Tenable Nessus Licensing Requirements

This topic explains how to license Tenable Nessus and lists its features.

Licensing Tenable Nessus

You can manage Tenable Nessus in Tenable Security Center or run it as a a standalone subscription product. To purchase a subscription, go to the Tenable website or work with a Tenable partner.

Tenable Nessus has two versions:

  • Tenable Nessus Professional — A single subscription price.

  • Tenable Nessus Expert — A subscription price plus any additional web application scanning or external attack surface scanning (EASM) domains beyond five per quarter.

Plugin Feed Activation Code

Wherever you manage Tenable Nessus, you need a plugin feed activation code, which identifies which version you are licensed for—and, if applicable, how many IP addresses you can scan, how many remote scanners you can link, and how many Tenable Nessus Agents you can link to Tenable Nessus Manager. Where you enter this code depends on how you manage Tenable Nessus.

  • Tenable Nessus Subscription — Manage your activation code in Tenable Nessus, as described in Manage Activation Code.

    Tip: To set up Tenable Nessus offline, see Manage Tenable Nessus Offline.

  • Tenable Nessus in Tenable Security Center — Manage your activation code (and plugin updates) in Tenable Security Center. When you register Tenable Nessus, start it before Tenable Security Center and select Managed by SecurityCenter. For more information, see Apply a New License in the Tenable Security Center User Guide.

Manage Tenable Nessus with Tenable Vulnerability Management

If you are using Tenable Vulnerability Management to manage your Tenable Nessus scanners, the plugin and software updates are managed from Tenable Vulnerability Management. For more information, see Tenable Nessus Plugin and Software Updates in the Tenable Nessus User Guide.

Tenable Vulnerability Management includes the ability to link unlimited Tenable Nessus scanners as a default component.

For more information about Tenable Vulnerability Management licensing, see Tenable Vulnerability Management Licensing in the Tenable Licensing Guide.

Manage Tenable Nessus with Tenable Security Center

If you are using Tenable Security Center to manage your Tenable Nessus scanners, the activation code and plugin updates are managed from Tenable Security Center. For more information, see Tenable Nessus Plugin and Software Updates in the Tenable Nessus User Guide.

You must start Tenable Nessus before it communicates with Tenable Security Center, which it normally does not do without a valid activation code and plugins. To have Tenable Nessus ignore this requirement and start (so that it can get the information from Tenable Security Center), when you register your scanner, select Managed by SecurityCenter.

For more information about Tenable Security Center licensing, see Tenable Security Center Licensing in the Tenable Licensing Guide.

Tenable Nessus Versions

Tenable Nessus Professional and Tenable Nessus Expert have the following features.

Feature Tenable Nessus Professional Tenable Nessus Expert
Nessus Live Results Yes Yes
Vulnerability scanning Yes Yes
Compliance scanning Yes Yes

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) web application scanning

 No Five web applications per quarter (purchase more as needed)
External attack surface scanning No

Five domains per quarter (purchase more as needed)
Scan Infrastructure as Code No Yes