CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs HashiCorp Vault comparison

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs. HashiCorp Vault

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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

220

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.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a leading solution and one of the best SaaS solutions in the market."

"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials is very important."

"Super stable and easy to scale"

"It's a highly flexible solution that can adapt to each customer's needs."

"The product is for hardening access and making the organization more secure, therefore reducing chances of a breach."

"CyberArk Privileged Access Management's most valuable features are primarily its password vault functionality, specifically CyberArk's Core Privileged Manager and Privileged Session Manager."

"Their legacy of more than 20 years is very valuable. It brings a lot of stability to the product and a wide variety of integration with the ecosystem. Because of these factors, it has also been very successful in deployment. So, the legacy and integration with other technologies make the PAM platform very stable and strong. In terms of features, most of the other vendors are still focusing just on the privileged access management or session recording, but CyberArk has incorporated artificial intelligence to make PAM a more proactive system. They have implemented threat analytics into this, and there is also a lot of focus on domain controller production, Windows Server protection, and stuff like that. They have also further advanced it with the security on the cloud and DevOps systems. They have a bundle licensing model, which really helps. They don't have a complex licensing model. Even though in our market, people say CyberArk is expensive as compared to some of the other products, but in terms of overall value and as a bundling solution, it is an affordable and highly scalable product."

"We have the identity provider for all the authentication processes. However, sometimes, we need access to different applications for customers or clients that are not integrated into the identity provider. For these, we need to store a password to gain access. For example, we use the CyberArk Password Vault for third-party services. This vault needs to be shared with many people in our company."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pros

"This solution is easy to use and to integrate."

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

"The tool's dynamic rotation of the password credentials is good."

"For me, the most valuable features include that it's easy to manage and maintain the password API for retrieving passwords and other things."

"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 most valuable feature of HashiCorp Vault is the management of tickets in the pipeline."

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

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

More HashiCorp Vault pros

Cons

"The reporting should be improved. There should be more customization."

"It's a big program. To scale excessively, locally, on an on-prem application, takes a lot of servers."

"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."

"There was a functionality of the solution that was missing. I had noticed it in Beyond Trust, but not in this solution. But, recently they have incorporated something similar."

"The major pain point that we have is the capacity of CyberArk due to the sheer volume of NPAs that we are managing. We are a large organization and we have hundreds of thousands of non-personal accounts to manage. We have already found out that there are certain capacity limitations within CyberArk that might introduce performance issues. From my perspective, something that would be valuable would be if the vault could hold more passwords and be more scalable."

"Overall what I would really love to see is the third-party PAS reporter tool pulled more into the overall solution, ideally as its own deployable component service installation package."

"Our DevOps team is looking in the direction of cloud, because we are not in it today. We are hoping to build it with Conjur from the ground up."

"Transitioning from a traditional on-premises deployment to the privileged cloud has resulted in losing access to many logs and administrative tools typically available on the back end."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager cons

"It would be helpful to have more advanced features."

"We could use more documentation, primarily to do with integrations."

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

"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."

"The solution could be much easier to implement."

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

"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."

"I would rate the stability a six out of ten. There are some bugs and glitches. We are in touch with the vendor to resolve them."

More HashiCorp Vault cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Before we bought it, they were licensing each function individually, which got complicated and very expensive. When we decided to buy it, it was much more straightforward and still quite expensive, but it brings a lot of value and risk reduction to the organization."

"If you are looking at implementing this solution, buy the training and go to it."

"I believe that this solution is priced well. It's the market leader and I think that it's the best solution."

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

"This solution is expensive."

"In comparison to other products on the market, CyberArk is a more costly product."

"CyberArk is one of the best PAM solutions and one of the most expensive, but it works better than the others, so the pricing is fair."

"The pricing for CyberArk is on the higher side compared to other Privileged Access Management products. Something should be done regarding enterprise licensing for long-standing customers."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

"The solution's cost is reasonable."

"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."

"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."

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849,335 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

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

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Bitwarden vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 4% of the time

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AWS Secrets Manager vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 22% 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

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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