Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Bitwarden 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

Bitwarden
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
8th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
3rd
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 February 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of Bitwarden is 4.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.4%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Featured Reviews

Marcus Quinn - PeerSpot reviewer
Good Documentation, reliable, zero failure and fast
I often use another password manager as well to keep my passwords separate, ensuring redundancy. But one simple thing Bitwarden could improve is providing an option to duplicate credentials. Often, you're creating many sets of credentials for the same thing. If they all have the same information, notes, login, collection, and naming - all you're changing is the password. The ability to duplicate credential records quickly would be a big win. It doesn't do that right now. A feature I appreciate in another app, EndPass, is a shortcut that opens a mini window for quick access to credentials. Bitwarden could benefit from something like this, in addition to duplicating credentials. Other functionalities like team management and collections in Bitwarden are already simple. It doesn't need much more. We appreciate the simplicity and slow evolution rather than being overwhelmed with unnecessary features. It doesn't need to be pretty, just functional and accessible. And accessibility is crucial. If you're deploying to many people resistant to change, accessibility can be an objection. When someone claims they can't use a tool because of an accessibility issue, you're faced with a compliance challenge. Bitwarden does well in this regard. Still, accessibility should never be overlooked in favor of features. As you add more features, you potentially increase complexity and risk.
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

"Having all the passwords in one place is helpful."
"I've found something else that is extremely valuable. Bitwarden refers to it as "emergency access". It's essentially a digital legacy where you can assign approved users who can request access. If you don't decline within a certain timeframe, they can access it in case you're incapacitated or deceased. When I last checked, only a few services offered this feature. Bitwarden had the simplest and best implementation."
"The product has a very friendly community."
"The customer service and support are good. The technician is on time and the follow-up is amazing."
"Its integration capabilities and versatility, like the ability to securely save passwords and other critical information, make it incredibly useful."
"It is open source and the premium package is reasonable."
"In our organization, we use Bitwarden for managing product credentials. Bitwarden's collection feature enables us to securely create and store credentials, and we can easily provide team members with access to the relevant collections."
"Provides improved security around having your credentials locked down and rotated regularly."
"Customer support has been very helpful and responsive."
"The most valuable feature is the special management. It records the activity and the actions that we use for auditing."
"It is very simple to use."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials is very important."
"We have demoted a lot of domain admins and taken a lot of that away from people, giving it a shared account structure."
"Technical support is very helpful whenever we have any questions."
"Session recordings and timestamps are valuable features. They allow me to specifically select the time a particular command was executed, so I do not have to review the entire recording. I can click on events to determine where and when they happened."
 

Cons

"It would be ideal if the application could be seamlessly integrated into our open-source software, especially for the purpose of enabling straightforward logging."
"The solution should be made more secure as it has the banking sector and assets saved."
"The product must be a bit more unified and refined."
"I would like to log in with a master account using a passkey, that would be easy."
"I often use another password manager as well to keep my passwords separate, ensuring redundancy. But one simple thing Bitwarden could improve is providing an option to duplicate credentials. Often, you're creating many sets of credentials for the same thing. If they all have the same information, notes, login, collection, and naming - all you're changing is the password. The ability to duplicate credential records quickly would be a big win. It doesn't do that right now."
"The product could be cheaper."
"Enhancing the tool by including additional security variables would be a valuable improvement."
"The authentication port is available in CyberArk Alero but not Fortinet products."
"It should be easier to install. It is a comprehensive product, which makes it difficult to install. You need to have their consulting services in order to get it all installed and set up correctly because there is so much going on. It would be nice if there were an easier way to do the installation without professional services. I suspect they get a fair amount of their money from professional services. So, there is not a huge incentive."
"New functionalities and discovered bugs take longer to patch. We would greatly appreciate quicker development of security patches and bug corrections."
"It can be made user-friendly, in the sense of the console is pretty outdated."
"The tool needs to improve its usage and interface. They need to have a modern and useful interface. I want the product to improve its integration capabilities as well since some of the integration features do not work always."
"Its GUI is very confusing."
"It is very complex and difficult to set up the solution."
"This product needs professional consulting services to onboard accounts effectively based user profiles."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is reasonably priced."
"The product is not costly. I pay $10 per month."
"I use a free version and it works well for me."
"In our region, it comes at an affordable price."
"It is an open-source tool."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"In comparison to other products on the market, CyberArk is a more costly product."
"There are additional features added to our CyberArk Privileged Access Manager license. For example, features that allow us to integrate into various kinds of platforms."
"The solution is costly but we get what we pay for."
"Its price is high. I have also worked with Delinea. CyberArk is comparatively expensive compared to other PAM solutions, such as Delinea, especially during renewal."
"I would rate CyberArk's pricing a nine out of ten, with one being cheap and ten being expensive. It's one of the most expensive solutions in the market, but it's worth it."
"The price of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is expensive. There are no other fees other than the standard licensing fees."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on the expensive side. It is very expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Password Managers solutions are best for your needs.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
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

What do you like most about Bitwarden?
I've found something else that is extremely valuable. Bitwarden refers to it as "emergency access". It's essentially a digital legacy where you can assign approved users who can request access. If ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Bitwarden?
The product is not costly. I pay $10 per month. I use the basic plan, so I don't need the higher plan with more compliance features.
What needs improvement with Bitwarden?
The functionality to fully utilize passkeys could be improved. The last time I spoke to support, they said the development team was working on it. So far, it's working okay on my personal devices. ...
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

Information Not Available
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about Bitwarden vs. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.