Tenable
Nessus® Essentials

Nessus Essentials is a free product from Tenable that provides industry-leading vulnerability assessment through a 30-day license.

Yes, Nessus Essentials is free to use.

Complete the registration form at the top of this page and follow the prompted steps for Nessus download and installation. If you need help, see our help documentation.

Nessus Essentials offers a 30-day free license, ideal for short-term evaluations or securing a very small home or lab network. The 30-day Nessus Essentials license includes unlimited vulnerability scanning for up to 5 IPs, vulnerability scoring for prioritization, basic pre-built scan templates, remediation guidance, and flexible deployment. Please note, this version does not include real-time plugin updates, reporting, or data export. After the license expires, the system does not retain your scan data.

For those with ongoing, evolving security needs on a small scale, Nessus Essentials Plus is a new low-cost annual license. Nessus Essentials Plus provides real-time updates, the ability to scan up to 20 IPs, and basic PDF/HTML reporting, so you can stay ahead of new threats. Verified students and instructors can use Nessus Essentials Plus at no cost, as part of the Tenable commitment to supporting the next generation of security professionals.

Yes. Verified students and instructors can use Nessus Essentials Plus at no cost. This is part of the Tenable commitment to supporting the next generation of security professionals.

Nessus Professional offers unlimited IP scanning, customizable reporting and data export, compliance and configuration checks, and license transferability. It's designed for organizations with more extensive scanning needs, while Nessus Essentials Plus is for hobbyists, students, and educators.