The Ultimate List of Free Vulnerability Scanners to Use in 2025

Quick Overview: Are you planning to enhance your cyber security without spending a fortune? Our list of top 10 free vulnerability scanners for 2025 helps you identify security risks, detect vulnerabilities, and secure your applications. Whether you are a developer or security expert, these scanners provide essential protection to keep your digital assets secure.

Did you know that 60% of small businesses shut down within six months of a cyberattack? Or that 93% of network breaches could be avoided with basic security measures?

Cybersecurity measures are critical for every organization in the market due to the rise of cyber-attacks every 39 seconds. But now the question is – what if you have a tight budget?

Isn’t it scary? The good news? You don’t need a Fortune 500 budget to protect your systems or applications.

Fortunately, free vulnerability scanners offer comprehensive vulnerability detection in web applications, networks, and systems without costly investments.

Imagine launching a new eCommerce website, only to have hackers exploit an overlooked flaw – free tools like OWASP ZAP could have flagged it beforehand. In fact, some free web scanners like ZeroThreat still offer some advanced features of paid solutions and valuable insights into risks like SQL injection, XSS, sensitive data exposure, and misconfigurations.

However, choosing the right vulnerability scanning tool for free is tricky. Therefore, in this blog – top 10 Free Vulnerability Scanners for 2025, we focus on accuracy, ease of use, and coverage across web applications and APIs. Whether you are a security expert, developer, or CISO, these tools provide a solid starting point to strengthen your application security posture – without spending a dime.

Let's dive into the factors to consider when choosing a free vulnerability scanner, before reviewing our top ten suggestions.

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TL;DR

Before we take you to the other section of the blog, let’s give you a list of the top 10 vulnerability scanner tools.

• ZeroThreat
• ZAP
• NMap
• BurpSuite
• Arachni
• OpenVAS
• Nikto
• Wireshark
• Rapid7
• Kali Linux

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Vulnerability Scanner

While choosing different types of free vulnerability scanner tools, an organization should consider some primary features. Let’s go through them.

Comprehensive Coverage

The freeware vulnerability scanner you choose should offer comprehensive coverage of vulnerability detection in web applications. The tool should cover hidden risks, including OWASP Top 10 and CWE Top 25.

Credentialed and Non-Credentialed Scans

As we know, credentialed scans use authorized access to uncover deeper vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and insider threats, while non-credentialed scans assess external risks without login access, simulating an outsider’s attack. Therefore, you must choose the right security platform depending on security goals—credentialed for in-depth analysis, non-credentialed for perimeter security and external threat detection.

Automated Scanning

The free website vulnerability scanner you choose should offer automation to streamline security testing, reduce manual pentesting efforts, and provide detailed remediation reports. Automated scans quickly detect vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance issues, which ensures timely remediation.

AI-Powered Actionable Reports

A free vulnerability scanner tool should provide AI-driven remediation reports that prioritize risks and suggest precise remediation steps like code fixes. Instead of overwhelming users with raw data, AI analyzes patterns, reduces false positives, and delivers actionable insights. As a result, it helps security experts to fix vulnerabilities faster and improve overall threat response efficiency.

Real-Time Threat Detection

A free vulnerability scanner online should provide real-time threat detection as they emerge. Immediate insights help mitigate web app security risks before exploitation. Also, it will help developers mitigate them without waiting for the entire scanning to be completed. This ensures proactive threat mitigation for evolving cyber threats.

Scalability and Integration

A free security scanner should scale with your growing infrastructure and integrate seamlessly with DevOps and other tools. Look for a platform that supports cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments. Strong integration ensures efficient vulnerability assessment, automated remediation, and minimal disruption to development and security processes.

Comparison of Top 3 Free Vulnerability Scanners

Top 10 Free Vulnerability Scanners

Now that you have a better idea of what factors to consider when choosing a scanner, here are our top recommendations for free vulnerability scanning tool from our security experts.

1. ZeroThreat

ZeroThreat is a free vulnerability scanner for web apps and APIs. It is known for scanning against 40,000+ known vulnerabilities including OWASP Top 10 and CWE Top 25. By combining DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) with automated penetration testing, ZeroThreat provides a complete analysis of web applications and APIs and finds vulnerabilities that malicious actors could manipulate.

ZeroThreat’s API security features consist of automated scanning, security weaknesses verification, and integration with development workflows, which makes it easy for security teams to effectively maintain security throughout the development phase. This free security scanner proactively scans for emerging threats from its 40,000+ vulnerability database and provides reports that are easy for non-security experts to understand, prioritize and take action.

Key Features:

• Seamlessly integrates with your CI/CD pipeline for streamlined security testing
• Continuously scans for vulnerabilities with regularly updated detection rules
• Enables rapid prioritization of vulnerabilities based on criticality
• Generates customizable reports tailored for executives and developers
• Simulates real-world attacks like an ethical hacker to uncover security gaps

2. ZAP

ZAP is an open source security testing platform for developers to scan web applications during the development lifecycle. Built by OWASP, ZAP identifies security flaws early in the process, making it easier to fix issues before they reach production.

Known to scan the OWASP Top 10, this tool acts as a proxy server, allowing security experts to modify traffic flowing through the free vulnerability assessment tool. Its wide community support and regular updates ensure it remains a reliable solution for vulnerability detection.

Key Features:

• Automated and manual scanning
• Support for add-ons to extend scanning capabilities
• Seamless API integration
• User-friendly interface
• Identifies vulnerabilities in web applications without affecting their performance

3. NMap

NMap (Network Mapper) is a powerful online vulnerability scanner used for network discovery, security auditing, and vulnerability scanning. It helps networks while facilitating security auditing via service upgrade schedules, hot monitoring, and more.

Security professionals, system administrators, and ethical hackers use Nmap to map networks, detect live hosts, scan open ports, and identify running services and operating systems.

While best known for network discovery, Nmap also offers robust vulnerability scanning capabilities. Its scripting engine enables users to customize scans, making it a versatile tool for detecting vulnerabilities across networks, applications, and services.

Key Features:

• Network discovery
• Port scanning
• Determines operating systems, software versions, and configurations
• Automates vulnerability detection and network audits using custom scripts
• Performs scans without triggering security alerts or firewalls
• Scans both IPv4 and IPv6 networks

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4. BurpSuite

BurpSuite is a comprehensive Java-based vulnerability scanner that allows developers and security professionals to test web applications for vulnerabilities. The community edition is a free vulnerability scanner featuring an HTTP(s)/WebSockets proxy, request history, and essential tools like Decoder, Sequencer, and Comparer. It also includes a demo version of Burp Intruder, making it a valuable resource for basic security testing.

Key Features:

• Identifies vulnerabilities like SQL injection, XSS, and SSRF
• Supports third-party extensions through the Burp Extender API
• WebSockets & gRPC support
• CI/CD Integration

5. Arachni

Arachni is an open-source, free web vulnerability scanner designed to identify security flaws in modern web apps built with HTML5, AJAX, JavaScript, and DOM manipulation. Written in Ruby, it offers a robust automatic and manual penetration testing framework. It helps security experts and developers to detect threats such as SQL injection, XSS, and security misconfigurations.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive vulnerability detection
• Uses multi-threading to efficiently scan large applications
• Supports plugins for custom security testing
• Authenticated scanning
• Customizable reports
• Platform compatibility

6. OpenVAS

OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment Scanner) is one of the popular free vulnerability scanning tools that provides extensive scanning coverage with the ability to scan for 44,306 vulnerabilities. This open-source web vulnerability scanner offers comprehensive testing for network and web applications, with and without authentication.

This platform regularly updates test cases and robust programming capabilities, which enables efficient large-scale assessments. As part of the Greenbone Vulnerability Management (GVM) framework, it automates scanning and generates professional PDF reports for in-depth analysis.

Key Features:

• Authenticated and unauthenticated scans
• Automated and scheduled scanning
• Generates detailed reports in various formats
• Risk-based prioritization
• Supports large-scale assessments for enterprise environments

7. Nikto

Nikto is on the list of free vulnerability scanners for web apps and servers. It scans more than 6700 vulnerabilities and checks versions for 1250+ web servers. It is designed to detect security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and outdated software.

Using single and multiple port scanning, Nikto empowers security experts to pinpoint open directories, insecure file permissions, and weak HTTP headers.

Key Features:

• Support for customization plugin
• Scans multiple hosts in the same session
• Scans HTTPS sites for weak encryption and certificate issues.
• Comes with techniques to bypass intrusion detection systems
• Virtual host scanning
• Performs efficient scans with minimal resource usage

8. Wireshark

Wireshark offers a powerful yet free vulnerability scanning tool for networks. It helps developers analyze networks, troubleshoot issues, and audit security.

With an intuitive interface and extensive protocol support, it enables real-time and historical traffic analysis, reconstructs attack timelines, identifies attack vectors, and helps security teams understand attacker behavior effectively.

Key Features:

• Real-time packet capture
• Supports hundreds of network protocols for in-depth inspection
• Provides detailed visibility into network communications
• Customizable filters
• Analyzes encrypted traffic such as TLS/SSL for security assessments
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Offers both GUI and CLI (TShark) for flexible usage
• VoIP Analysis

9. Rapid7

Rapid7 is a real-time endpoint analytics and vulnerability scanning platform tailored for large IT networks, particularly in financial markets. Its InsightVM’s web vulnerability scanner scans applications and delivers comprehensive reports for security teams and CISOs. It provides security teams with automation, analytics, and real-time threat intelligence for better AppSec posture.

However, for smaller organizations lacking resources and in-house expertise, its depth may be overwhelming for investigating and remediating findings.

Key Features:

• Identifies, prioritizes, and remediates security vulnerabilities
• Industry-leading penetration testing tool
• Cloud-based vulnerability management with live risk prioritization
• Advanced threat detection and response (SIEM)
• Automated security assessments
• Compliance and risk management
• Cloud and on-prem support

10. Kali Linux

Kali Linux comes pre-loaded with over 600 vulnerability scanning tools for free, covering every stage of penetration testing—from reconnaissance to post-exploitation analysis. Its customizable nature, extensive learning resources, and regular security updates make it an indispensable tool for both cybersecurity experts and enthusiasts.

Maintained by Offensive Security, it has become a go-to choice for cybersecurity professionals and ethical hackers.

Key Features:

• Offers tools for network, web, and wireless security assessments
• Supports data recovery and forensic investigations
• Lightweight and can be installed on various devices
• Run directly from USB without installation
• Supports Tor and VPNs for anonymous security testing
• Constant updates
• Multi-platform support

5 Limitations of Free Vulnerability Scanners You Should Know

Everyone knows that a vulnerability scanner free can be a great starting point for startups to initiate AppSec. But do you think a complete dependency on free tools will help you with your cybersecurity strategy? That’s where problems begin.

Here’s what you need to know about the drawbacks of an online free vulnerability scanner.

Limited Coverage and Detection Capabilities

Most top vulnerability scanners offer limited features when you go for a free version. They might not detect complex or newly emerging threats like logic-based vulnerabilities, authenticated access issues, or business logic flaws — leaving your app open to exploitation.

Moreover, some free security testing tools don’t support authenticated scanning – scans behind login pages.

Outdated Vulnerability Databases

While comparing paid vs free vulnerability scanners, paid scanners generally update their vulnerability databases frequently to reflect the latest CVEs and zero-day threats. However, a free online website vulnerability scanner often lags behind, increasing your risk of exposure to known exploits

High False Positives

Free online vulnerability scanners often give you notifications of false negatives. Eventually, this wastes the time of developers and causes real threats to get buried under the noise.

Lack of Integration

As far as free web application vulnerability scanners are concerned, they are not adaptable to let you integrate seamlessly with CI/CD pipeline and ticketing systems. This makes it very hard for developers to fit into the development process and implement DevSecOps.

Not Detailed Remediation Reporting

Many free vulnerability scanners tell you what’s wrong but not how to fix it. And when it comes to reporting? You’ll often find a lack of customization, collaboration features, or executive-level summaries that stakeholders actually understand.

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Going Beyond Vulnerability Scanning with ZeroThreat

Security threats are constantly evolving, and attacks can happen at any time. That’s why continuous real-time scanning is crucial—it helps you catch vulnerabilities as they emerge, keeping your applications protected before attackers get a chance to exploit them.

ZeroThreat goes beyond traditional DAST tools or vulnerability scanners by penetrating real-world attacks and reducing manual pentesting efforts. Without having you to pay, it analyzes vulnerabilities across your entire attack surface, prioritizing them based on severity, threats, exposure, business impact, and security controls. With automation, it ensures risk owners get the right vulnerabilities for quick and effective mitigation.

Unlike other security testing platforms, ZeroThreat provides premium features with free signups as well. It delivers continuous analysis, helping organizations stay ahead of evolving threats. By taking a proactive approach, businesses can minimize cyber risks and strengthen their overall security posture.

Final Thoughts

Free vulnerability scans may not provide complete protection. Still, these free vulnerability scanners online serve as a strong first line of defense, offering essential security checks for organizations with limited budgets or small security teams.

When choosing a vulnerability scanner, consider factors like scanning capabilities (ZeroThreat covers web apps and APIs), target types (need to scan web apps or APIs? ZAP and Burp Suite Community Edition can be considered), and accuracy (ZeroThreat minimizes false positives to save time).

For a developer-friendly security solution, ZeroThreat’s free vulnerability scanning platform is a great choice. It seamlessly integrates security into every stage of development, making it simple for developers to build securely from the start.

However, no single free scanner is perfect, so assess your needs and explore these options to find the best fit.