Across the industry, security teams and vendors are reporting a sharp rise in VirusTotal renewal fees, in some cases three to five times higher than previous years. For many organizations, those unexpected hikes are straining budgets and forcing tough decisions about where to allocate security resources. If you’re feeling the squeeze and left having to evaluate a VirusTotal alternative, you’re not alone — and you don’t have to settle for bloated pricing models that don’t scale with your needs.
Why zvelo Is the Smart VirusTotal Alternative
zvelo provides human-curated AI-powered threat and phishing detection and intelligence feeds built on traffic from over 1 billion users and endpoints. This massive dataset, combined with enrichment from OSINT and third-party sources, delivers unparalleled detection accuracy, low false positive rates, and real-time coverage.
Unlike generic multi-scanner platforms, zvelo offers robust threat and phishing intelligence for URLs, IOCs, campaigns and more. That means your SOC or security products get the detections and intelligence they need to power comprehensive user protections across SASE, XDR and other security applications without the budget-busting VirusTotal price hike.
Cost Effective Threat and Phishing Intel
While others wrestle with rising costs from VirusTotal’s renewals, zvelo’s licensing is built to be cost-effective and predictable. For organizations searching for a reliable VT alternative, zvelo delivers the threat intelligence you need, without the sticker shock.
And to make it easy, zvelo offers a no-cost evaluation of its threat intelligence feeds. That’s your chance to see the quality, breadth, and timeliness of the data in action — before making a commitment. And the zvelo APIs enable rapid and easy integration and deployment of the Threat and Phishing data feeds.
The Bottom Line
If VirusTotal’s fees have you questioning your security spend, it’s time to look at smarter alternatives. zvelo delivers the accuracy, coverage, and speed you need with pricing designed to keep your defenses strong and your budgets sane.
Don’t let VirusTotal’s price hikes compromise your defense strategy. Request your free evaluation of zvelo’s threat intelligence feeds today — and see how smarter, real-time detection doesn’t have to blow your security budget.
Frequently Asked Questions: VirusTotal Price Hike and Alternatives
Q: What is happening with VirusTotal pricing?
A: Organizations are reporting that VirusTotal fees have jumped 3–5x in their 2025 pricing. Google is repositioning the former VirusTotal service as the Google Threat Intel feed as part of its Mandiant acquisition. As part of this repositioning, Google is significantly increasing the license fees for the service formerly known as VirusTotal, with organizations reporting fee increases of 300-500%, making the continued use of the Google Threat Intel (nee VirusTotal) service unviable for many licensees. Ironically, as Google increases the fees and more companies don’t license the service, Google loses ever more source data that comprises the Google Threat Intel service, meaning the prices are increasing dramatically at the same time the service is providing less and less value.
Q: What is a good VirusTotal alternative?
A: zvelo is a trusted VirusTotal alternative, offering affordable, human curated, AI-driven threat intelligence built on traffic from 1.5+ billion users and endpoints.
Q: Is there a cheaper alternative to VirusTotal?
A: Yes. zvelo’s licensing is predictable and cost-effective, providing real-time, curated threat intelligence at a significant savings compared to Google Threat Intel (VirusTotal).
Q: How does zvelo compare to VirusTotal?
A: VirusTotal sources threat detection data from an ever shrinking pool of Google Threat Intel licensees, meaning fewer and fewer detections and meta data. zvelo combines human-curated and AI-driven feeds to deliver broader coverage — including phishing campaigns and IOCs — at a fraction of the cost.
