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

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager 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
6.9
Number of Reviews
203
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Enterprise Password Managers (3rd), Mainframe Security (2nd), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 20.5%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.6%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Krishnan Srinivasan - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances credential management and relatively inexpensive but needs feature improvements
I work for a service provider company, and we implement Symantec Privileged Access Manager solutions for our clients, which include various banking and mining clients We have implemented both the remote access and credential management features. The agent-based credential management solution…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can gradually implement CyberArk, starting with more easily attainable goals."
"DVR like video recording and text-based recording for easier audits."
"On the EBB user side, we were able to secure all the server root passwords and admin for Windows. This was a big win for us."
"CPM helps keep the password policy up to date."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"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."
"I haven't really thought about anything that I want to use it for, that I couldn't use it for."
"One of the best features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the capability of Privileged Session Manager (PSM) because it provides visibility into user activities, audit ability, and traceability."
"The product is very scalable in terms of concurrent sessions that it can handle at a time, number of device it can support, accounts that it can manage, or number of nodes that you can deploy in a cluster."
"Symantec PAM is easier to deploy compared to its competitors, such as BeyondTrust."
"It is simple to implement and is suitable for medium to large-scale enterprises."
"The two factor authentication, and the single most important capability was it supported PIV and CAC as one of the two factors. That was pretty huge for us."
"Whoever built it from the ground up, they understand how an organization is laid out."
"We found that the architecture is scalable and very resilient."
"The DB clustering is a really good benefit of using CA PAM."
"It will provide us with more security."
 

Cons

"The tool’s pricing and scalability can be better."
"The initial setup could be simplified. Right now, in comparison to its nearest competitors, it's quite complex."
"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."
"The initial setup could be simpler but it may not be as effective."
"Over the past seven years, I have seen a lot of ups and downs with the product."
"I would like to see is the policy export and import. When we expend, we do not want to just hand do a policy."
"CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault can improve the distributive vault feature. Distributing the vault in multiple areas and multiple data centers should improve."
"The interface on version 9 looks old."
"An improvement for this solution is that it should not be constantly based on user name and password. There should be a condition to edit and update your username."
"I’m no fan of Java as an application front-end, as it tends to have issues depending on what browser one’s using."
"Technical support was good when CA handled it. After Broadcom took over, it's not as good."
"The response time for support could be faster. Some features should be added: cloud-based, VPN-less, more secure, and it should be adjusted in a hybrid environment."
"It'd be great if you just stuck in your PIV card and Windows popped up, asked you for your password. You typed it in, then it remembered your credentials."
"We have to do a lot of manual work to automate features."
"Instead of just giving passwords to the user based on job function, from auditing perspective, turn that cycle around. That would really help from an auditing standpoint."
"The support for other remote assistance tools would be excellent. Free included tools in Windows (Remote Assist) and Microsoft SCCM Configuration Manager (ConMgr Remote Control) allow companies to reduce the amount of RDP connections and expand the usage of the tools are frequently used by companies to provide technical support for remote assistance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CyberArk is very expensive and there are additional fees for add-ons."
"The product's licensing is yearly. I would rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"The license CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on an annual basis."
"If you are looking at implementing this solution, buy the training and go to it."
"The cost is high compared to other products."
"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."
"The price of this solution is expensive."
"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."
"Don’t go with an agent model. Don’t go with a model that has you buying a thousand different parts. Go with PAM that gives you everything, or you’ll just be paying costs of implementing another tool that PAM would have just given you up front."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"The version we are using is affordable compared to BeyondTrust, which is maybe three to four times as expensive, but it depends on the features."
"They offer per-device, per-user, or monthly and yearly licensing models."
"Appliances are relatively cheap, don’t skimp. Make sure you have redundancy, high availability, and enough appliances to manage the concurrent workload."
"It is reasonably priced."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions are best for your needs.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
33%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Government
11%
 

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?
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is more expensive than its competitors, such as BeyondTrust, Delinea, and ManageEngine PAM360. While ManageEngine PAM360 offers similar flexibility and support at...
What do you like most about Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
We can check the activities in the server for fragile files and documents in case of any issues.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Symantec Privileged Access Manager is potentially cheaper than other solutions. I am not involved in the business side, so I do not have specific cost details.
What needs improvement with Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Comparing Symantec Privileged Access Manager with market leaders like CyberArk and Delinea, CyberArk is the market leader. Delinea is better than Symantec Privileged Access Manager in terms of secu...
 

Also Known As

CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rockwell Automation
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.