Acunetix vs Qualys

If you are building your suite of web application scanning tools for the first time, or struggling to get the most out of Qualys, here is why you should consider the Acunetix web vulnerability scanner.

Acunetix is the most flexible web application security scanner on the market. Though both Acunetix and Qualys offer a software-as-a-service model, Acunetix also offers an on-premise version of its web vulnerability scanner, perfect for security teams that prefer to run tools within their own infrastructure, or for an internal penetration testing setup. Acunetix can run on both Windows and Linux, meaning Acunetix will work no matter what stack you depend on.

For companies that prefer to perform their web application vulnerability scanning from their own infrastructure but need to scale it up with time, Acunetix offers the multi-engine setup. With Acunetix multi-engine, security analysts can control multiple remote scanners, access results, and perform vulnerability management from a single web-based console.

As part of a complete information security program, you need to perform frequent web application security testing. This includes scanning the entire web application attack surface with a tool designed to identify security vulnerabilities in the OWASP Top Ten and beyond, including SQL Injection, Cross-site Scripting (XSS), and local file inclusion (LFI).

Acunetix was built from the ground up for web application scanning. It can identify the full range of web application vulnerabilities on any kind of web application, from open-source content management systems like WordPress to commercial off-the-shelf frameworks to code developed specifically for your business. And it does so with a minimal rate of false positives, allowing your security team to move as quickly as possible from scan results to remediation.

With Acunetix, you do not have to sacrifice accuracy for speed. The scanning engine for the Acunetix web vulnerability scanner is optimized for speed. The cutting-edge engine provides increased scan speed for all target applications.

DeepScan Technology

As web application technology moves toward single-page applications that depend on JavaScript and HTML5, you need a scanner that can map out all of the functionality of single-page applications, identify every input field, and detect the full spectrum of vulnerabilities with confidence. Acunetix gives you this with the power of the DeepScan engine.

In 2013, Acunetix was the first web application security scanner to develop a scanning technology focused on applications that run so much logic on the client side. Security researchers at Acunetix developed a technology and implemented it in our web application security scanner as DeepScan.

The Power of Gray-Box Testing

Acunetix not only offers best-in-class black-box testing, but also lets you go beyond conventional black-box testing with the power of AcuSensor. Though Qualys and its competitors can perform dynamic application security testing (DAST), otherwise known as black-box testing, they lack the features to go deeper. AcuSensor, available exclusively with the Acunetix vulnerability scanner, is an agent that runs on the web server and gives the scanner deeper information about PHP, ASP.NET, and Java web applications. It allows you to perform interactive application security testing (IAST), or gray-box testing.

AcuSensor gives the scanner source code visibility for PHP applications and stack trace visibility for ASP.NET, PHP, and Java applications. With that information, Acunetix can identify even more vulnerabilities with 100% confidence.

Frequently asked questions

Is Qualys a web vulnerability scanner?

Qualys is a renowned and trusted network security provider specializing in network vulnerability management. Qualys offers limited web application vulnerability scanning functionality. However, functions that are all available in Acunetix require several separate Qualys products. Many Acunetix features are not available in Qualys at all.

Read about the history of Qualys.

When should I choose Acunetix over Qualys?

You should choose Acunetix if you are primarily concerned about web application security. Acunetix has been developed from scratch as a web application security solution. You should also choose Acunetix if you want to scan internal web assets or integrate it into your SLDC (unlike Qualys, Acunetix is available on-premises and in the cloud).

Find out why we believe that web security is very important to your business.

When should I choose Qualys instead?

You should choose Qualys if you are primarily concerned about network security. For example, if you have a large company network with thousands of desktop computers and want to continuously manage patching operations. If your focus is on web application security, choose a specialized solution like Acunetix instead.

Learn about common cybersecurity assumptions that affect choices.

Does Acunetix provide network scanning, too?

Acunetix integrates with another renowned network scanner – OpenVAS. OpenVAS is based on the same code base as the Nessus network scanner (Nessus used to be free software). All network issues are displayed and managed along with web issues in the Acunetix interface. Therefore, while still focusing on web security, Acunetix can help you with network security, too.

Read about network security scanning features in Acunetix.

Acunetix vs. Qualys