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ARCON Privileged Access Management 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

ARCON Privileged Access Man...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of ARCON Privileged Access Management is 2.5%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.6%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ARCON Privileged Access Management2.5%
Symantec Privileged Access Manager1.6%
Other95.9%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

DS
System and DBA at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhanced security through session monitoring and activity recording
From an end-user point of view, it would be beneficial if the system could provide information about the last login. This would help identify if the server was accessed by me or if someone has potentially stolen my credentials. It would provide a clearer picture of whether ARCON Privileged Access Management is accessed by an authentic user.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Secure management of sensitive servers and seamless applications with direct linking
The credential injection feature is highly valued, particularly for RDP sessions. A majority of customers use it for RDP, and a couple for Linux servers. The broader capabilities, including access to multiple systems, web-based applications, and clustering, have never posed an issue. The threat analytics aspect is also a robust feature that analyzes all pertinent information.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Session recording is the most valuable feature, as it covers compliance and it also covers our in-house applications."
"Video and audio logs are there for any activities that the privileged admin carries out."
"The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not complex at all."
"One of the main benefits we've experienced is that Arcon helps us manage all our team's tasks and provides recording capabilities."
"The entire conversation that is happening between the servers and the client is recorded. It is a good feature if you want to do some analysis, and for investigation."
"The product's deployment phase was easy."
"It has really helped us a lot."
"The most valuable feature is it is easy to use and the interface is intuitive."
"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."
"This application is very easy, fast, and trustworthy!"
"It gives you list of servers, so you can see which users have access to which servers. This is really useful, so we can make sure nobody is getting extra access than what is needed."
"You can do A2A integration. You can have your own script, which can then run outside of PA to retrieve the password and perform other tasks."
"We can check the activities in the server for fragile files and documents in case of any issues."
"We can enforce complicated password policies and very important frequent password changes."
"The CA PAM product can help companies or organizations who are looking for Privilege Access Management, and CA PAM is an industry leader; a powerful, easy to use solution."
"It is great for identity governance."
 

Cons

"We expect improvement in the dashboards to provide visibility of password compliance status, whenever a password is opened from the vault."
"They need to support all web browsers. At the moment it only supports Explorer, IE."
"It should support the SQL Always On platform with FQDN name instead of IP, so where all the databases are managed centrally."
"The auto-password change feature which was recently added is supposed to change the password, however, in some cases, while changing the password, it has caused me to lose connection due to network-related issues or something similar."
"The adaptability to move quickly towards a new environment is lacking and they are deficient in having integration with other OEMs."
"They they should focus on support. The support needs to be very strong. Since the product is becoming stronger, their support team also should be equally strong. They should respond to open queries within the time limit they have set. Their support team should be more technical, to understand the issue or the set up."
"I would like for it to be dependent on Windows as opposed to Linux."
"Hazard flow could be improved, the data compliance portion."
"I would like to see improvements in branding customization and multi-tenancy."
"We have to do a lot of manual work to automate features."
"I wish it could create local accounts on desktops."
"There is already a feature for that. It is not too great to use."
"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."
"They need to have zero tier and active-active setup ​with zero minimum downtime, which they are working on it. ​"
"I’m no fan of Java as an application front-end, as it tends to have issues depending on what browser one’s using."
"The cons are that you are rarely (if ever) able to talk to a technician when calling support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not in a position to give any financials, but whatever we have paid, it is value for money. Their licensing model is good. They have been flexible for us."
"Pricing is low and licensing is flexible."
"Their licensing model is very simple, as it is based on the number of endpoints which you want to manage along with the number of users and administrators which you want to use."
"Pricing and licensing are good, very aggressive."
"I definitely feel the product's pricing is a good value. It is one of the best products we have. The licensing is server-based."
"The cost of this product is very cheap, comparatively in the global market."
"Product pricing is based on users and connections. We did not have to pay more for additional features."
"They do have some licenses, which are required for things like Linux servers. However, in my environment, we do not have Linux servers."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
"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 prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
"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."
"It is reasonably priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ARCON Privileged Access Management?
From an end-user point of view, it would be beneficial if the system could provide information about the last login. This would help identify if the server was accessed by me or if someone has pote...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Due to the nature of the solution, it is hard to gauge, but compared to competitors, the pricing is very good. I would rate it as an eight and a half out of ten.
What needs improvement with Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Recent releases need improvement in webpage management. For instance, navigating through a webpage that acts like a wizard, where I proceed to the next page and enter more information, is not handl...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
With the customers that I have so far, I help them broker RDP sessions to sensitive servers, particularly those that manage aspects like physical access. I have also done it for backend databases, ...
 

Also Known As

ARCON ARCOS, ARCON PAM
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

RAK Bank, AXIS Bank, Reliance Capital, Kotak Life Insurance, MTS
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about ARCON Privileged Access Management vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.