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 ~1,484 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)	~1,484 (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	€2,499 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 €2,499/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 €499/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?