CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs HashiCorp Vault comparison

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs. HashiCorp Vault

Download the complete report

Helped 845,040 peers since 2012

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

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)

HashiCorp Vault

Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.5%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HashiCorp Vault is 12.8%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Password Managers

Featured Reviews

Lasantha Wijesinghe

Cybersecurity Specialist at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

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.

Read full review

AKASHGUPTA3

Credit Analyst at Standard Chartered Bank

Easy to manage and maintain the password API but stability could be improved

I would advise doing a Proof of Concept first and then deciding accordingly because your use case might be simple. You can try out AWS Key Management or Azure Key Vault. They are different products. Do the POC and then decide what you need. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten. No solution is a ten in my opinion.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Performance-wise, it is excellent."

"I like the integrations for external applications."

"You can easily manage more than 4000 accounts with one PSM."

"The automatic password management is the most important feature. The second most important feature is the ability to enforce dual control on the release of those passwords. The combination of these two features is the most important thing for us because we can show that we're in control of who uses any non-personal account, and when they do so."

"We also use CyberArk’s Secrets Manager. Because AWS is the biggest area for us, we have accounts in AWS that are being rotated by CyberArk. We also have a manual process for the most sensitive of our AWS accounts, like root accounts. We've used Secrets Manager on those and that has resulted in a significant risk reduction, as well."

"Because we now have the ability to grant access to management utilities like DNS Manager, Sequel Studio, and MMC, in a secure fashion, without system admins being required to continually reenter various passwords that are stored who knows where, it has really made the system admin's job much easier. It has made the PSM's job much easier. It has made the auditor's job and the security team's job and the access manager's job significantly easier, because we're able to move much more quickly toward a role-based access management system, and that is really streamlining the whole onboarding/offboarding management process."

"We found the initial setup to be easy."

"The technical support for this solution is very good. If I was to rate it on a scale of one to five, I would give it a five."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pros

"It's stable. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."

"The interface is very simple to navigate."

"It is a good product to consider for companies who are looking to build on-premise or hybrid infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature of HashiCorp Vault is version control."

"We were using it because we have compliance requirements around secret management. Having a secure vault and encrypting data was an additional requirement. When we looked at it first, we were just looking for a vault, like a lockbox. The greatest benefit of HashiCorp is its ability to manage encryption on the fly. It provides encryption of data at rest, in use, in transit, on the fly, and linked with applications, which was really attractive."

"The solution is stable. It has been working perfectly without any problem."

"We use the solution for secret management."

"It can still be configured by a separate team other than developers. That's why I think it's more secure."

More HashiCorp Vault pros

Cons

"The reporting should be improved. There should be more customization. The report should show how we are going to mitigate the risk because we cannot show the system environment to each and every auditor."

"Having a cloud version would be very helpful. You have to invest a lot of money for the infrastructure hardware so the cloud version would help."

"I think they can improve account onboarding. For instance, you have to use the Password Vault utility, whereas in Thycotic I think there is a feature in the user interface that allows you to upload your account with an Excel file. So I'd like to have a similar thing in CyberArk."

"The challenge with the product is pricing since it's expensive. It also needs to improve the customization. We encountered some stability issues as well."

"The scalability, sometimes, is lacking. It works really well for more static environments... But for an environment where you're constantly spinning up new infrastructure or new endpoints, sometimes it has a hard time keeping up."

"Its implementation was very complex. It needs different servers."

"Initial setup is complex. Lots of architecture, lots of planning, and lots of education and training are needed."

"It is complicated to deploy for Windows servers compared to other vendors."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager cons

"The documentation is very general; it should have more examples and more use cases."

"The onboarding is a challenge. It should be more self-service, but it involves reviews and approvals."

"An improvement needed is the ability for auto-initialization."

"I don't think there are any major improvements required—so far, so good. However, I think that having more training materials, such as videos, and documentation available would be helpful. I would prefer to have more videos available either on the official site or on YouTube."

"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."

"There could be a plugin for the database to change the secret automatically. It would be an efficient feature for password security."

"In terms of features, the only thing that I found a little bit hinky was that there was no revocation or deletion on the model we were using. Once in a financial year, a client interacts, and you pay for that client for the year. So, there are just little things like that in the pricing. There should be more clarity around the end of the key. I know there is no system like this. They all are the same. I tested Microsoft, Google, and some others, and none of them really want you to delete a key, which makes sense. You delete a key, and you lose everything that it has wrapped or encrypted, but it's actually just a language. Deletion isn't really deletion. It's really revocation, but overall, HashiCorp Vault ticked all the boxes for us, and I couldn't fault it."

"I would like to see better integration of HashiCorp Vault with SAP products."

More HashiCorp Vault cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have two types of licensing: purchase and subscription. You have to pay for each admin user, such as Microsoft admin, mail admin, database admin, etc."

"CyberArk DNA is free if you purchase the CyberArk solution. There is no additional charge for CyberArk DNA, which is great."

"I'm aware that the organization had purchased licensing for almost all of CyberArk's solutions including licensing for PTA, EPM, and the Application Identity Manager. But when it comes to PSM, this is one of the components where there's an additional charge for any extra PSMs that you want to deploy. I believe that there's some rider where the vendor has a bit of leeway to, at times, charge a premium on whatever additional services you may require above the board."

"The solution is cost-effective for the features."

"This solution is considered to be more expensive than others out there on the market today."

"No, I do not have any advice on the price of the product."

"It can be an expensive product."

"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."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pricing and cost advice

"It could do everything we wanted it to do and it is brilliant, but it is super pricey. To be fair to HashiCorp, we drove the price up with our requirements around resiliency. Because of the nature of our company, we don't really operate in the cloud."

"In my case, the open-source version works well. It's advisable for small to medium-scale organizations, but for large-scale organizations, you should go with the enterprise version."

"I am using the open-source version of Vault and I would have to buy a license if I want to get support."

"The product is expensive."

"The AWS version is much cheaper than HashiCorp Vault."

"The solution's cost is reasonable."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Password Managers solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

34%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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'm not involved in the pricing.

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 HashiCorp Vault?

The feature I find most beneficial in HashiCorp Vault is the secret engine. It integrates smoothly with many applications, making it easy to set up and implement quickly. This allows you to test it...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HashiCorp Vault?

If I were to set it up in AWS Secret Management, I would have to manage it, pay, and create secrets without being cloud agnostic. The advantage with Vault is that it is cloud agnostic. I can deploy...

Microsoft Entra ID vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Comparisons

Compared 9% of the time

Delinea Secret Server vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 7% of the time

WALLIX Bastion vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Bitwarden vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 4% of the time

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Competitors

AWS Secrets Manager vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 23% of the time

Bitwarden vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 21% of the time

Azure Key Vault vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 13% of the time

Keeper vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 11% of the time

BeyondTrust Password Safe vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 4% of the time

More HashiCorp Vault Competitors

Product Reports

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Download CyberArk Privileged Access Manager product report

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager report

HashiCorp Vault

Download HashiCorp Vault product report

Also Known As

CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault

No data available

Overview

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is a next-generation solution that allows users to secure both their applications and their confidential corporate information. It is extremely flexible and can be implemented across a variety of environments. This program runs with equal efficiency in a fully cloud-based, hybrid, or on-premises environment. Users can now protect their critical infrastructure and access it in any way that best meets their needs.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager possesses a simplified and unified user interface. Users are able to manage the solution from one place. The UI allows users to view and manage all of the information and controls that administrators need to be able to easily access. Very often, management UIs do not have all of the controls and information streamlined in a single location. This platform provides a level of visibility that ensures users will be able to view all of their system’s most critical information at any time that they wish.

Benefits of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Some of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s benefits include:

The ability to manage IDs and permissions across a cloud environment. In a world where being able to work remotely is becoming increasingly important, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is a very valuable tool. Administrators do not need to worry about infrastructure security when they are away from the office. They can assign and manage security credentials from anywhere in the world.
The ability to manage the program from a single centralized UI. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s UI contains all of the system controls and information. Users now have the ability to view and use all of their system’s most critical information and controls from one place.
The ability to automate user management tasks. Administrators can save valuable time by assigning certain management tasks to be fulfilled by the system itself. Users can now reserve their time for tasks that are most pressing. It can also allow for the system to simplify the management process by having the platform perform the most complex functions.

Reviews from Real Users

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s software stands out among its competitors for one very fundamental reason. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is an all-in-one solution. Users are given the ability to accomplish with a single platform what might usually only be accomplished with multiple solutions.

PeerSpot users note the truly all-in-one nature of this solution. Mateusz K., IT Manager at a financial services firm, wrote, "It improves security in our company. We have more than 10,000 accounts that we manage in CyberArk. We use these accounts for SQLs, Windows Server, and Unix. Therefore, keeping these passwords up-to-date in another solution or software would be impossible. Now, we have some sort of a platform to manage passwords, distribute the inflow, and manage IT teams as well as making regular changes to it according to the internal security policies in our bank."

Hichem T.-B., CDO & Co-Founder at ELYTIK, noted that “This is a complete solution that can detect cyber attacks well. I have found the proxy features most valuable for fast password web access.”

CyberArk

HashiCorp Vault is a cloud-agnostic solution used for security and secret management. Its valuable features include integration with other HashiCorp tools, token sharing, open source nature, cloud agnosticism, and on-the-fly encryption management.

The solution provides encryption of data at rest, in use, in transit, on the fly, and linked with applications. It is free to use, and the interface is simple to navigate. HashiCorp Vault has helped organizations with its multiple authentication methods and RESTful API.

HashiCorp Vault Features

Data encryption: The solution is capable of encrypting and decrypting data, and will not store it. Organizations’ security personnel define their own encryption protocols; developers can store the encrypted data where they choose and are not obligated to design specific encryption processes.
Robust secrets: For systems such as AWS or SQL databases, Vault is able to generate secrets automatically. HashiCorp Vault is able to generate AWS keypairs with all the appropriate permissions when necessary, and when the approved time expires, will nullify them.
Secure secret storage: Any type of value or key secrets can be stored in the Vault. The Vault automatically encrypts the desired secrets before recording them into persistent storage, keeping them safe and secure. Users can record data using HCP Vault’s Consul service or disk, or choose from other options.
Nullification: Vault is able to nullify single secrets or all secrets from a particular group or specific user. This process is integral in securing systems in the event of an attack or inappropriate access.

Reviews from Real Users

“The greatest benefit of HashiCorp is its ability to manage encryption on the fly. It provides encryption of data at rest, in use, in transit, on the fly, and linked with applications, which was really attractive. The lifecycle of a key is so easy to manage in terms of rotating, revoking, and issuing. They have different auth methods, and I tried all different auth methods. It is seamless.”- Project Manager at a comms service provider.

“The most valuable feature of HashiCorp Vault is that it's an open source solution. Second, it's cloud-agnostic, so it's very easy to maintain and control, which is why we prefer HashiCorp. “ - Mohamed A., Lead DevOps Engineer at Etisalat.

HashiCorp

Sample Customers

Rockwell Automation

Adobe, SAP Ariba, Citadel, Spaceflight, Cruise

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs. HashiCorp Vault