Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Acunetix VS OpenVAS

Compare Acunetix VS OpenVAS and see what are their differences

Acunetix logo Acunetix

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

OpenVAS logo OpenVAS

The Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) is a framework of several services and tools...
  • Acunetix Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-13
  • OpenVAS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-22

Acunetix features and specs

  • Comprehensive Vulnerability Scanning
    Acunetix offers a thorough and detailed scan of websites, identifying a wide range of vulnerabilities, including SQL injection, XSS, and more.
  • Advanced Automation
    The tool automates much of the scanning process, reducing the need for manual interventions and speeding up the identification of security flaws.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Acunetix comes with an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible even for users who are not cybersecurity experts.
  • Continuous Monitoring
    It provides continuous security monitoring, keeping track of any changes in the web application that could introduce new vulnerabilities.
  • Comprehensive Reporting
    The tool offers detailed reporting features that provide insights into found vulnerabilities, making it easier to understand and fix security issues.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Acunetix can be integrated with various CI/CD pipelines and other security tools, enhancing its utility in a modern DevOps environment.

Possible disadvantages of Acunetix

  • Cost
    Acunetix can be relatively expensive, especially for small businesses or independent developers who might find it cost-prohibitive.
  • Resource Intensive
    The scanning process can be resource-intensive, requiring significant server resources and sometimes impacting the performance of the application being scanned.
  • False Positives
    While advanced, the scanner can sometimes generate false positives, which require time and expertise to manually verify.
  • Limited Mobile App Scanning
    Acunetix primarily focuses on web applications and offers limited capabilities when it comes to scanning mobile apps.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, new users may still face a learning curve to fully understand and utilize all the features effectively.
  • Customization
    Some users have reported that the tool's customization options are not as extensive as they would like, limiting the ability to tailor scans to specific needs.

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.

Analysis of Acunetix

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Acunetix is considered a good tool for web vulnerability scanning, particularly valued for its extensive database of vulnerabilities and efficient scanning effectiveness. Its capabilities make it a preferred option for organizations looking to enhance their web security posture.

Why this product is good

  • Acunetix is regarded as a robust web vulnerability scanner designed to find vulnerabilities in web applications. It is praised for its comprehensive scanning capabilities, ease of use, speed, and the breadth of vulnerabilities it can detect. The tool helps in identifying and fixing potential security issues before they can be exploited.

Recommended for

  • Organizations looking for an automated web vulnerability scanner
  • Security teams aiming to identify security weaknesses in web applications
  • Developers who need a reliable tool to integrate into their security processes
  • Businesses seeking to comply with security standards and best practices

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.

Acunetix videos

How to Perform Security Testing Using Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner Tool

More videos:

  • Review - Acunetix - Best Web Application Security Scanner @Web Hacking
  • Review - Acunetix Quick-start Guide

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Acunetix and OpenVAS)
Cyber Security
84 84%
16% 16
Security
47 47%
53% 53
Web Application Security
48 48%
52% 52
Monitoring Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Acunetix Reviews

10 Best Burp Suite Alternatives For Windows In 2023
Verdict: Operating on two unique threat detecting technologies, Acunetix performs fast scans to detect vulnerabilities accurately in an application, API, or website. It is easy to deploy and caters to the sensibilities of non-technical employees. This quality alone makes Acunetix a better alternative to Burp Suite.
Best Burp Suite Alternatives (Free and Paid) for 2023
Acunetix by Invicti is the market leader in providing automated web application security testing and is the software of choice for many Fortune 500 customers. It can detect and report on a wide array of web application vulnerabilities. Acunetix integrates with popular Issue Trackers and WAFs and is also available on Windows and Linux.
9 Best Angry IP Scanner Alternatives Reviewed 2021 (Free & Paid)
Acunetix is a powerful network and web application scanner that can help you discover open ports, hidden services, and vulnerabilities across your network. Acunetix is unique in combining both web scanning, and network scanning into one easy to use graphical tool that’s compatible for both Windows and Linux.
10 Best Tenable Nessus Alternatives For 2021 [Updated List]
Acunetix is an intuitive and easy-to-use web application security scanner. Its setup is very simple, with no need for lengthy configurations. The platform can scan all types of pages, APIs, and complex web applications. These include pages that contain lots of HTML5 and JavaScript. Acunetix can perform lightning-fast scans without overloading the server.
Best Nessus Alternatives (Free and Paid) for 2021
It offers advanced Vulnerability Management features right into its core, prioritizing risks based on data through a consolidated view. Acunetix also offers the ability to automate your scan. It is suitable for large-scale organizations as it can handle many devices on a network. HSBC, NASA, USA Air force are few giants that use Acunetix for vulnerability tests.

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.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenVAS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. 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.

Acunetix mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Acunetix yet. Tracking of Acunetix recommendations started around Mar 2021.

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
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What are some alternatives?

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

HackerOne - HackerOne provides a platform designed to streamline vulnerability coordination and bug bounty program by enlisting hackers.

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

Intruder - Intruder is a security monitoring platform for internet-facing systems.

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

Forcepoint Web Security Suite - Internet Security

Qualys - Qualys helps your business automate the full spectrum of auditing, compliance and protection of your IT systems and web applications.

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