Vulnerability management is undergoing a fundamental shift in 2026. The old model of periodic scanning is giving way to Continuous Threat Exposure Management, or CTEM, which is Gartner’s framework for continuously assessing and prioritizing exploitable attack surface. Platform vendors like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, and Microsoft are aggressively expanding into this space through acquisitions, putting pressure on specialist vendors. Tenable’s stock hit a 52-week low in January 2026 (down 43% year-over-year), illustrating the competitive squeeze facing standalone vulnerability management companies.
How We Evaluated
We assessed scanning breadth across infrastructure, cloud, containers, web apps, APIs, and code. Prioritization quality mattered, including risk-based scoring and exploit prediction accuracy. We looked at CTEM alignment, meaning support for continuous exposure assessment beyond periodic scanning. Remediation workflow integration, patching automation, and developer tooling counted. Coverage of multi-cloud, on-premises, OT/IoT, and hybrid environments factored in, along with integration with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and CI/CD pipelines.
1. Tenable One
Score: 93/100
Tenable remains the exposure management leader despite competitive pressure, bolstered by the Vulcan Cyber acquisition ($147M, February 2025) for AI-powered risk prioritization and the earlier Ermetic acquisition for cloud identity security. The Tenable One platform unifies vulnerability, cloud, identity, and attack surface data into a single exposure view.
Scanning coverage is the broadest available, spanning infrastructure, cloud, containers, web apps, OT/IoT, and Active Directory. The Vulcan Cyber integration adds AI-powered risk prioritization and remediation orchestration. Exposure Analytics with Lumin provides business-context risk scoring. VPR (Vulnerability Priority Rating) leverages over 150 data sources for exploit prediction. Ermetic CIEM integration provides cloud identity risk analysis. With 4.6 out of 5.0 on Gartner Peer Insights, customer satisfaction leads the category.
Best for: Large enterprises needing comprehensive exposure management across infrastructure, cloud, identity, and OT environments
2. CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management
Score: 91/100
CrowdStrike’s entry into vulnerability management leverages the existing Falcon agent, requiring no additional scanner deployment. The 2025 acquisitions of Adaptive Shield (SaaS security posture) and SGNL ($740M, continuous identity authorization) extend coverage to SaaS applications and non-human identities.
Agent-based vulnerability assessment uses the existing Falcon sensor with zero additional deployment. Unified integration with Falcon XDR enables contextual prioritization based on active threat intelligence. ExPRT.AI predicts which vulnerabilities attackers will exploit, outperforming CVSS alone. SaaS exposure management comes via the Adaptive Shield acquisition. Non-human identity risk assessment comes via SGNL. A single console covers endpoint, vulnerability, cloud, and identity exposure.
Best for: CrowdStrike Falcon customers wanting to consolidate vulnerability scanning into their existing agent without deploying additional scanners
3. Qualys VMDR
Score: 89/100
Qualys VMDR (Vulnerability Management, Detection, and Response) provides an integrated workflow from discovery through patching. The TruRisk scoring engine uses over 25 risk factors to prioritize beyond raw CVSS scores, and built-in patch management closes the loop from detection to remediation.
Integrated patching lets you detect, prioritize, and remediate in a single platform. The TruRisk scoring engine incorporates over 25 contextual risk factors. Cloud Agent covers cloud, containers, on-premises, and remote endpoints. External Attack Surface Management discovers internet-facing assets. CyberSecurity Asset Management provides real-time asset inventory. Predictable per-asset pricing keeps costs manageable.
Best for: Organizations wanting an end-to-end vulnerability-to-patch workflow in a single platform
4. Rapid7 InsightVM
Score: 87/100
InsightVM provides vulnerability management within the broader Insight platform alongside InsightIDR (SIEM), InsightConnect (SOAR), and Metasploit (penetration testing). The integration with Metasploit provides unique validation capabilities, confirming whether vulnerabilities are actually exploitable.
Metasploit integration validates exploitability of discovered vulnerabilities. Real Risk Score combines CVSS, exploit maturity, malware exposure, and threat recency. Live dashboards offer customizable views for different stakeholders. Built-in remediation workflow integrates with IT ticketing. Both agent and agentless scanning options are available. The platform holds 4.4 out of 5.0 on Gartner Peer Insights.
Best for: Organizations wanting vulnerability management integrated with penetration testing validation and SIEM
5. Wiz (Google Cloud)
Score: 86/100
Wiz’s agentless approach provides vulnerability scanning as part of its broader CNAPP platform, discovering vulnerabilities in cloud workloads, containers, and infrastructure-as-code without deploying agents. The Google acquisition at $32B provides access to Mandiant threat intelligence for exploit prediction.
Agentless vulnerability scanning covers cloud workloads, VMs, containers, and serverless. Attack path analysis connects vulnerabilities to exploitable paths to critical assets. Context-aware prioritization factors in internet exposure, exploitability, and blast radius. Mandiant threat intelligence integration improves exploit prediction. SBOM generation and supply chain vulnerability tracking are included. Shift-left IaC scanning integrates into CI/CD pipelines.
Best for: Cloud-first organizations wanting agentless vulnerability discovery integrated with CNAPP and attack path analysis
6. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management
Score: 84/100
Microsoft’s vulnerability management integrates with Defender for Endpoint and the broader Defender XDR suite, providing vulnerability data alongside threat detection. The Copilot integration adds AI-powered remediation guidance.
Native integration with Defender for Endpoint means no additional agent needed. Software inventory and vulnerability assessment cover Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Copilot for Security provides AI-powered remediation prioritization and guidance. Browser extension vulnerability assessment is included. Network device scanning works via authenticated assessments. Inclusion in Microsoft E5 licensing offers a significant cost advantage for Microsoft shops.
Best for: Microsoft E5 customers wanting vulnerability management at no additional licensing cost
7. Palo Alto Cortex Xpanse
Score: 82/100
Cortex Xpanse focuses on external attack surface management, discovering internet-facing assets and exposures that organizations don’t know they have. Combined with Prisma Cloud and the pending CyberArk acquisition, Palo Alto is building a comprehensive exposure management platform.
Internet-scale asset discovery identifies unknown, unmanaged, and shadow IT exposures. Active Response automatically remediates high-risk exposures. Integration with Cortex XDR and XSOAR enables automated response workflows. Supply chain exposure monitoring covers third-party and vendor risk. CyberArk integration will add privileged account exposure assessment. Continuous monitoring replaces periodic scanning.
Best for: Organizations whose primary concern is unknown, unmanaged, internet-facing exposure and shadow IT
8. Snyk
Score: 81/100
Snyk focuses on developer-first security, finding vulnerabilities in code, open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure-as-code during development rather than after deployment. The Probely acquisition (November 2024) added DAST capabilities and the Invariant Labs acquisition (June 2025) added AI agent vulnerability analysis.
A developer-first workflow integrates into IDEs, Git repositories, and CI/CD pipelines. Open-source dependency scanning uses the largest vulnerability database in the space. Container image scanning includes base image remediation advice. IaC scanning covers Terraform, CloudFormation, and Kubernetes manifests. Probely DAST integration adds runtime API and web application testing. The Invariant Labs acquisition adds AI/LLM application security testing.
Best for: Development-centric organizations wanting to find and fix vulnerabilities before deployment
9. ServiceNow SecOps (+ Armis)
Score: 79/100
ServiceNow’s acquisition of Armis (2025) bridges IT operations and security by integrating vulnerability data with ITSM workflows, asset management, and automated remediation. The platform excels at vulnerability response orchestration, connecting security findings to IT remediation workflows.
Direct integration with ServiceNow ITSM enables vulnerability-to-ticket remediation. The Armis integration provides agentless IoT/OT asset discovery and vulnerability assessment. The Vulnerability Response module prioritizes and assigns remediation tasks. Configuration Compliance checks systems against security baselines. CMDB integration provides asset context for vulnerability prioritization. Strong governance and audit trails support compliance requirements.
Best for: ServiceNow-centric organizations wanting vulnerability remediation orchestrated through existing ITSM workflows
10. Greenbone / OpenVAS
Score: 75/100
Greenbone provides the enterprise-supported version of OpenVAS, the most widely deployed open-source vulnerability scanner. The Greenbone Enterprise appliance adds commercial support, compliance reporting, and a management console while maintaining the open-source scanner’s comprehensive vulnerability test library.
The open-source foundation includes the largest community-maintained vulnerability test library with over 180,000 tests. Greenbone Enterprise provides commercial support, appliance deployment, and compliance reporting. No per-asset licensing makes it cost-effective for large-scale deployments. On-premises deployment suits organizations with data sovereignty requirements. A REST API enables automation and integration. Strong compliance scanning covers CIS, DISA STIG, and regulatory frameworks.
Best for: Budget-conscious organizations and those requiring on-premises vulnerability scanning with no per-asset licensing
Where the Market Is Heading
Several trends are reshaping vulnerability management in 2026.
CTEM is replacing periodic scanning. Gartner’s Continuous Threat Exposure Management framework is reshaping the market. Organizations want continuous assessment, not quarterly scan reports.
Platform vendors are absorbing VM. CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and Palo Alto are making vulnerability management a feature of their platforms rather than a standalone product. This poses an existential threat to specialists.
AI-powered prioritization is winning. Exploit prediction models like CrowdStrike ExPRT.AI and Tenable VPR outperform CVSS by incorporating real-time threat intelligence. This reduces the “everything is critical” problem that has plagued vulnerability management for years.
Shift-left is accelerating. Snyk’s developer-first model is forcing traditional VM vendors to add CI/CD integration and developer-friendly workflows.
Non-human identity exposure is the next frontier. Service accounts, API keys, machine identities, and AI agent credentials present new vulnerability classes that most VM tools don’t scan for yet.