She has starred in television movies and had recurring roles in such series as Without a Trace, Gilmore Girls, Ghost Whisperer, Scoundrels, Grey's Anatomy and The Young and the Restless.

[8] According to an interview with her sister, her mother did not want either of her children to have careers in show business, and took the girls to an agent that she believed was most likely to turn kids down, only to find that Vanessa was accepted.

She also played Layne Abeley in The Clique based on the books by Lisi Harrison and Samantha Combs in Dear Lemon Lima.

Marano starred in an episode of Ghost Whisperer alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt.

From 2011 to 2017, she starred as Bay Kennish on the ABC Family TV show Switched at Birth.