Acunetix
Web vulnerability scanner for automated security testing of websites and web apps
Nuclei
Fast, template-driven vulnerability scanner with zero false positives
Nuclei is a high‑performance vulnerability scanner that uses simple YAML templates, supports many protocols, integrates with CI/CD and popular tools, and reduces false positives by simulating real‑world steps.
Overview
Overview
Nuclei is a high‑performance vulnerability scanner built around simple YAML templates, allowing security professionals to model real‑world attack steps and achieve near‑zero false positives. It supports a wide range of protocols—including HTTP, DNS, TCP, SSL, WHOIS, JavaScript, and code‑based checks—and can run thousands of requests in parallel thanks to request clustering.
Who it’s for and how it’s deployed
The tool is ideal for penetration testers, DevOps engineers, and enterprise security teams that need to embed continuous scanning into CI/CD pipelines or conduct large‑scale asset assessments. Nuclei can be installed locally via Go (≥1.24.1) or accessed through a free cloud tier that stores findings, visualizes results, and provides the latest community templates. For organizations requiring collaboration, compliance reporting, and advanced integrations (AWS, GCP, Azure, Jira, Slack, etc.), the Pro and Enterprise editions deliver 50× faster scans, SSO, SOC 2 compliance, and shared workspaces.
Extensibility
Thousands of contributors continuously expand the template library, and users can create custom templates or workflows to target specific technologies. Integration hooks let you push results to Splunk, Elastic, GitHub, or custom webhooks, making Nuclei a flexible component of any security automation stack.
Highlights
YAML‑based templates for easy custom vulnerability checks
Ultra‑fast parallel scanning with request clustering
Supports multiple protocols (HTTP, DNS, TCP, SSL, etc.)
Native integrations with CI/CD, Jira, GitHub, Splunk, and cloud services
Pros
- High‑speed scanning across many targets
- Low false‑positive rate via real‑world verification steps
- Extensive community‑contributed template library
- Flexible integration with numerous tools and platforms
Considerations
- CLI‑centric; running as a service requires additional security hardening
- Active development may introduce breaking changes
- Requires Go ≥1.24.1 for building from source
- Steep learning curve due to extensive flag set
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Nuclei, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
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Fit guide
Great for
- Security researchers needing custom scan logic
- DevOps teams integrating scans into CI/CD pipelines
- Enterprises requiring large‑scale, high‑accuracy vulnerability assessments
- Teams leveraging cloud‑hosted Pro/Enterprise for collaborative scanning
Not ideal when
- Users seeking a fully managed SaaS without self‑hosting
- Organizations without a Go toolchain or build environment
- Small projects needing only basic, one‑off scans
- Environments where running a CLI as a service is prohibited
How teams use it
CI/CD pipeline integration
Automatically detect regressions on each commit and prevent vulnerable code from reaching production.
Penetration testing
Craft custom templates to validate complex vulnerabilities in target applications.
Large‑scale asset inventory
Efficiently scan thousands of hosts across multiple protocols to discover hidden exposures.
Compliance reporting
Generate executive‑grade reports via Pro edition integrations for audit and regulatory needs.
Tech snapshot
Go96%
TypeScript3%
HTML1%
JavaScript1%
Shell1%
Makefile1%
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free cloud tier for Nuclei?
Yes, a free cloud tier provides storage, visualization of findings, and access to the latest community templates with generous monthly limits.
How does Nuclei achieve low false positives?
It simulates real‑world steps in the template definitions, verifying each vulnerability before reporting it.
What is the difference between the OSS version and the Pro/Enterprise editions?
The Pro/Enterprise editions add 50× faster scans, large‑scale collaboration, SSO, SOC 2 compliance, advanced integrations, and executive reporting on top of the open‑source core.
Which protocols does Nuclei support?
Nuclei supports HTTP, DNS, TCP, SSL, WHOIS, JavaScript, code‑based checks, and many others via extensible template types.
What are the installation requirements?
Nuclei requires Go version 1.24.1 or newer to install via the `go install` command.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 26,605
- Watchers
- 26,605
- Forks
- 3,058
LicenseMIT
Repo age5 years old
Last commityesterday
Primary languageGo
Last synced yesterday