Greenbone OpenVAS

The most widely used open-source vulnerability scanner with 100,000+ network vulnerability tests

ToolOpen Source Vulnerability ScannerOpen SourceSelf-hosted

Pricing: Free and open source; paid tiers on the vendor site.

Reviewed by the CyberSecTool editorial team against the public sources cited below · Last reviewed February 2026 · How we review listings

What is Greenbone OpenVAS?

Greenbone OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment Scanner) is the world's most widely used open-source vulnerability scanner, maintained by Greenbone Networks. OpenVAS provides a comprehensive vulnerability testing framework with over 100,000 network vulnerability tests (NVTs), covering CVEs, misconfigurations, and security policy violations. As the open-source foundation of Greenbone's commercial Enterprise appliances, OpenVAS gives organizations a free, transparent, and community-driven vulnerability scanning engine that can be self-hosted and customized without licensing costs.

Best for: Security teams wanting a free, open-source vulnerability scanner with no licensing costs and full customization control

Pros

✓ Completely free with no licensing costs
✓ Open-source transparency allows code audit and customization
✓ Large community with active development and NVT updates
✓ Self-hosted deployment gives full control over scan data
✓ Commercial Greenbone appliances available for enterprise support

Considerations

• Scanning speed significantly slower than commercial alternatives
• Web interface is functional but less modern compared to Tenable or Qualys
• Requires significant Linux administration expertise to deploy and maintain
• NVT library is smaller and updated less frequently than Nessus plugins
• No native cloud scanning, container security, or OT/ICS support

Reported in public reviews and vendor documentation. See sources below.

Key Features

→100,000+ network vulnerability tests (NVTs)

→Authenticated and unauthenticated scanning

→CVE, CPE, and CVSS-based vulnerability detection

→Compliance checking for CIS and custom policies

→Scheduled and on-demand scan execution

→Greenbone Security Assistant web interface

→SCAP and OVAL content integration

→Report generation in multiple formats

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Greenbone OpenVAS Comparisons

Greenbone OpenVAS vs Arctic Wolf→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Rapid7 InsightVM→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Nuclei→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Tenable→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Tanium→Greenbone OpenVAS vs Qualys VMDR→Greenbone OpenVAS vs CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight→

Sources & references

Where the information on this listing comes from. Always verify pricing and capabilities against the vendor before a purchasing decision.

Greenbone OpenVAS — official websitePrimary source

OpenVAS Scan — Greenbone (official product page)

Official site

Greenbone, GVM, OpenVAS and How They Are Connected (history)

Official Greenbone documentation

OpenVAS

Wikipedia

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Quick Info

Pricing	Free and open source; paid tiers on the vendor site.
Model	Open source with commercial appliance options
Founded	2008
Cloud	No
Self-Hosted	Yes
Open Source	Yes

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Last updated: Feb 20, 2026