Compare
Nessus scans and reports for $3,990/year. WinSentinel monitors continuously, fixes issues automatically, and costs nothing.
| Capability | WinSentinel | Nessus (Tenable) |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Always-on agent | Periodic scan (agentless) |
| Real-Time Monitoring | ✓ Continuous | ✗ Point-in-time scans |
| Auto-Remediation | ✓ One-click fix | ✗ Report only |
| Posture Score | ✓ 0–100 | CVSS-based (no overall score) |
| CI/CD Integration | ✓ GitHub Action | ✗ Enterprise workflow only |
| Security Hardening | ✓ 33 audit modules | Vulnerability scanning focus |
| Windows-Native | ✓ Built for Windows | Multi-platform (generic) |
| Open Source | ✓ MIT | ✗ Proprietary |
| Setup Time | 30 seconds (dotnet tool) | Enterprise deployment |
$0/forever
All features, no limits, one machine. Full power.
Pro fleet: $29/25 nodes · $79/100 nodes
$3,990/year
Scan-based. No remediation. Per-IP pricing scales fast.
Nessus Expert: $5,990/yr
WinSentinel finds the issues AND fixes them. Free forever.
dotnet tool install --global WinSentinel.Cli
For Windows hardening, yes. Nessus is a vulnerability scanner that reports findings for a per-product annual fee. WinSentinel is a free, always-on Windows agent that not only finds misconfigurations but fixes them with one click, and gives you a 0-100 posture score.
Nessus does point-in-time vulnerability scans and produces reports. WinSentinel monitors continuously, auto-remediates, and is purpose-built for Windows configuration hardening rather than generic CVE scanning.
WinSentinel is free for unlimited use on a single machine. Nessus Professional is $3,990/year and Nessus Expert is $5,990/year. WinSentinel Pro - which adds fleet management across many machines - is $29/mo for up to 25 nodes or $79/mo for up to 100 nodes, with annual billing saving 17%.
Yes. The CLI and every audit module are free and open source under the MIT license, installed with dotnet tool install --global WinSentinel.Cli. A single machine gets the full power - all audit modules, the real-time monitor, scheduled scans, and PDF reports - with no limits and no account required. Pro is only for organizations that want to manage many machines from one control plane.
Yes. WinSentinel is built specifically for Windows 10 and Windows 11 (and Windows Server). It uses native Windows APIs to audit configuration that cross-platform tools treat generically, which is why its hardening checks are deeper on Windows.