Qualys VMDR is a capable enterprise platform — but for an SMB it brings three pains: per-asset pricing that punishes you for discovering more assets, scanner-appliance fees for internal scanning, and the TruRisk prioritization wrapped in a proprietary score. Perimeter delivers the same external + internal + container triad with flat per-company pricing, no appliance, and transparent EPSS + KEV prioritization — starting at $0.
| Capability | Perimeter | Qualys VMDR |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat per-company, generous caps | Per-asset |
| Internal scanning hardware | Lookout agent on your box | Scanner appliance (~$8–9k/yr) |
| External attack-surface management | Included | Separate Qualys module |
| Container / SBOM scanning | Included (Trivy) | Separate module |
| Exploit-first ranking (EPSS + KEV over CVSS) | Free + transparent weights | TruRisk is proprietary / bundled |
| FP suppression + reasons + feedback loop | Yes, transparent | Manual mute, ~30% FP complaint |
| Findings = signed compliance evidence | HMAC-signed records | Add-on reporting modules |
| Setup complexity | Verify a domain, install an agent | Appliance provisioning + tuning |
| Starting price | $0 | Enterprise quote |
Qualys pricing and packaging per Qualys's published materials and common SMB feedback at time of writing; we update comparisons as vendors change. "Qualys", "VMDR" and "TruRisk" are trademarks of Qualys, Inc.
The other recurring SMB complaint about heavyweight scanners is the false-positive flood — roughly a third of results, by common feedback — that a small team has to wade through by hand. Perimeter ranks exploit-first (EPSS and CISA KEV above CVSS) and its de-noise engine flags likely false positives — the lone, unauthenticated, banner-only check with very low EPSS — with a visible reason for every call. A finding confirmed by a second engine or listed in KEV is never suppressed. And when you correct a verdict — mark false positive or confirm real — Perimeter remembers it on every future scan, so you never re-triage the same noise twice.
Per-asset pricing creates a perverse incentive: the more thoroughly you discover your attack surface, the more you pay — so teams under-count assets and leave gaps. Perimeter's flat tiers with generous caps remove that incentive, so you can run full attack-surface discovery and continuous scanning without watching the meter.
For a large enterprise with a dedicated VM team, global asset fleets, and a need for Qualys's deep agent telemetry, patch management and policy-compliance modules at scale, Qualys VMDR is a mature, capable platform. Perimeter's sweet spot is the SMB and MSP that wants the external + internal + container triad with audit-ready evidence and predictable pricing — not an enterprise rollout.