Tenable Nessus Licensing

This topic explains how to license Tenable Nessus and lists its features. To learn how to use Tenable Nessus, see the Tenable Nessus User Guide.

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.

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