In today’s threat landscape, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) face the same cyber risks as large enterprises — but often without the luxury of big security budgets or large IT teams. This makes the choice of a vulnerability management solution even more critical.

Two names frequently come up in discussions: OpenVAS, the long-standing open-source scanner, and Athera, the new lightweight solution launched by SecOps Solution. Both aim to help organizations identify weaknesses before attackers exploit them — but their approach, usability, and suitability for SMBs differ significantly.

Let’s break it down.

1. Deployment and Ease of Use

Athera:

• Delivered as a cloud-based SaaS platform (with on-premise support if required).
• Agentless-first design, which means SMBs don’t need to install or maintain agents on endpoints.
• Intuitive interface designed for teams that may not have deep security expertise.

OpenVAS:

• Open-source and self-hosted, requiring technical knowledge to install, configure, and maintain.
• Updates and configuration management fall entirely on the IT team.
• Works well for technically skilled SMBs with dedicated IT staff, but the learning curve is steep.

Verdict for SMBs: Athera wins on ease of use and deployment. SMBs with limited staff benefit from its plug-and-play SaaS model, while OpenVAS demands more hands-on maintenance.

2. Scanning Capabilities

Athera:

• Supports authenticated and unauthenticated scanning.
• Agentless scanning is built-in, making it quick to start scanning across environments.
• Designed with modern IT infrastructures (hybrid and cloud) in mind.

OpenVAS:

• Also supports authenticated and unauthenticated scans.
• Provides deep coverage but can be resource-heavy and slower to scale.
• Works best in traditional on-premise setups.

Verdict for SMBs: Both tools cover the basics, but Athera’s modern infrastructure focus makes it more SMB-friendly in cloud and hybrid setups.

3. Risk Prioritization

Athera:

• Goes beyond detection by providing context-aware prioritization.
• Uses CISA KEV, EPSS, CVSS, and SecOps’ proprietary scoring to highlight exploitable, high-risk vulnerabilities first.
• Helps SMBs avoid getting lost in “vulnerability overload.”

OpenVAS:

• Relies mainly on CVSS scoring.
• Lacks integrated context such as real-world exploit data or threat intelligence.
• SMBs may struggle to decide which vulnerabilities to fix first.

Verdict for SMBs: Athera provides smarter prioritization, ensuring smaller IT teams can focus on what really matters.

4. Cost and Licensing

Athera:

• Offered as a subscription-based SaaS model with predictable pricing.
• Lower total cost of ownership since no extra infrastructure or high operational effort is needed.

OpenVAS:

• Completely free and open-source, making it appealing for SMBs with very tight budgets.
• However, the hidden costs of skilled staff, server resources, and time for setup/maintenance must be considered.

Verdict for SMBs: If budget is the only consideration, OpenVAS wins. But if you factor in time and staffing, Athera provides better long-term value.

5. Support and Updates

Athera:

• Backed by SecOps Solution’s dedicated support team, with regular updates and vulnerability intelligence.
• SMBs can rely on expert assistance without needing internal specialists.

OpenVAS:

• Community-driven support — forums, GitHub issues, and online resources.
• Updates may not be as frequent or tailored to SMB-specific needs.

Verdict for SMBs: Athera provides professional support, while OpenVAS requires self-reliance.

Final Thoughts: Which is Better for SMBs?

Choose Athera if:

• You want a lightweight, cloud-ready solution with minimal setup.
• Your team lacks deep cybersecurity expertise.
• You value smart risk prioritization to avoid drowning in alerts.

Choose OpenVAS if:

• Your SMB has in-house technical expertise and resources to manage it.
• You need a zero-cost entry point into vulnerability scanning.
• You don’t mind the complexity of managing updates and prioritization manually.

For most SMBs, Athera strikes the right balance between simplicity, power, and cost-effectiveness. While OpenVAS remains a good open-source option, Athera offers the kind of streamlined experience that growing businesses need to keep up with today’s cyber threats.

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SecOps Solution is an agentless patch and vulnerability management platform that helps organizations quickly remediate security risks across operating systems and third-party applications, both on-prem and remote.

Contact us to learn more.