Burp Suite

VS

Nessus

Cybersecurity Comparison

Burp Suite vs Nessus: Side-by-Side Comparison

Burp Suite
Nessus
Rating
★★★★★★★★★★
4.7/5
★★★★★★★★★★
4.6/5
Free Tier
Yes
Yes
Trial Days
None
7-day trial
Pricing
Community Edition free; Professional $449/user/yr; Enterprise from $3,999/yr
Nessus Essentials free; Professional from $3,990/yr per scanner
Company
PortSwigger
Tenable
Founded
2004
1998
Best For
Professional penetration testers and bug bounty hunters testing web application security
Vulnerability management teams needing the most comprehensive CVE scan coverage

Pros & Cons

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Burp Suite

Industry standard web application penetration testing platform used by professionals
Scanner crawls and actively probes web apps for 100 plus vulnerability types
Intercepting proxy allows manual inspection and modification of every HTTP request
Collaborator server detects out-of-band vulnerabilities like blind SSRF and XXE
Extensions marketplace provides hundreds of community-built testing modules
Community Edition lacks scanner requiring paid Professional for automated testing
Steep learning curve for new penetration testers without prior web security experience

Nessus

Over 170,000 plugins covering the most vulnerability checks of any scanner
Compliance audits check configurations against CIS, DISA STIG, and PCI DSS
Agentless scanning requires no software installed on target systems
Nessus Essentials is free for up to 16 IP addresses for learning use
Plugin update frequency averages less than 24 hours for new CVE coverage
Essentials free tier limited to 16 IPs making it impractical for real networks
False positives require manual verification before presenting to clients

Use Case Analysis

Which is better for Endpoint Security?

Both Burp Suite and Nessus support Endpoint Security workflows. Burp Suite has a slight edge with a 4.7 rating and Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. If Endpoint Security is your primary use case, Burp Suite is the safer pick.

Which is better for Privacy?

Both Burp Suite and Nessus support Privacy workflows. Burp Suite has a slight edge with a 4.7 rating and Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. If Privacy is your primary use case, Burp Suite is the safer pick.

Which is better for Encryption?

Both Burp Suite and Nessus support Encryption workflows. Burp Suite has a slight edge with a 4.7 rating and Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. If Encryption is your primary use case, Burp Suite is the safer pick.

Which is better for Antivirus?

Both Burp Suite and Nessus support Antivirus workflows. Burp Suite has a slight edge with a 4.7 rating and Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. If Antivirus is your primary use case, Burp Suite is the safer pick.

Which is better for Two Factor Authentication?

Both Burp Suite and Nessus support Two Factor Authentication workflows. Burp Suite has a slight edge with a 4.7 rating and Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. If Two Factor Authentication is your primary use case, Burp Suite is the safer pick.

Verdict

Burp Suite edges out Nessus with a 4.7 vs 4.6 rating. Burp Suite's main advantage: Industry-standard intercepting proxy toolset used by the majority of professional pentesters. That said, Nessus may still be the better choice if Vulnerability management teams needing the most comprehensive CVE scan coverage.

Try Them Yourself

The best way to choose is to trial both. See full details on each:

Download Free Try Nessus

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