If you’re evaluating vulnerability management tools in 2026, you’ve likely shortlisted the big three: Tenable Nessus, Qualys VMDR, and Rapid7 InsightVM. These are excellent products, battle-tested, feature-rich, and widely deployed in large enterprises.

But they all share the same fundamental approach: scan for everything.

As of early 2026, the NVD contains over 250,000 known CVEs. A full vulnerability scan of even a modest 100-endpoint environment can return thousands of findings. Most security teams spend more time triaging results than actually fixing vulnerabilities.

SentriKat takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of scanning for all 250,000+ CVEs, it focuses exclusively on the ~1,500 vulnerabilities in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, the ones confirmed to be actively exploited by threat actors in the wild.

The core difference: signal vs. noise

Aspect	Enterprise Scanners	SentriKat
CVEs tracked	250,000+ (all known)	~1,500 (actively exploited only)
Triage time	Hours per week	Minutes per day
False positive rate	High (no vendor patch context)	Low (automatic vendor patch detection)
Deployment	Cloud or hybrid	100% on-premises
Annual cost	$10,000+ per module	€4,999 all included

This isn’t about SentriKat being “simpler”, it’s about focusing your limited resources on the vulnerabilities that represent real, immediate risk.

Vendor patch detection: SentriKat’s unique advantage

Here’s a scenario every security team knows: your scanner flags CVE-2024-XXXX on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux server. You investigate. It turns out Red Hat backported the fix two weeks ago, your server is already patched. The scanner just doesn’t understand RHEL version numbering.

SentriKat eliminates this problem entirely. It queries four vendor advisory feeds daily:

OSV.dev, open-source advisories
Red Hat Security API, RHSA advisories
Microsoft MSRC, KB articles and patches
Debian Security Tracker, DSA advisories

When a vendor has issued a fix, SentriKat automatically marks the vulnerability with the appropriate confidence tier:

AFFECTED (red), no vendor fix detected
LIKELY RESOLVED (amber), vendor fix exists, not yet verified on endpoint
RESOLVED (green), fix confirmed via version comparison

This three-tier system means you never waste time investigating already-patched vulnerabilities, and you never accidentally dismiss something that’s still open.

Deployment: your data stays yours

Tenable.io, Qualys Cloud Platform, and Rapid7 Insight Platform are all cloud-first. Your vulnerability data, software inventories, and scan results are stored on their infrastructure.

SentriKat is 100% on-premises. You deploy it on your own infrastructure with Docker Compose. Your data never leaves your network. This isn’t just a privacy preference, it’s a regulatory requirement for many organizations:

NIS2 requires organizations to maintain control over their vulnerability management data
DORA mandates that financial institutions control their ICT risk management processes
FINMA circular 2023/1 requires Swiss financial institutions to manage operational risks locally
Government agencies and defense contractors often cannot use cloud-based security tools

SentriKat also supports fully air-gapped deployments with offline license activation and manual knowledge base imports.

Pricing: everything included

Enterprise vulnerability scanners are notorious for modular pricing. The base scanner is one price, but then:

Container scanning? Separate module.
SIEM integration? Paid add-on.
Compliance reporting? Another module.
SSO/LDAP? Enterprise tier only.
Multi-tenant for MSPs? Custom pricing.

SentriKat includes everything in a single €4,999/year license:

Unlimited users and organizations
10 agents included (Windows, Linux, macOS)
Container scanning (Docker & Podman)
SIEM integration (CEF, JSON, RFC 5424)
NIS2 Article 21 compliance reports
CISA BOD 22-01 deadline tracking
Executive summary PDFs
LDAP/AD/SAML SSO + TOTP 2FA
Multi-tenant + white-label branding
Air-gapped deployment support

Need more agents? Agent packs start at €999/year for 25 additional agents.

When to choose SentriKat vs. an enterprise scanner

Choose SentriKat if:

You want to focus on actively exploited vulnerabilities (CISA KEV)
You need 100% on-premises or air-gapped deployment
You’re subject to NIS2, DORA, or Swiss financial regulations
You’re an MSP managing multiple client environments
You want predictable pricing without per-module costs
Your team is small and can’t afford 40+ hours/month of manual triage

Choose an enterprise scanner if:

You need to track all 250,000+ CVEs for compliance or audit reasons
You have a large SOC team with dedicated triage analysts
You need network-based vulnerability scanning (SentriKat is agent-based)
You’re already invested in a vendor ecosystem (e.g., Tenable One, Qualys Suite)

Conclusion

SentriKat and enterprise scanners solve different problems. Enterprise scanners aim for comprehensive coverage, finding every possible vulnerability. SentriKat aims for actionable intelligence, surfacing the vulnerabilities that are actually being exploited and automatically tracking vendor patches.

For most organizations, especially SMBs, MSPs, and regulated industries in Europe, the KEV-focused approach eliminates 99.4% of the noise and lets your team focus on what actually matters.

Request a free demo to see SentriKat in action with your own infrastructure.

SentriKat vs Tenable vs Qualys vs Rapid7: Which Vulnerability Scanner Is Right for You?