Nessus Professional Overview

Summary

This document provides a comprehensive overview of Nessus Professional, a leading vulnerability assessment solution by Tenable, as of September 2025.
It outlines product features, support and training options, key benefits, pricing, and use cases across various industries and organizational needs.
Nessus Professional is positioned as a cost-effective, highly accurate, and user-friendly platform for vulnerability scanning, widely adopted by security professionals worldwide.

Nessus Professional is promoted as the top vulnerability assessment tool, trusted globally for real-time vulnerability scanning and proactive risk management.
The platform is portable, deployable across various environments (including Raspberry Pi), and offers unlimited assessments for a single price.
Features include high-speed, accurate scans covering over 70,000 CVEs, pre-built scanning policies (500+), unlimited assessments, and support for cloud, IT, OT, and IoT environments.
Nessus Professional comes with multiple license options (1Y: $4,390, 2Y: $8,560.50, 3Y: $12,511.50) and optional advanced support ($400/year) and on-demand training ($275/year).
Users may purchase directly, through resellers, or via online store, with options for advanced support and training.

Efficiency and Accuracy: Plug-ins are dynamically compiled to boost scan performance and speed.
IaC Security Scanning: Built-in support to scan Infrastructure as Code (using Terrascan) prior to deployment.
Threat Prioritization: Uses multiple industry inputs (EPSS, CVSS, Tenable VPR) to prioritize vulnerabilities.
Pre-built Templates: Over 450 templates for rapid deployment and compliance auditing.
Custom Reporting: Reports are customizable and exportable to fit various security processes.
Live Results: Offline vulnerability assessments run with every plugin update and highlight potential vulnerabilities using scan history.
User Experience: Intuitive interface, resource center, grouped view for vulnerabilities, and “snooze” capability to manage remediation focus.

Advanced Support: 24x365 phone, chat, and community support for up to 10 named contacts; knowledge base and live community resources.
Response Times: P1 (<2hr), P2 (<4hr), P3 (<12hr), P4 (<24hr) initial response SLA.
Training: On-demand "Nessus Fundamentals" video course (60+ videos) covering installation, configuration, assessment, compliance, and analysis.

Network Pen Testers: Use Nessus to identify vulnerabilities for simulated breach scenarios.
Cybersecurity Education: Professors and students leverage Nessus as a core tool for vulnerability management coursework.
Consultants: Rely on Nessus to scan client environments and generate remediation reports.
SMB Security Admins: Small teams can customize scans to maintain strong security postures, even without dedicated cybersecurity staff.

Nessus has been named a "Customers’ Choice" in the 2025 Gartner Peer Insights for Vulnerability Assessment.
Holds multiple badges and awards for usability, leadership, and satisfaction from platforms like G2 and CRN.
Features endorsements from IT security practitioners across industries, emphasizing ease of use and effectiveness.

Nessus Professional licenses: 1 Year ($4,390), 2 Years ($8,560.50), 3 Years ($12,511.50); savings on multi-year plans.
Add-ons: Advanced Support ($400/year), On-Demand Training ($275/year).
Nessus Expert available with expanded features for IT/cloud attack surface scanning (1 Year: $6,390).
Purchase via online store, resellers, or by requesting a demo.
Free trials are available for Nessus Pro and Nessus Expert.

Nessus integrates with the broader Tenable portfolio, enabling easy migration to other Tenable solutions (e.g., Tenable One, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Web App Scanning, Patch Management).
Supports cloud, on-premises, hybrid, and IoT/OT security use cases.

Nessus Professional positioned as the No. 1 solution for vulnerability assessment — based on industry coverage, customer recognition, and comprehensive feature set.