native focus, so teams needing traditional network VM will still run a separate tool.
10. Snyk — Best for Developer-First Open Source and Code Scanning
Snyk is the narrowest-scope option on this list, and that’s by design. It’s built for teams whose real gap is developer-first open source dependency scanning (SCA) and code analysis (SAST), with tight Git and IDE integration. Snyk’s strength is its developer experience: findings surface where developers already work, with fix suggestions and upgrade guidance inline. Teams evaluating the differences between SAST and SCA approaches will find Snyk strongest on the SCA side.
Best for: Development teams that need best-in-class open source dependency scanning and code analysis integrated into Git workflows and IDEs, without requiring cloud posture or infrastructure VM capabilities from the same tool.
Watch out: Cloud coverage is separate and requires additional tooling. Secrets detection is limited to IDE-level scanning. At scale, Snyk can become noisy, and teams that need cloud posture management will still need a separate CSPM or CNAPP tool alongside it.
How Do You Choose the Right Tenable Alternative for Your Team?
The right choice depends on where your gap actually is. This table maps each alternative to its primary buyer scenario and the trade-off you’ll accept.
| Tool | Best For | Primary Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Orca Security | Full cloud-native platform replacing multiple point tools (CWPP, CSPM, attack path) | Identity-first buyers should compare CIEM depth directly. |
| Wiz | Agentless cloud-native CNAPP, weighed head-to-head with Orca | Priced for enterprise budgets; validate fit with a peer-to-peer proof of concept |
| Palo Alto Cortex | Enterprise-wide platform consolidation (ASM + exposure + SOC) | High procurement/deployment investment; best value with multiple modules |
| CrowdStrike Falcon | Extending existing Falcon endpoint deployment into cloud | Agent-dependent; gaps in serverless/container environments |
| SentinelOne Singularity | Unified EDR + VM + AI investigation | VM module newer; limited EASM |
| Qualys | Like-for-like Tenable VM replacement | Not a cloud-native posture platform |
| Microsoft Defender VM | Microsoft-centric stacks wanting VM in Defender | Export friction for non-Microsoft workflows; detection bugs reported |
| Rapid7 | SecOps teams bundling VM with SIEM | Limited developer-facing integrations; pricing complexity |
| Aikido Security | Developer-first code-to-cloud coverage | No network/infrastructure VM |
| Snyk | Developer-first open source and code scanning | No cloud posture; noisy at scale; needs separate CSPM |
Where Orca Fits
The gaps that drive teams to evaluate Tenable alternatives, workload-level visibility, connected attack path analysis, and shift-left coverage, are precisely where Orca Security is built to deliver. Orca focuses on closing the cloud-native gaps that Tenable’s architecture wasn’t designed to address, rather than replacing Tenable’s network VM or matching its CIEM depth.
Orca’s cloud-native security platform is built on a few core technical capabilities that make this possible:
- Agentless SideScanning for broad coverage, paired with the Orca Sensor for runtime detection, all correlated in one data model.
- Unified Data Model correlates vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, identity risks, sensitive data, and malware into a single risk context.
- Attack Path Analysis maps real attack chains from initial exposure to crown-jewel assets, prioritized by exploitability and business impact.
- Shift-Left Scanning catches vulnerable container images and IaC misconfigurations in CI/CD before they reach production.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tenable Alternatives
These questions come up consistently when teams evaluate whether to supplement or replace their Tenable deployment. Each answer is intentionally concise, covering the core of the question without repeating detail from the entries above.
Tenable is strong for network and infrastructure vulnerability management and has CIEM and identity/entitlement analysis capabilities. It is comparatively thin on workload telemetry, attack path analysis, and shift-left/IaC coverage for cloud-native environments. Teams with container-heavy or multi-cloud estates typically add a cloud-native platform like Orca to cover those gaps.
It depends on the nature of your gap. If you need a full cloud-native platform, Orca can serve as a complement or replacement; if you need a like-for-like VM swap, a traditional VM-focused vendor is the most natural substitute. Developer-focused scanners can complement VM tooling rather than replace it.
Platforms with agentless deployment and low operational overhead are the best fit for lean teams. Orca connects to cloud provider APIs directly and covers workloads agentlessly with SideScanning, so there are no agents to install or maintain across the estate. Teams that want runtime detection can add the Orca Sensor where it matters, while the baseline coverage needs no deployment, which keeps the operational burden low for organizations without dedicated cloud security headcount.
Pricing varies significantly based on platform breadth, deployment model, and module count. Developer-first tools often use per-user pricing and are more transparent, while enterprise platforms require scoping and may have complex module-based pricing. Traditional per-asset or per-user VM offerings tend to be more predictable.
Combining tools is common and often practical. Many teams run a cloud-native platform like Orca alongside a developer-first scanner to cover both runtime and code-level risks. The key is ensuring your tools share a common data flow into your SIEM or ticketing system so findings don’t create siloed alert fatigue.
Table of contents
- Why Do Teams Look for Tenable Alternatives?
- What Should You Look for in a Tenable Alternative?
- 1. Orca Security — Best Overall for Cloud-Native Risk Beyond Network Vulnerability Management
- 2. Wiz — Closest Agentless Cloud-Native Peer
- 3. Palo Alto Networks Cortex — Broadest Platform Consolidation (ASM + Exposure + SOC)
- 5. SentinelOne Singularity — Best for Unified Endpoint Protection Plus AI-Driven Investigation
- 6. Qualys — Closest Like-for-Like VM Replacement
- 7. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management — Best for Microsoft-Centric Security Stacks
- 8. Rapid7 — Best for SecOps Teams Needing VM Plus SIEM
- 9. Aikido Security — Broadest Developer-First Code-to-Cloud Platform
- 10. Snyk — Best for Developer-First Open Source and Code Scanning
- How Do You Choose the Right Tenable Alternative for Your Team?
- Where Orca Fits
- Frequently Asked Questions about Tenable Alternatives