Nuclei
Nuclei — Community-driven DAST scanner executing YAML-based vulnerability templates across web, network, and cloud targets.
Our Verdict
Best free DAST scanner for recon and known-CVE hunting; expect to build pipelines around it.
Pros
- Huge community template library covers new CVEs quickly
- Fast Go-based scanner handles large target sets
- Free and open source with active ProjectDiscovery backing
- YAML templates are readable and easy to extend
Cons
- No built-in authenticated-crawl for complex SPAs
- Template quality varies, some produce false positives
- Lacks enterprise features like scheduling and RBAC
- Raw output needs tooling to become useful reports
Best for: Bug bounty hunters, red teams, and DevSecOps pipelines needing CVE sweeps at scale.
Not for: Teams wanting a turnkey web-app scanner with GUI, auth flows, and managed reporting.
When to Use Nuclei
Good fit if you need
- YAML template-based DAST scanning of web applications
- CVE detection scan against known vulnerability signatures
- CI/CD pipeline security scan on every pull request
- Network and cloud asset scanning via community templates
- API security testing with OpenAPI-based Nuclei templates
Lock-in Assessment
Low 5/5
Lock-in Score 5/5
Pricing
Price wrong?Nuclei Pricing
- Pricing Model
- freemium
- Free Tier
- Yes
- Entry Price
- —
- Enterprise Available
- No
- Transparency Score
- —
Beta — estimates may differ from actual pricing
1,000
1001K10K100K1M
Estimated Monthly Cost
$25
Estimated Annual Cost
$300
Estimates are approximate and may not reflect current pricing. Always check the official pricing page.
Community Discussion
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