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AWS Secrets Manager vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Secrets Manager
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
210
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Mainframe Security (2nd), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of AWS Secrets Manager is 19.7%, down from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.5%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Featured Reviews

ManuelTorres - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifies and secures secret management within the AWS ecosystem, though it could enhance integration capabilities with external platforms
AWS Secrets Manager has streamlined our processes for managing secrets and their lifecycle. We typically handle everything through automation, following a predefined approach. When we undertake our developments, we seamlessly integrate the process into our workflows. Essentially, our secrets require minimal intervention; they are automatically managed by the system itself. This ensures smooth operations without the need for manual intervention. We integrate this tool with various AWS services, utilizing AWS Secrets Manager specifically for AWS resources. Any application, service, or deployment within AWS leverages Secrets Manager whenever it requires access to it.
Lasantha Wijesinghe - PeerSpot reviewer
We have visibility and control through real-time user behavior analytics
It took us some time to realize its benefits because there was a learning curve for us. It took us about a year to get our heads around this product and start effectively using it. It is a journey. It takes at least five years for any company to make this product very useful and reach maturity. It is not only the product's fault. The company needs to have a vision, and the company culture needs to go with it. Senior leadership needs to support the vision. You need to have lots of ingredients for success. If everything is in place, you will see success after one year. In the first year, it is a struggle for everybody. My company was bought by a bigger company, and they were very new to privileged access management. Everybody was struggling. The advice I would give is to have a good vision for privileged access management. You need dedicated teams, senior management support, and proper company policies and standards before implementing the solution. Start building knowledge slowly and avoid jumping into the deep end without preparation. I would rate CyberArk Privileged Access Manager a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is security."
"The most valuable feature is the management of credentials."
"Secrets Manager helps in retrieving the enrollment variables used by the code."
"The most valuable feature is usability, as it is quite user-friendly."
"AWS Secrets Manager is used for storing secret information that has to be a secret from your customer and your employees."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services."
"The solution is very scalable."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is the ability to keep data secret and assign access permissions to people to grant or restrict access."
"AIM has been a great help in automating password retrieval which removes the need for hard-coded credentials."
"The ability to monitor privileged accounts throughout the enterprises."
"The feature that I like the most is the Privileged Session Manager."
"The most valuable features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are its robust functionality and reliability."
"It is useful for protecting passwords. If you need to do access security management, you can first use the CyberArk console, and after that, you can connect the firewall interface or firewall command line. Similarly, if you need to do an RDP session, you need to first log in to CyberArk before connecting to the Windows RDP session. This way, the admin doesn't know the password, and that password is changed immediately. To change the password, you first discover the old password in the network, and after that, you can change the password."
"Super stable and easy to scale"
"It enables us to secure accounts and make sure they are compliant."
"It's a good solution, it works, and the bank is happy with it."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"If you don't have enterprise support, then you will not be able to get through to them to get the help. It is not only applicable to AWS Secrets Manager. It is also applicable to any service on AWS."
"If you add one more layer of security to AWS Secrets Manager, even the programmer will not be able to see the secrets."
"It would be good if the AWS Secrets Manager were more customizable."
"AWS Secrets Manager could support hybrid infrastructure."
"An area for improvement in AWS Secrets Manager could be expanding integration options beyond AWS services."
"There is a potential improvement in connecting AWS Secrets Manager to Jenkins CI/CD pipeline to automatically reflect changes in production."
"For users to access a system via CyberArk Privileged Session Manager, a universal connector needs to be coded in a language called AutoIT and its support for web browsers is so-so. Other products like Centrify have browser plugins that can help automate the process when using their products."
"As a customer, I might need a plugin for a specific product, or an application, and CyberArk might have already worked with some other client on it. There has to be some platform where it is available for everybody else to go and grab it, instead of my having to reinvent the wheel."
"There was a situation when one of our presidents had an issue, but I can't recall the specifics."
"It can be integrated with other systems, but it is not easy to integrate. It takes too long to integrate it. Its integration should be easier and simpler."
"One of the main things that could be improved would be filtering accounts on the main page and increasing the functionality of the filters. There are some filters on the side which are very specific, but I feel there could be more."
"If CyberArk wants people to pay for cloud services, they need to make the cloud services much more real-time."
"Initial setup is complex. Lots of architecture, lots of planning, and lots of education and training are needed."
"I would love them to improve their UI customizing features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is somewhat high."
"We purchase a monthly license for the product."
"The solution is expensive."
"We've observed that AWS Secrets Manager pricing is based on a per-secret-per-month model. As a result, we prefer to divide our secrets into individual pieces to increase security and grant specific access permissions to certain secrets, systems, or individuals. However, this approach results in higher costs. Therefore, we have been exploring ways to combine our secrets into groups to reduce expenses and simplify management. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that this issue may not be related to the secret manager's functionality."
"I don't believe there is a license cost for the solution."
"It's expensive, certainly. But CyberArk is the leader in the market with regards to privileged access management. You pay a lot, but you are paying for the value that is being delivered."
"Our risk is definitely significantly lower. Also, our resources are low."
"CyberArk has been Gartner's number-one pick for the past ten years, so you can infer that their pricing is higher than everyone else. When you are the best, you will charge appropriately for it."
"Generally, I don't get involved in the licensing or the purchasing side of it, but I do know that the licenses are expensive."
"The price of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is expensive. There are no other fees other than the standard licensing fees."
"With reducing the privileged account access, there has been a huge improvement. They are now bringing more accounts on a little at a time."
"The cost is high compared to other products."
"I believe that this solution is priced well. It's the market leader and I think that it's the best solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
34%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Azure Key Vault or AWS Secrets Manager?
Azure Key Vault is a SaaS solution. You can easily store passwords and secrets securely and encrypt them. Azure Key Vault is a great solution to ensure you are compliant with security and governanc...
Which is better - HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager?
HashiCorp Vault was designed with your needs in mind. One of the features that makes this evident is its ability to work as both a cloud-agnostic and a multi-cloud solution. As a cloud-agnostic sol...
What do you like most about AWS Secrets Manager?
The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services.
How does Sailpoint IdentityIQ compare with CyberArk PAM?
We evaluated Sailpoint IdentityIQ before ultimately choosing CyberArk. Sailpoint Identity Platform is a solution to manage risks in cloud enterprise environments. It automates and streamlines the m...
What do you like most about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
The most valuable features of the solution are control and analytics.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?
I focus more on the technical side, but I hear customers say that if CyberArk was more affordable, they might have acquired more licenses. Some clients consider alternative solutions due to pricing...
 

Also Known As

No data available
CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Clevy, Stackery
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Secrets Manager vs. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
839,515 professionals have used our research since 2012.