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ForgeRock vs Symantec Identity Governance and Administration comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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

ForgeRock
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (14th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (7th)
Symantec Identity Governanc...
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
25th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of ForgeRock is 3.8%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Identity Governance and Administration is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ForgeRock3.8%
Symantec Identity Governance and Administration1.7%
Other94.5%
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmet Murat Ülker - PeerSpot reviewer
Devops Engineer and Trainer at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Easy to use, but customizations can be complicated to handle
I would suggest others use the product after asking them to consider their use cases. SSO may be a use case for some, and using the product as an IDM tool may be a use case. At the moment, my company is not deploying all the components of ForgeRock itself. My company uses ForgeRock for OAuth 2.0. For example, my company is not deploying the IDM and identity gateway components. You should consider your use case and select the required components for that use case. My company does not use the SSO features of the tool. My company uses SSO to access ForgeRock's AM Console for individual users. My company does not use single sign on features of the product and instead, we use Auth0. I rate the tool a seven or eight out of ten.
reviewer2183661 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Has an easy initial setup process, but its technical support services need improvement
The product's technical support could be better. The integration project requires a lot of technical details, so we need to find it quickly and easily. There was a large community of knowledge in the past. We kept it together and got the results. The community that works around the particular technical issue is shrinking. It used to be a specialized community that would help with the process. These particular areas need improvement. Broadcom is still using a hybrid cloud model, with some workloads on-premises and some in the cloud. They must start with the cloud adoption and move as many workloads to the cloud as possible. The on-premises environment is becoming stable. They need to rebuild that cost and the software. The product's pre-sales, technical support, and installation could also improve.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to use in a development environment."
"Installation and configuration are pretty easy for ForgeRock OpenIDM."
"The product is easy to set up."
"Easy to navigate, handle and manage the applications."
"ForgeRock is an extensive product with many functionalities and capabilities, much more than many other tools combined."
"We have found the identity and access management tools in the solution to be particularly useful for our organization."
"The solution integrates well and it is important for them to keep up with the current trends in the market quickly enough, and they have been doing a good job at it."
"ForgeRock products are customizable, and the out-of-the-box features are solid, too. I primarily use the OIDC compliance features. It's just a configuration. it's easy to set up and customize trees. We can add our own features if necessary. Banks and corporations have different standards and specific validations."
"The product is relatively easier to use than other identity management products."
"The solution is easy to scale."
"Connector Xpress and Policy Xpress and the new interface."
"Governance."
"The most valuable features are role-based access and identity provisioning, which allow a single point of user access to multiple places."
"What I found most valuable in Symantec Identity Governance and Administration is its simple GUI. It's also easy to deploy compared to other products. With other products, you have to install the Windows version inside the Windows machine on all units, but with Symantec Identity Governance and Administration, it can work offline, so the solution is a little bit easier than other systems."
"Provisioning engine (on the back-end, separate from front-end components, that's part of layered architecture)."
"It's a very useful tool that has improved our client's security, from day one."
 

Cons

"Automatic Deployment needs improvement. it could be made easier."
"We raised tickets asking for improvements, but sometimes we don't get the proper solution. They are responding, but the ticket is open for weeks and weeks. For some issues, we don't get a satisfactory solution or the solution doesn't work."
"It should have a better user interface. Its flexibility should also be improved. It is not about simplifying; it is more about flexibility. Each company has its own requirements, and ForgeRock can provide more flexibility in terms of the use of existing modules to implement features for the customers."
"We're worried about the scaling. We're told it will be okay and there won't be issues, however, I'm not 100% convinced."
"The product's customization is a bit complicated."
"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by limiting the need to do customizations."
"As with any complex software platform, there is a learning curve to using ForgeRock, and it may require specialized expertise to implement and manage effectively."
"The solution requires more simplified customization. However, part of the problem is my clients determining their own preferences. Technology can help and do many things, but you have to define your own policies to ensure that the solution or service works within those parameters. Helping customers understand their business and different processes is another issue not relating to the functionality of this solution."
"Integration capabilities with other solutions and formats, including JSON, could be improved."
"They provide a framework to develop your own connectors. A connector is a piece of software that integrates with the solutions that are not a part of the support matrix. Currently, it is difficult to create these connectors in this solution. Other solutions, such as NetIQ Identity, provide a better way to create your own connector. Currently, there is no cloud version. It should have a cloud version."
"The product works slowly while accessing cloud-native solutions."
"Identity Manager has a lack of entitlement support, unlike other products that I have worked with."
"Provisioning has a dependency on Windows.​"
"The product has a lot of need for improvement. Our issues are being raised back to the vendor as enhancements."
"They should easier and better integration with other software."
"There are times that it takes too long to generate reports and to run the assessment tools to collect the information."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"The product has a good price in competition with another product with the same solution."
"The price is based on the number of users."
"Pricing and licensing models are adequate and reasonable."
"Symantec keeps increasing the price. I rate its pricing a seven on a scale of ten."
"Compared to other options, CA products are not that expensive."
"I do not recall the approximate prices or licensing models, although I do so that it was priced per user number."
"The price is flexible for our existing customers."
"The connector is free, and bundled with the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Performing Arts
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise45
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ForgeRock?
The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
Our company was considering switching back to Keycloak from ForgeRock, so as to not pay any license fees. ForgeRock also supports M-PIN and biometric features that Keycloak does not provide. My com...
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
In the past, I saw that Splunk was integrated with a testing portal, and then it was integrated with Slack. I don't think ForgeRock directly supports integrations with Slack, making it an area wher...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
The pricing has been very reasonable, but licensing costs vary based on the customer. It follows a user-based licensing model.
What needs improvement with Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
Symantec should develop a SaaS solution for cloud environments to make the solution available in various marketplaces for easy deployment. It should also offer bundle installation instead of one by...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Identity Governance and Administration?
I am a consultant and we consult for identity and network management. We work with Symantec, which is owned by Broadcom, and also with Microsoft and Oracle. Additionally, we work with open-source s...
 

Also Known As

ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
CA Identity Suite, Symantec IGA, Layer7 Identity Suite, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Minder, CA IAM, CA Identity Manager (CA IDM), CA Identity Governance
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
Acciona, Core Blox, DBS
Find out what your peers are saying about ForgeRock vs. Symantec Identity Governance and Administration and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.