Vicarius

PDQ

Windows only patching no longer enough

PDQ is a Windows focused deployment and patching tool built for on premises IT teams. Vicarius extends beyond patch delivery by combining vulnerability awareness, risk prioritization, patchless protection, and cross platform remediation to reduce real exposure across modern environments.

How Vicarius compares to PDQ

Capabilities

Remediation built-in

Executes security driven remediation including OS and third-party patching, patchless protection, scripting, rollback, and validation to reduce real exposure.

Remediation is primarily patch and package deployment driven, focused on installing updates once vulnerabilities are identified.

Virtual Patching

Provides patchless protection to mitigate vulnerabilities when patches are unavailable, delayed, or unsafe to deploy.

Not supported. Vulnerability mitigation depends on patch deployment.

Cross-platform support

Supports Windows, Linux, and macOS with unified remediation workflows across heterogeneous environments.

Supports Windows and macOS endpoints. Linux is not supported.

Agent-based & agentless modes

Lightweight security focused agent enables continuous visibility, offline enforcement, and remediation validation.

Agent based management in PDQ Connect or agentless operation in PDQ Deploy & Inventory, primarily for deployment and management.

Real-time risk validation

Continuously validates that vulnerabilities are mitigated and exposure remains reduced over time.

Tracks deployment success, but does not provide continuous validation of exposure reduction.

Multi-tenancy for MSSPs

Supports MSP use cases while maintaining enterprise grade remediation depth and security controls.

Supported in PDQ Connect with cloud based multi-tenant management for MSP environments.

Workflow Automation

Automates the full lifecycle from detection through remediation, including scripts, patchless controls, and policy driven enforcement.

Automation focused on scheduled deployments, scripts, and endpoint management workflows.

Ease of deployment

Cloud ready architecture with minimal dependencies and seamless coexistence alongside existing tools during migration.

PDQ Connect is cloud based. PDQ Deploy & Inventory requires on-prem infrastructure and local connectivity.

Coverage depth

Covers operating systems and over 10,000 third-party applications with remediation and validation capabilities.

Maintains hundreds of prebuilt packages. Unsupported software requires manual package creation.

Customer satisfaction

G2: 4.9 / Gartner: 4.7 praised for ease of use, performance, and support

G2: 4.7 / Gartner: 4.8 – feedback cites scanning is slow, app based not web, VPN connection is a must for remote employees

See Vicarius in action

Watch how Vicarius identifies real risk, applies patchless protection, and executes remediation across Windows, Linux, and macOS without relying on manual deployment schedules.

Product tour

Vicarius key differentiators

Remediation first vs deployment first

PDQ Connect includes vulnerability detection and one-click remediation, but remediation is still patch deployment centric. Vicarius is built around risk elimination, including patching, patchless protection, scripting, rollback, and validation.

Patchless protection

PDQ relies entirely on patch availability. Vicarius applies patchless controls when patches are missing, delayed, or unsafe, protecting systems immediately without waiting for vendor updates

Broader OS coverage

PDQ supports Windows and macOS environments only. Vicarius supports Windows, Linux, and macOS, enabling consistent remediation across heterogeneous operating systems and modern enterprise infrastructure.

Security context depth

PDQ prioritizes vulnerabilities based on CVE data and package remediation. Vicarius enriches prioritization with exploitability, asset context, and exposure to focus remediation on vulnerabilities that present real operational risk.

Enterprise scale validation

PDQ tracks deployment success but does not continuously validate exposure reduction. Vicarius continuously verifies that vulnerabilities are actually mitigated and that risk remains controlled over time.

Security platform vs IT tool

PDQ is an IT endpoint management platform with security features. Vicarius is a remediation focused security platform designed to eliminate exposure, not just manage endpoints.

Resources

Additional Resources

downloadable

MSP whitepaper

download a whitepaper

article

The CIS Benchmarking Best Practices: Turning Security Guidelines into Operational Resilience

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article

From Vulnerability Management to Compliance Confidence: Operationalizing Frameworks with Vicarius vRx

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article

Elevating Cybersecurity: Rethinking the SANS Vulnerability Management Maturity Model Through the Lens of Vicarius vRx

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article

Machine vs. Machine: The Future of Vulnerability Remediation

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4.8

4.7

Hear from our customers

Complete Vulnerability Remediation Platform

"What stood out was that it wasn’t just a scanner or a patch manager. It was an entire remediation platform. You discover vulnerabilities, prioritize based on real risk, and remediate automatically."

Eric Dowsland

Chief Customer Officer

My favorite feature is Patchless Protection

"With Vicarius' vRx, I've never seen a patch that failed or had to be rolled back. We're saving quite a bit of time. Our clients using vRx haven't had any issues, and they've easily established patching for all their endpoints."

Jeremy Herman

Security Engineer

Great patching capabilities, helpful dashboard, and excellent support

"vRx has saved us an incredible amount of time. We can just rely on the automated system and the schedules we've set. It's a huge time saver. It's saved us hundreds of hours."

Michael Cortez

Sr. Director of IT

EL AL secures global Patch Compliance

“Within two weeks we decided on Vicarius. Patch scheduling is now a one-day task instead of a full-time job.”

Tal Shachar

Deputy Director, Infrastructure, EL AL Airlines

Unified vulnerability discovery, prioritization, and remediation

"Vicarius streamlines vulnerability management between IT & Security by directly linking identified vulnerabilities to required patches, enhancing efficiency. The automation process has saved at least 30 percent of our manual tasks."