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

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

228

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

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.7%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HashiCorp Vault is 10.0%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Password Managers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager	7.7%
HashiCorp Vault	10.0%
Other	82.3%

Enterprise Password Managers

Featured Reviews

Atul-Gujar

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.

Read full review

Anand-Awasthi

Cloud Solutions Architect at IBM

Offers dynamic secrets and certificate management for proactive security measures

The best features in HashiCorp Vault are its dynamic certificate management and dynamic secret management, which are the key features that use data effectively. These are very targeted use cases that cut across multiple solutions. I have utilized Vault's encryption capabilities for securing data in transit and at rest, especially for dynamically consuming database encryption, which covers the requirements of various scenarios where databases do not have encryption capability. HashiCorp Vault provides security by rotating the keys and taking all the burden of securing the data from the database. These are key core features that many users employ in this solution. Vault's audit logs provide insights into access patterns and help ensure compliance. These facilities are configurable, and the logs are encrypted, ensuring that anything recorded in the logs is secure. We could use systems that comply with specific standards for audit logging and scanning, especially when working with them. The benefits from HashiCorp Vault include significant advantages in security lifecycle management itself. The value becomes apparent when security incidents occur. It has substantial value in proactively protecting from adverse situations, providing resilience and appreciation by customers in complete security lifecycle management solutions for core infrastructure applications.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"When we started with RPA, there was a requirement that every credential and the bots themselves be protected through the PAM system. From the get-go, we've had CyberArk in the middle... We've got a pretty robust RPA implementation with our PAM platform. Users, bots, the credentials — everything is managed via our PAM solution."

"We are able to rotate privileged user passwords to eliminate fraudulent use."

"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials for our organization is very important because it helps in managing the keys to the kingdom, especially the privileged access for various platforms."

"It is a single tool that isolates possible kinds of malware. You get lateral movement blocking and auditing information, e.g., you know who is doing what. You are getting protections from the service as well as a useful environment. All your admins can easily go in and out of your company while accessing your servers in a secure way, even if they are working abroad."

"The best feature of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is its core function: automatically managing and securing credentials."

"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is very powerful and customizable."

"Our go-to solution for securing against the pass the hash attack vector and auditing privileged account usage."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pros

"The interface is very simple to navigate."

"It is user-friendly and easy to implement from any application point."

"It can still be configured by a separate team other than developers. That's why I think it's more secure."

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

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

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

"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 solution that they proposed was not straightforward because of the backend processes of CyberArk."

"CyberArk could enhance its usability by simplifying its architecture and design."

"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."

"Some aspects of the administration need improvement, though they have recently made improvements to the API. However, the management with the interface and configuration are not so user-friendly. It has not changed much during all the years that CyberArk has been on the market. The management part, like platform management as well as PSM connectors definition and management, could be improved, even if it has already been done with the API."

"There is room for improvement, particularly with Vendor PAM."

"The initial setup of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager difficulty depends on the environment that you are implementing it into. However, it typically is simple."

"The issue of technical support is crucial, as there are not many specialized partners available in Brazil to provide this service. While English language support is of good quality, there is a significant shortage of partners capable of meeting the demand locally."

"The session monitoring and recording feature is also a good feature feature, but we're currently experiencing an issue with session monitoring not working correctly. We're working with CyberArk to resolve it. We aren't able to view active sessions or historical recordings of sessions."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager cons

"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."

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

"An improvement needed is the ability for auto-initialization."

"HashiCorp Vault can be improved from the security perspective, as it focuses on security lifecycle management. It requires other solutions for monitoring as users need to rely on tools that constantly monitor the system, especially database activity."

"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."

"A drawback for some clients who have to be PCI compliant is that they still need to use and subscribe to an HSM (Hardware Security Module) solution."

"In my opinion, HashiCorp Vault could improve its user interface. Right now, they don't offer much in terms of a graphical interface, which means you usually have to manage things manually through API calls. I think CyberArk has a better approach because it provides a UI that integrates features across all its components, making it easier, especially for new users or those from organizations with strict licensing policies."

More HashiCorp Vault cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Overall, its pricing is really good. The main difference from all the other vendors is that they have one package that covers all the functionality and modules of the basic PAM, except the add-on modules like adware and server protection. It also doesn't include the licenses for domain controller protection or maybe an API call-related feature. For the basic privileged access management, the bundle pricing is really good, but when it comes to an agent-based solution for advanced cyber protection or application identity managers, it is expensive. Services are also very expensive if you hire the services team from CyberArk, but these guys are really good. For a couple of large banking projects, we had an experience with them. The banks wanted to have things quickly and efficiently, so we had to hire them. If we take four weeks, these guys can do everything on a weekend. They charge quite a big sum of money, but they know the system well."

"I would rate CyberArk's pricing a nine out of ten, with one being cheap and ten being expensive. It's one of the most expensive solutions in the market, but it's worth it."

"I would rate the cost of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager seven out of ten with ten being the most expensive."

"CyberArk is very expensive and there are additional fees for add-ons."

"From a client perspective, CyberArk's pricing is fair but there is a significant increase each year. They should limit the price increase because this could potentially drive customers to other partners. Price changes should be at defined intervals. There should not be sudden jumps."

"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."

"The solution is costly but we get what we pay for."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"I am using the open-source version of Vault and I would have to buy a license if I want to get support."

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

"The solution's cost is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	41
Large Enterprise	171

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

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?

Regarding costs, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is not a cheap product; hence, many companies struggle with its high licensing cost. While it's valuable, it comes with a high price tag, making ...

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

Comparisons

Compared 7% of the time

WALLIX Bastion vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Delinea Secret Server vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 5% of the time

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

Compared 5% of the time

Keeper Enterprise Password Manager vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More CyberArk Privileged Access Manager Competitors

Bitwarden vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 28% of the time

Keeper Enterprise Password Manager vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 11% of the time

AWS Secrets Manager vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 10% of the time

Delinea Secret Server vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Key Vault vs HashiCorp Vault

Compared 7% of the time

More HashiCorp Vault Competitors

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