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CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs IBM Security Secret Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 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

CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
230
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Enterprise Password Managers (3rd), Mainframe Security (1st), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
IBM Security Secret Server
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
22nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 10.4%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Secret Server is 1.3%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager10.4%
IBM Security Secret Server1.3%
Other88.3%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Atul-Gujar - PeerSpot reviewer
CyberArk manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Secures critical infrastructures with essential user session audit records
A potential area for improvement is enhancing support for cluster environments and distributed Vaults. Clients in multiple countries that need central access have different challenges that require better solutions from CyberArk. For financial services, CyberArk can improve incident response by ensuring fast support for critical priority tickets to meet compliance requirements. Providing more documentation on CyberArk is recommended for new team members to enhance their troubleshooting capabilities. I understand it's up to the client, but 99% fail to change the demo key, so it's crucial for CyberArk to emphasize changing the key and documenting it as part of the installation process.
AsifIqbal - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Security Officer at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Privileged access monitoring has strengthened identity control and improved security posture
I find the monitoring and recording parts of IBM Security Secret Server to be the most valuable features. Password vaulting is somewhat typical, but I rate monitoring and recording as very good features, along with ease of deployment. The reporting tools in IBM Security Secret Server have helped me identify vulnerabilities. From the monitoring part, you can somewhat cover the identity vulnerability aspect. However, for identity vulnerability, I think the best approach is to use IAM rather than PAM. It is easy to integrate IBM Security Secret Server with cybersecurity frameworks, which is a very important aspect. When we are improving our attack surface, identity is the most important thing that we need to cover, and PAM will play a very crucial role in improving our cybersecurity framework and architecture. The main benefits that IBM Security Secret Server provides for me include complete control over the privileged identities, which are the main sources that can have the privilege to make numerous changes on the system. If we protect these identities through PAM and provide elevation on their accounts when required, then we can improve our security posture and infrastructure security.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"CyberArk has the most extensive hardening and encryption techniques I have seen in a product, with equal intentions."
"We are able to centrally manage credentials, touch applications, and rotate passwords."
"This is a stable, reasonably priced product, and it has good security features as well."
"It enables us to secure accounts and make sure they are compliant."
"The PSM is excellent and the ability to write your own connectors and plugins is invaluable as far as flexibility goes."
"The most valuable feature is privileged session management."
"It takes people out of the machine work of ensuring credentials remain up-to-date, and handles connection brokering such that human usage and credential management remain independent."
"From my experience, the kind of work I have done with this solution, it's absolutely amazing."
"As a PAM solution, Secret Server performs all the use cases in our environment."
"Stability-wise, I think it is a very good solution."
"It is one of the most well-known names in this field."
"One of the most valuable features is scalability, and how it allows you to scale it without affecting the underlying core components."
"Access to privileged, shared credentials is simplified by optimizing the whole workflow and approval processes."
"Centralized Password Management: Our client has more than 400 geographical locations and approximately ten employees work at each location."
"The live recording is a very useful feature."
"The main benefits that IBM Security Secret Server provides for me include complete control over the privileged identities, which are the main sources that can have the privilege to make numerous changes on the system, and if we protect these identities through PAM and provide elevation on their accounts when required, then we can improve our security posture and infrastructure security."
 

Cons

"The lead product has a slow process. There are some reports and requirements from CyberArk which are not readily available as an applicable solution. We have made consistent management requests in the logs."
"Some of the additional features that we are looking at are in the Conjur product. I am specifically discussing key management, API Keys, and things for connecting applications in the CI/CD pipelines."
"The license is expensive."
"The solution needs better features for end users to manage their own whitelisting for API retrieval."
"As of now, it does not manage all of the IDM practices. It is only good as a PAM solution."
"There is a lot of complexity if we are installing the solution on-premises."
"The documentation is rather basic and it is missing many use cases."
"The only problem involves granting access to people who are authorized to view it."
"I mention that password vaulting and password rotation in IBM Security Secret Server are basically the same thing, and it becomes somewhat complex when integrating a different system with them because it requires API development."
"It would be preferable if the full proxy was included in the IBM Security Secret Server."
"The newer interface is more difficult to use than the previous one, and consequently, new users might need more training."
"The newer interface is maybe confusing old customer that using previous one from their point of views, I think they will need little pass of time to be familiar with."
"The nonclustered index is working in an area with a problem that needs improvement."
"What needs improvement in IBM Security Secret Server is support. The local partner provides good support, but IBM itself doesn't. Most of the time, the IBM support team does not aggressively resolve issues reported through chat or the IBM website."
"If you have a hosted PIM in your local environment and you plan to migrate it to some cloud-based environment, then migration will become a painful task."
"Although much has improved in last two years, the GUI for IBM products can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s pricing is feasible for enterprise customers. The pricing is expensive for smaller businesses. You need to pay additional costs for service implementation and local support."
"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'm a technician so I don't handle the licensing for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, but I know that the price for the core license is about €140 per year. There's another type of license, the external vendor license, and that's about €600 and you can manage twenty devices. From what I know, the price for one device in a subscription is about €65 per year. You can buy the CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager too, or you can buy some other application or application license with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, but all other features, such as the Analytics Server is included in the basic CyberArk license. With WALLIX, you need to buy separate licenses for the features."
"This solution is expensive."
"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."
"I haven't seen the numbers. I know it is not cheap, but I don't know what it is. I would rate it a six out of ten in terms of pricing. It is definitely more expensive than the other product, but it also provides more functionality, and it is modular too. So, we pay for the functionality we're actually going to use, and that's nice."
"If you are looking at implementing this solution, buy the training and go to it."
"It can be an expensive product."
"The price could be better. I think it's a good price for the on-premises environment and the high availability for enterprises the solution provides."
"My rating for the IBM Security Secret Server pricing is seven out of ten. It could be cheaper."
"I believe that we paid 35,000 or 40,000 US dollars for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Insurance Company
20%
Construction Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise174
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

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?
My thoughts on the pricing of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depend entirely on the vendors' requirements. If they want their things to be secure, they have to spend accordingly. We have four t...
What needs improvement with IBM Security Secret Server?
I believe there is not much that can be improved for IBM Security Secret Server. Providing local support and local vendor availability would be beneficial so we are not dependent on international s...
What is your primary use case for IBM Security Secret Server?
IBM Security Secret Server serves multiple use cases for us, including the monitoring of privileged users, as well as the recording and password vaulting of their accounts, passwords, and need-base...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Security Secret Server?
I mention that password vaulting and password rotation in IBM Security Secret Server are basically the same thing, and it becomes somewhat complex when integrating a different system with them beca...
 

Also Known As

CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
IBM Secret Server, Secret Server, IBM Security Privileged Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rockwell Automation
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs. IBM Security Secret Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
892,776 professionals have used our research since 2012.