Tenable vs Tanium -- Vulnerability Management Compared
Tanium approaches vulnerability management from an endpoint management perspective, providing real-time asset interrogation at a speed and scale unmatched by traditional vulnerability scanners. While Tenable offers deeper vulnerability coverage across more asset types, Tanium excels at combining vulnerability assessment with immediate patch deployment and compliance verification across massive endpoint estates. Tanium is best for large enterprises wanting converged endpoint security and IT operations.
Choose Tanium if you manage a large enterprise endpoint estate and need real-time visibility with integrated vulnerability assessment, patching, and compliance verification at massive scale. Choose Tenable if you need the deepest vulnerability coverage across all asset types including network devices, cloud infrastructure, and OT systems.
| Feature | Tanium | Tenable |
|---|---|---|
| Query Speed | Sub-15-second real-time queries | Scan-based (minutes to hours) |
| Scale | 500,000+ endpoints linear scale | Enterprise scale with distributed scanners |
| Vulnerability Depth | Endpoint CVE and config checks | 200,000+ plugins across all asset types |
| Patch Management | Integrated native patching | Requires third-party integration |
| Asset Types | Endpoints only | IT, cloud, OT, containers, web apps |
| Compliance Verification | Real-time compliance checks | Scheduled compliance scans |
| Pricing | Per-endpoint enterprise pricing | Per-asset with flexible tiers |
| Remediation Verification | Instant real-time verification | Requires rescan to verify |
Common questions about choosing between Tenable and Tanium.
Tanium approaches vulnerability management from an endpoint management perspective, providing real-time asset interrogation at a speed and scale unmatched by traditional vulnerability scanners. While Tenable offers deeper vulnerability coverage across more asset types, Tanium excels at combining vulnerability assessment with immediate patch deployment and compliance verification across massive endpoint estates. Tanium is best for large enterprises wanting converged endpoint security and IT operations.
Choose Tanium if you manage a large enterprise endpoint estate and need real-time visibility with integrated vulnerability assessment, patching, and compliance verification at massive scale. Choose Tenable if you need the deepest vulnerability coverage across all asset types including network devices, cloud infrastructure, and OT systems.
Tanium pricing: Custom enterprise pricing / Typically $30-50/endpoint/year. Tenable pricing: Nessus Professional from $3,990/year / Tenable.io from $2,275/year (65 assets) / Enterprise custom pricing. Tanium's pricing model is per-endpoint (annual enterprise license), while Tenable uses per-asset (annual subscription) pricing.
Yes, you can migrate from Tenable to Tanium. The migration process depends on your specific setup and the features you use. Both platforms offer APIs that can facilitate automated migration. Consider running both tools in parallel during the transition to ensure zero downtime.
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