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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
217
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 April 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of AWS Secrets Manager is 19.4%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.5%, down from 9.4% 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 of AWS Secrets Manager is the ability to keep data secret and assign access permissions to people to grant or restrict access."
"The solution is very scalable."
"The most valuable feature is security."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services."
"The product is easy to use and is inexpensive."
"Integrating with other services was straightforward, especially within the AWS environment."
"The API is fine and works well."
"AWS Secrets Manager is used for storing secret information that has to be a secret from your customer and your employees."
"The Password Upload Utility tool makes it easier when setting up a Safe that contains multiple accounts and has cut down the amount of time that it takes to complete the task."
"When we started with RPA, there was a requirement that every credential and the bots themselves be protected through the PAM system. From the get-go, we've had CyberArk in the middle... We've got a pretty robust RPA implementation with our PAM platform. Users, bots, the credentials — everything is managed via our PAM solution."
"The credentials management capability is key to ensuring that the credentials are kept secure and that access to them is done on a temporary and event-driven basis."
"The password vault and session monitoring are useful."
"We can make a policy that affects everybody instantly."
"It enables companies to automate password management on target systems gaining a more secure access management approach."
"The product has allowed us to improve both the management and access to privileged credentials, while also creating a full audit trail of all activities happening within isolated sessions of all tasks and activities taking place within the solution."
"The combination of CPM and PSM resolves a lot of use cases."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"An area for improvement in AWS Secrets Manager could be expanding integration options beyond AWS services."
"We occasionally have problems with rate limits, although that is a problem more generally with AWS."
"The sidecar feature has room for improvement."
"There is a need for better environmental implementation, such as having a security fund as a solution."
"AWS Secrets Manager could support hybrid infrastructure."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"It would be good if the AWS Secrets Manager were more customizable."
"We have had some performance and stability issues. We have had instances where things weren't as they should be, however, we worked closely with the development support teams once the issues were escalated and managed to find either a resolution or a workaround to stabilize the solution."
"There is a little bit of confusion in the implementation part, especially when one tries to understand the actual working of the product."
"To get it to a ten it should give other possibilities to select if you could follow the keystrokes. It should have a flexibility with things where people can use it a lot faster."
"There are upwards of six components you need to set it up. And you might need anywhere from two to five servers. It takes some work to set that up, especially in a larger environment."
"Updates have been somewhat difficult, resulting in challenges when moving from one version to another. The current version includes automatic updates."
"There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's a pretty complex solution."
"Its implementation was very complex. It needs different servers."
"Having a centralized place to manage the solution has been something that I have always wanted, and they are starting to understand that and bring things back together."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"I don't believe there is a license cost for the solution."
"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."
"We purchase a monthly license for the product."
"The cost is somewhat high."
"Network and security licenses are currently being managed by other outsource vendors, so they are facing some type of problems in the digital aspect."
"Pricing and licensing depend on the environment."
"Previously, the pricing was very meager. They started publicizing and advertising the solution, growing CyberArk, as an organization. They also changed their pricing with that growth, e.g., the pricier the product, the more people who will purchase it."
"I do not have any opinions to add about the pricing of the product."
"Cost efficiency is the number one thing that can be improved in my mind. This would change lots of companies minds on purchasing the product."
"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."
"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 concerns."
"The SaaS version of CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault is very expensive, but the on-premises version is relative, e.g. depending on the size of the environment, it can be a bit pricey, but it's relatively okay compared to the others."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
34%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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.
 

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: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.