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Qualys VMDR costs $596 to $6.8K per user/month as of July 2026, with 6 plans available. Plans: 128 hosts (monthly) at $596/user/month, 256 hosts (monthly) at $942/user/month, 512 hosts (monthly) at $1489/user/month, 1024 hosts (monthly) at $2352/user/month, 2048 hosts (monthly) at $3719/user/month, and 5120 hosts (monthly) at $6805/user/month. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: No free tier available

Qualys VMDR offers 6 pricing tiers: 128 hosts (monthly), 256 hosts (monthly), 512 hosts (monthly), 1024 hosts (monthly), 2048 hosts (monthly), 5120 hosts (monthly). Paid plans include 128 hosts (monthly) at $596/month, 256 hosts (monthly) at $942/month, 512 hosts (monthly) at $1489/month. The 256 hosts (monthly) plan is growing organizations expanding their managed host footprint to 256 hosts.

Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews
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Qualys VMDR lists $596-$6805/user/month, but hidden costs like implementation and support add to the total as of July 2026. Key hidden costs: separate licensing for additional modules, complex qlu-based cloud licensing, aggressive sales tactics and account management issues. Verified from 1 sources by CostBench.

Hidden Costs Breakdown

1

Separate Licensing for Additional Modules

high addon

Qualys VMDR is a base module, but many capabilities require separate paid licenses. Patch Management, compliance scanning, TotalCloud modules (CWP, CDR, Container Security, CSPM), ETM, and policy compliance are all separately licensed add-ons. This modular structure means initial quotes often don't reflect the true total cost of a complete security program.

reddit

Patch Management is a separately paid for solution. I work with Qualys a lot. I created a breakout of their products showing which are included or requires separate licensing.

reddit

If you already have VMDR and CSAM licenses for your assets and only use ETM to aggregate Qualys data (no third-party findings), there would be no additional cost for ETM. You only pay per-asset fees (IP and/or resource count) when bringing in findings from third-party tools

2

Complex QLU-Based Cloud Licensing

medium addon

Qualys TotalCloud uses a Qualys Unit (QLU) licensing model for cloud workloads rather than flat-rate pricing. Customers must calculate QLU requirements across CWP, CDR, Container Security, and CSPM modules, each with different multipliers. This model replaced simpler connector-count pricing and can be difficult to budget predictably.

reddit

where it gets hairy and confusing is their fairly recent shift to QLU-based licensing for TotalCloud that is determined based on resource counts. They don't do flat rate pricing anymore based on connector counts.

reddit

A Qualys Unit (QLU) is a new mechanism that allows customers to flexibly reallocate between various modules within TotalCloud. Customers can purchase a set of QLUs, which can be allocated to various modules.

3

Aggressive Sales Tactics and Account Management Issues

medium support

Multiple users report problematic sales and account management experiences, including missed renewal communications leading to service outages, non-responsive pricing requests, and overly aggressive sales contact. One user reported their Qualys instance went down due to a dropped-ball renewal, causing an emergency.

reddit

Yes, ours dropped the ball after months of talking about our renewal. He never sent the updated invoice, so our Qualys instance went down and it was an emergency. We've asked for pricing on several different modules/ items and never got a response. It's been kind of frustrating honestly. Even technical support is lacking.

reddit

I was not long ago looking in to some vulnerability management tools like Tenable, Qualys, etc. Once the Qualys guy figured out I was also demoing other products he became relentless. Called me daily for over a month.

4

Per-Scanner Fees for Additional Scanners

medium overage

Unlike Tenable, which offers unlimited scanners, Qualys charges for additional virtual scanners deployed on-premise. Organizations with distributed environments or those wanting to load-balance scans across many locations face additional costs for each scanner deployment.

reddit

Tenable also doesn't charge for scanners which to me is the killer. I have paid per asset so don't ding me for trying to increase performance by adding scanners. Tenable also gives away compliance where Qualys charges for that too.

reddit

To get around the scanner limit, you either need to have a floating computer / VM that you take onsite or redeploy a VM for every scan.

5

High 100% Renewal Rate

medium addon

Qualys is reported to charge 100% of the initial contract price at renewal with no renewal discounts. This makes long-term TCO significantly higher than the initial contract cost, particularly for organizations expecting standard renewal concessions.

reddit

Qualys is another good scanner and competitive. The downside is it is a SaaS product which may or may no be an issue for people. Plus it's renewal fee is 100% which is just crazy if you ask me.

6

Not MSP-Friendly Billing Structure

low addon

Qualys's billing model is customer-centric rather than MSP-centric. MSPs report being required to manage per-client licensing individually rather than having a consolidated multi-tenant billing model, which increases operational overhead and administrative costs.

reddit

I've been talking to Qualys and getting pricing and they really don't seem to be setup for MSP's. They expect you to pay per client individually which seams to be a nightmare to manage

reddit

There are other solutions that provide multi-tenant portals but when it comes to pricing/billing, it's still very customer centric as opposed to MSP (then the MSP bills the customer). If anyone knows any solutions that truly have an MSP offering, I'll all ears. You won't see this with Nessus or Qualys. Their solutions are driven by enterprise customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What hidden costs should I budget for with Qualys VMDR?

Beyond the license fee, budget for: Separate Licensing for Additional Modules (15-40% of base license costs); Complex QLU-Based Cloud Licensing (10-25% of base license costs); Aggressive Sales Tactics and Account Management Issues (5-15% of license costs); Per-Scanner Fees for Additional Scanners (5-20% of base license costs); High 100% Renewal Rate (100% of first-year costs annually); Not MSP-Friendly Billing Structure (5-10% of license costs). Exact totals depend on your deployment size and negotiated terms.

02 Does Qualys VMDR charge for implementation?

Implementation costs for Qualys VMDR vary by deployment size and customization. Contact the vendor or check our sourced hidden-cost breakdown above for verified figures.

03 How much does Qualys VMDR support cost?

Multiple users report problematic sales and account management experiences, including missed renewal communications leading to service outages, non-responsive pricing requests, and overly aggressive sales contact. One user reported their Qualys instance went down due to a dropped-ball renewal, causing an emergency. Estimated impact: 5-15% of license costs.

04 Are there overage or storage costs with Qualys VMDR?

Unlike Tenable, which offers unlimited scanners, Qualys charges for additional virtual scanners deployed on-premise. Organizations with distributed environments or those wanting to load-balance scans across many locations face additional costs for each scanner deployment. Estimated impact: 5-20% of base license costs.

05 What add-ons cost extra with Qualys VMDR?

Add-on pricing for Qualys VMDR varies by feature. The sourced cost breakdown above lists any verified add-on costs we have.

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