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AWS CloudTrail vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 3, 2025

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

AWS CloudTrail
Ranking in User Activity Monitoring
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in User Activity Monitoring
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
229
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Password Managers (2nd), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Mainframe Security (2nd), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the User Activity Monitoring category, the mindshare of AWS CloudTrail is 7.1%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 11.1%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
User Activity Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager11.1%
AWS CloudTrail7.1%
Other81.8%
User Activity Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

CR
Principal Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive log management streamlines workflow and enhances monitoring capabilities
For monitoring, we use Dynatrace. Dynatrace is connected with AWS CloudTrail, so AWS CloudTrail sends the notifications via SNS to Dynatrace. We get notifications, and Dynatrace will send notifications. AWS CloudTrail is a log function that will store all logs easily for whatever services we are using on Amazon. All logs will be stored in AWS CloudTrail for 15 years, as we have the service purchased for that duration. The logs will be stored in AWS CloudTrail via S3 bucket. In AWS CloudTrail, we have enabled CPU, disk, and RAM monitoring. These are three services we are monitoring from AWS CloudTrail. AWS CloudTrail will monitor and produce graphs. We have separate L1 teams for monitoring; they will monitor and share the information. Also, Dynatrace will receive the information, and if any service goes beyond the threshold limit, AWS CloudTrail will create an alert. CloudTrail and CloudWatch are sister services. Both should be preconfigured internally. We only watch the dashboards because we can't go and watch each service; there are multiple servers running and multiple services configured, so we watch only the dashboard graphs. If any graph goes beyond the normal limit, we take action. We watch the graph. If any of the graphs show abnormal activity, then immediately we dig into AWS CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail. We check the reason by verifying the logs. The graph will show you the time period, so we go into AWS CloudWatch, filter the logs for that particular time period, and from there, we identify the cause of the issue, and then we troubleshoot. API is a main element that allows us to connect AWS CloudWatch to AWS CloudTrail and AWS CloudTrail to Dynatrace. That connection is done via API. By API, everything is integrated. The integration part is managed by the API, transferring information from one service to another. We are not working on the API; the configuration team, the cloud operations team, they take care of it.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I found most valuable in AWS CloudTrail is that it provides a good context of what's happening in the environment, so it's an excellent way to baseline what's occurring. I also like that AWS CloudTrail helps with audits."
"The solution is good as a central logging platform for showing all cloud events."
"The product’s most valuable feature is monitoring. It helps us audit the changes in AWS account at the application and resource level."
"AWS CloudTrail features a totally cloud-based deployment."
"AWS CloudTrail is very reasonably priced and I definitely recommend AWS CloudTrail to those who are planning or considering using it; it is a must-have service in the AWS environment, and it should be used."
"AWS CloudTrail provides significant efficiency gains as it allows thorough monitoring of the environment, contributing substantially to security improvements."
"From a scalability point of view, the tool has no issue, and it is completely fine."
"One of the most valuable features of AWS CloudTrail is its ability to track and monitor API calls detailedly."
"We are maintaining compliance in PCI, SOX and HIPPA, which is a big thing. Auditors really like it, and it has made us stay compliant."
"The best thing about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is that they keep on upgrading it. They continually conduct research and development from their end, and we get immediate support from CyberArk whenever OEM support is required for any task."
"There are no issues with scalability. Our clients are very happy to use the product."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is the best solution for safeguarding sensitive patient data in healthcare, providing visibility and traceability that enhance compliance."
"The session recording and monitoring capabilities are valuable. We have real-time session management ability to record, audit, and monitor any privileged user activities. That is a big deal."
"AIM has been a great help in automating password retrieval which removes the need for hard-coded credentials."
"CyberArk makes our environment more secure and prevents possible attacks by compromised accounts."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very powerful and customizable."
 

Cons

"AWS CloudTrail can sometimes generate too much information, which might lead to a lot of unnecessary data, particularly false positives."
"AWS CloudTrail could benefit from more comprehensive documentation and broader service integration."
"Maybe if we could do direct queries on CloudTrail without needing to export it to Athena, that'd be great."
"The platform’s reporting log sheet feature could be more user-friendly."
"More controls should be introduced in CloudTrail, especially to see the logs in CloudTrail itself without saving them in S3, as S3 starts to incur charges."
"AWS CloudTrail should be redesigned to capture non-API calls. It would be more effective to have one tool that can perform multiple tasks instead of relying on multiple services for non-API activities."
"Filtering multiple values within the console is a feature that has yet to exist in AWS CloudTrail. You can look up a user identity, service, or action, but you can't search for multiple dimensions."
"The solution should incorporate visibility for CloudWatch events."
"The current user interface is a little dated. However, I hear there are changes coming in the next version."
"This product needs professional consulting services to onboard accounts effectively based user profiles."
"Pricing is a problem. CyberArk is expensive compared to other products I know."
"As they grow, the technical support is having growing pains. One of the things is just being able to get somebody on the phone sometimes."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager could improve the integration docking, it should have more layers. For example, integration with OpenShift."
"I don't know if "failed authentication" is a glitch or if that was an update... However, since we are the CyberArk support within our organization, we need to know that the password is suspended and we won't know that unless we have the ITA log up. So when a user calls and says, "Hey, I'm locked out of CyberArk, I can't get into CyberArk," we have to go through all of these other troubleshooting steps because the first thing we don't think of right now is, "The account is suspended." It doesn't say that anymore."
"The only problem involves granting access to people who are authorized to view it."
"The product is very vaulting-focused. I'd love to see it expanding its capabilities a bit further into areas like just-in-time elevation, and access with non-vaulted credentials."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AWS CloudTrail is free."
"AWS CloudTrail is a cheap solution."
"CloudTrail itself is free of cost."
"It is a very cheap service because management is a SaaS offering from AWS."
"AWS CloudTrail is pretty affordable, and I have to double-check, but the service is free to use. I can add logs on the console, but if I want to store logs long-term, then I have to pay a storage fee, but it's relatively inexpensive."
"The solution is free if you don't need customizations but is not expensive otherwise."
"I believe that this solution is priced well. It's the market leader and I think that it's the best solution."
"I hope to learn how the pricing works so that I can understand it better, but I am certain it is not inexpensive."
"The solution is cost-effective for the features."
"There are no additional costs other than the standard licensing fees."
"CyberArk DNA is free if you purchase the CyberArk solution. There is no additional charge for CyberArk DNA, which is great."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is more expensive than its competitors, such as BeyondTrust, Delinea, and ManageEngine PAM360."
"Pricing is a problem. CyberArk is expensive compared to other products I know. It is similar to buying a German car. It comes with all the bells and whistles, but some companies may find it too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise173
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS CloudTrail?
In one specific scenario, we encountered a situation where a terminated employee still had access to our environment without our knowledge. With AWS CloudTrail, we could track and monitor the emplo...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CloudTrail?
AWS CloudTrail is categorized into management events, data events, and CloudTrail Insights. For one hundred thousand events, management costs are approximately two dollars, data events ten cents, a...
What needs improvement with AWS CloudTrail?
I do not think there could be improvements in AWS CloudTrail because I am too small to suggest anything. It is already a well-established service from AWS, and I have only been using it for the las...
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...
 

Also Known As

CloudTrail
CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HTC, British Gas, Solinor, 2C2P
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS CloudTrail vs. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.