Compare
Qualys VMDR is an enterprise cloud scanner starting at $15K+/year. WinSentinel is a free, always-on Windows hardening agent that finds and fixes issues automatically.
| Capability | WinSentinel | Qualys VMDR |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Windows hardening & posture | Multi-platform vulnerability mgmt |
| Architecture | Local agent (zero cloud dependency) | Cloud-hosted SaaS + agent |
| Real-Time Monitoring | ✓ Continuous on-host | Periodic scan cycles |
| Auto-Remediation | ✓ One-click fix + FixEngine | Patch deployment (separate module) |
| Hardening Checks | ✓ 33 Windows-specific modules | Generic CIS/DISA-STIG scans |
| Setup Time | 30 seconds (one CLI command) | Days–weeks (cloud infra + agents) |
| Data Residency | 100% local (nothing leaves host) | Cloud (data sent to Qualys infra) |
| Internet Required | ✗ Works fully offline | ✓ Must reach Qualys cloud |
| Posture Score | ✓ 0–100 with letter grade | TruRisk Score (complex formula) |
| CI/CD Integration | ✓ GitHub Action (SARIF upload) | API-driven (custom integration) |
| Configuration Audit Depth | Deep (firewall rules, drivers, BYOVD, PowerShell, LAPS, Credential Guard) | Broad but shallow per-OS |
| Threat Detection | MITRE ATT&CK kill chain + process lineage | CVE-based vulnerability focus |
| Open Source | ✓ MIT (core + CLI) | ✗ Proprietary |
| Minimum Deployment | 1 machine, no infra | Cloud subscription + scanner appliance |
| Fleet Management | Pro ($29/mo, 25 nodes) | Included (core product) |
$0/forever
Full-power single machine: 33 audit modules, real-time monitor, FixEngine, PDF reports, scheduled scans. Unlimited.
Pro fleet: $29/25 nodes · $79/100 nodes
$15K+/year
Enterprise minimum. Per-asset pricing scales quickly. Requires annual contract, cloud access.
Add-ons (CSAM, Patch, EDR) extra
Qualys tells you what's vulnerable. It's a cloud-first vulnerability management platform designed for large enterprises. It scans your assets, maps CVEs, calculates risk scores, and produces reports for your security team. It's excellent at what it does — but it's a scanner, not a fixer.
WinSentinel tells you what's misconfigured and fixes it. It's a Windows-native hardening agent that lives on the machine, runs continuously, and automates remediation. It doesn't scan your network — it hardens your endpoints. Every finding has a one-click fix. The 33 audit modules go deep on Windows-specific attack surfaces that generic multi-platform scanners treat superficially.
For many teams, the right answer is both — Qualys for CVE tracking across your infrastructure, WinSentinel for Windows-specific hardening that Qualys doesn't cover (driver security, BYOVD protection, PowerShell posture, credential guard status, process lineage analysis).
No cloud account. No procurement. No annual contract. Just install and scan.
dotnet tool install --global WinSentinel.Cli winsentinel --audit --score
For Windows posture hardening on individual machines, WinSentinel is a free, lightweight alternative. Qualys VMDR is a large enterprise cloud scanner; WinSentinel installs in 30 seconds, runs locally, and auto-fixes findings instead of only reporting them.
No. The free tier runs entirely on the local machine with no account and no data leaving the device. Only WinSentinel Pro (fleet management) phones home to a control plane, and that is opt-in.
WinSentinel is free for unlimited use on a single machine. Qualys VMDR is an enterprise cloud platform that typically starts around $15,000+/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.