Greenbone vs Mend.io

Greenbone and Mend.io both operate in vulnerability-related security, but at different layers: Greenbone is a network and infrastructure vulnerability scanner…

Best for Greenbone: Greenbone fits IT and network security teams that need automated infrastructure vulnerability scanning with a daily-updated database of 100,000+ tests, deployable as hardware, VM, or cloud, with a free OPENVAS FREE tier for teams that don't need enterprise support.
Best for Mend.io: Mend.io fits application security teams at enterprises like the ones it names as customers (Microsoft, Google, Vodafone, Yahoo, Siemens) that need SCA and SAST for code and dependencies, plus newer AI-BOM/Shadow AI discovery and automated red teaming for AI models and agents.

At a Glance

 GreenboneMend.io
Primary categorySecuritySecurity
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelOpen source plus commercial appliances and subscriptions (quote-based)Custom / Subscription
Starting priceFree (OpenVAS/GVM open source); paid appliances via quote, free 14-day trial availableCustom pricing (contact sales); per-developer plans have been reported from roughly $250 to $1,000 per contributing developer per year
Free planYesNot documented
Free trialYesNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedYes
Public APIYesNot documented

Key Differences

Security Layer

Greenbone: Greenbone performs Automated vulnerability scanning of networks and IT infrastructure using a database of 100,000+ tests updated daily.

Mend.io: Mend.io performs Software Composition Analysis (SCA) on open source dependencies and High-accuracy SAST on proprietary code, including AI-generated code security checks.

Network-layer vulnerability scanning and application/code-layer security testing catch fundamentally different classes of risk.

Pricing Transparency

Greenbone: Greenbone offers a free OPENVAS FREE tier, with BASIC, SCAN, and SECURITY INTELLIGENCE tiers all listed as 'Contact for pricing.'

Mend.io: Mend.io publishes transparent per-developer pricing: up to $1,000/developer/year for Mend AppSec, up to $300/developer/year for Mend AI, and up to $250/developer/year for Mend Renovate Enterprise, with no additional per-GB fees.

Published per-unit pricing lets buyers estimate total cost before a sales call, while contact-for-pricing models require more upfront sales engagement.

AI Security Coverage

Greenbone: Greenbone's documented product line (OPENVAS FREE/BASIC/SCAN/SECURITY INTELLIGENCE) does not include AI-specific security testing features.

Mend.io: Mend.io includes AI-BOM and Shadow AI discovery, Automated AI red teaming, and System prompt hardening as dedicated features under its Mend AI product, priced up to $300/developer/year.

As organizations adopt AI models and agents, discovering and testing them for security risk becomes a distinct requirement that traditional infrastructure scanners don't address.

Automated Remediation

Greenbone: Greenbone's documented features focus on detection (scanning) rather than automated remediation of found issues.

Mend.io: Mend Renovate automates dependency updates at scale with Merge Confidence ratings and workflows, priced up to $250/developer/year as Mend Renovate Enterprise.

Automated patching reduces the manual effort required after vulnerabilities are identified, which matters for teams with large dependency trees.

Free Access

Greenbone: Greenbone offers OPENVAS FREE as a genuine free, open-source scanning edition alongside its paid commercial tiers.

Mend.io: Mend.io lists no free plan or free trial; the website offers a 'Schedule a Demo' option instead, requiring a sales conversation to access the product.

Whether a tool can be evaluated or used at no cost affects how easily smaller teams or individual developers can get started.

Feature-by-Feature

Core Scanning

FeatureGreenboneMend.io
Network/infrastructure vulnerability scanningAvailableUnavailable
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)UnavailableAvailable
SAST (static application security testing)UnavailableAvailable

AI & Automation

FeatureGreenboneMend.io
AI model/agent security testingUnavailableAvailable
Automated dependency updatesUnavailableAvailable
DAST / API security testingNot documentedLimited

Access & Pricing

FeatureGreenboneMend.io
Free tier availableAvailableUnavailable
Published pricingUnavailableAvailable
ISO certificationAvailableNot documented

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Greenbone

Community Edition (GVM/OpenVAS) — Free N/A (self-hosted, open source)
OpenVAS Basic — Contact for pricing (free 14-day trial) Custom
OpenVAS Scan — Contact for pricing Custom
OpenVAS Security Intelligence — Contact for pricing Custom

Mend.io

Mend Renovate Enterprise — From approximately $250/contributing developer Annual
Mend AI Premium — From approximately $300/contributing developer Annual
Mend AppSec — From approximately $1,000/contributing developer Annual

Pros & Cons

Greenbone

Pros

  • Free, actively maintained open-source scan engine with a long track record dating back to 2008
  • Strong GDPR and data-residency positioning, with on-premises deployment options for sensitive environments
  • Close historical ties to Germany's BSI federal security authority lend added credibility
  • Flexible deployment via hardware appliance, virtual appliance, or self-hosted open source

Cons

  • Commercial pricing is not published and requires going through a sales quote process
  • Hardware appliance procurement can be slower and less flexible than pure cloud-based competitors
  • Smaller global brand recognition than Tenable, Qualys or Rapid7 outside Europe
  • Newer AI and centralized intelligence features are still rolling out and less mature than the core scanner

Mend.io

Pros

  • Strong automated remediation that generates fix pull requests rather than just alerts
  • Broad platform covering SCA, SAST, container and AI component security in one product
  • Deep dependency-update integration through its stewardship of the open-source Renovate bot
  • Established vendor with over a decade of experience in the software composition analysis category
  • Reachability-based prioritization helps reduce false-positive alert fatigue

Cons

  • Pricing is not published and requires a sales conversation for every deal
  • Per-developer pricing can become expensive for large engineering organizations
  • Some users report a learning curve configuring policies across a large monorepo estate
  • Primarily targeted at enterprise buyers, with less self-serve accessibility for small teams
  • Overlapping product lines from acquisitions can add platform complexity

Use Cases

Choose Greenbone: Greenbone fits IT and network security teams that need automated infrastructure vulnerability scanning with a daily-updated database of 100,000+ tests, deployable as hardware, VM, or cloud, with a free OPENVAS FREE tier for teams that don't need enterprise support.
Choose Mend.io: Mend.io fits application security teams at enterprises like the ones it names as customers (Microsoft, Google, Vodafone, Yahoo, Siemens) that need SCA and SAST for code and dependencies, plus newer AI-BOM/Shadow AI discovery and automated red teaming for AI models and agents.
Need both: A security organization could run Greenbone to continuously scan its network and server infrastructure for known vulnerabilities while separately running Mend.io in its CI/CD pipeline to catch vulnerable open-source dependencies and insecure application code before it's deployed onto that infrastructure — covering the network layer and the application layer respectively.

Greenbone

  • Enterprise vulnerability scanning — Running scheduled scans across servers, endpoints and network devices to find and prioritize missing patches and misconfigurations.
  • Public sector and regulated compliance — Meeting GDPR and government security requirements with on-premises scanning that keeps vulnerability data within national or organizational boundaries.
  • Small business entry-level scanning — Installing OpenVAS Basic to quickly identify and remediate obvious security weaknesses without a large security team.

Mend.io

  • Enterprise Open-Source Risk Management — Large engineering organizations use Mend to maintain a real-time inventory of open-source dependencies and automatically remediate known vulnerabilities across hundreds of repositories.
  • Regulatory and License Compliance — Legal and compliance teams use Mend's license-tracking features to ensure open-source usage complies with company policy and software supply-chain regulations.
  • Automated Dependency Updates — Development teams use Mend Renovate to automatically open pull requests that keep dependencies patched and up to date without manual tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Greenbone and Mend.io compete for the same budget?

Not directly — Greenbone scans networks and infrastructure for vulnerabilities, while Mend.io secures application code, open-source dependencies, and now AI models/agents. Most organizations would use tools like these for different line items in a security budget.

Does Mend.io have a free plan?

No, Mend.io lists no free plan or free trial; the website offers a 'Schedule a Demo' option instead. Greenbone, by contrast, offers a genuinely free OPENVAS FREE edition.

How is Mend.io priced?

Mend.io publishes per-developer annual pricing: up to $1,000/developer/year for Mend AppSec, up to $300/developer/year for Mend AI, and up to $250/developer/year for Mend Renovate Enterprise, with no additional per-GB fees.

Does Greenbone secure AI models or application code?

No, Greenbone's documented product line (OPENVAS FREE, BASIC, SCAN, SECURITY INTELLIGENCE) focuses on network and infrastructure vulnerability scanning, not application code or AI model security.

What is Mend AI?

Mend AI is Mend.io's product for AI-BOM and Shadow AI discovery, system prompt hardening, automated red teaming, and in-app runtime guardrails, priced up to $300/developer/year.

Is Greenbone ISO certified?

Yes, Greenbone holds ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and ISO 14001 certifications and states its operations are GDPR-compliant. Mend.io's certifications are not documented in available facts.

Read the full Greenbone review · Read the full Mend.io review