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MetricStream vs RSA Archer 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

MetricStream
Ranking in GRC
9th
Ranking in IT Governance
4th
Ranking in IT Vendor Risk Management
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Controls Monitoring (10th)
RSA Archer
Ranking in GRC
1st
Ranking in IT Governance
1st
Ranking in IT Vendor Risk Management
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the GRC category, the mindshare of MetricStream is 4.6%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Archer is 12.8%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
GRC Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
RSA Archer12.8%
MetricStream4.6%
Other82.6%
GRC
 

Featured Reviews

AP
Reasonably priced, stable, with out of the box deployment, and has good local support
They have now reworked it. The interface is mobile-friendly and it is getting a good response from our customers. It's a very good feature that the product offers. It is also available as a cloud option, which is getting a lot of interest from customers who are looking into the GRCC. It is very useful, especially in the solution platform. It has good features and good functionality, and our customers feel there is a lot of merit in that. I think that the portal is constantly improving. They do their own enhancements very often. They keep doing those enhancements from their site itself.
IMRAN ALMARZOOQI - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates compliance management effectively but needs improved interface and dashboards
The tool basically automates whatever processes you already have, so I cannot specify improvements in that regard. However, my main issue with Archer is the graphics. The graphics have always been lacking. I always need to depend on another tool to read information from Archer to have better dashboards. It is like using Linux, and it has a Linux mindset and interface. I want to use Archer for top management and CEOs, but it looks too technical, and the dashboards are not really friendly. They are bulky, like opening an old Nintendo system from nineteen-ninety. The management agrees that Archer lacks in terms of presentation and dashboarding. It is complex, not user-friendly, and bulky. The interface just looks old.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The interface is mobile-friendly and it is getting a good response from our customers."
"Key features are usability and ease of configuration. It allows us to have all the information in a single place and provide real-time indicators and information for our executives."
"RSA is a very rich application. I like its adaptive suggestion, where based on your users and the class of data, it can actually recommend you the proper control to choose. For example, we have been using PCI DSS as an NIST. So based on application feedback, it will provide you with a suggestion on which control objective needs to be set. Based on that, you can make a decision—you don't need to take the suggestion, but you can customize that particular provided suggestion. RSA Archer's workflow is also good, in terms of process automation."
"Even non-technical people can be masters of the product."
"Flexible record permissions and data import features."
"Enables development of any application, automation of any workflow including the GRC work processes."
"The integrated data model of a one-to-many/many-to-one relationship is quite useful."
"From my perspective as a customer and end user, RSA is about the look and feel."
"With RSA Archer, an admin can set permissions for a normal user to go directly to the tool they need to input some data. Admins can then go through that and approve some requests. Also, they can log in based on these kinds of permissions, including ticketing, service patches, or upgrades."
"RSA Archer's best features are advanced workflow, reports, dashboards, and notifications."
 

Cons

"I would like to see out-of-the-box integration with more security, it would be helpful."
"We would like to have more dashboards and reports, such as geographical and trend reports in the next version. Also, an improvement in the mobile version would be helpful."
"There should be a way to export and get data from the system in PDF or PowerPoint presentation format. This would be a great addition."
"RSA Archer's best features are advanced workflow, reports, dashboards, and notifications."
"RSA Archer might be a bit expensive for small companies because it's a vast tool."
"Recently, we made a suggestion for cross references, like for one application to another. There were limitations there, so we're hoping that will be included in the next upgrade."
"The first improvement I would suggest for RSA Archer is a better search feature. The search criteria needs to be improved. Sometimes I do a search and the search doesn't return the exact item I'm looking for. RSA Archer could also be improved by being more user-friendly. Maybe I have been using a limited version of RSA Archer, but I'm not sure whether it has ESG, environmental and social governance. In the next couple of years, ESG is the next feature that will be integrated into GRC tools. I would recommend RSA Archer adds ESG."
"In a future release, there should be an option to upload the main data."
"There are some issues with the interface for version 6.5 but these may already be repaired and simplified in the new versions that have been released."
"I find the tech support to be inadequately knowledgeable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They are flexible in terms of customers' needs."
"The pricing is okay. The licensing costs are very reasonable; it is very affordable to us."
"The initial purchase is cheap. You pay a nominal price to start then renew the license annually. You also must buy a license for each module. I'm not too fond of that aspect of the licensing model. You buy the elephant and then spend more money to feed the elephant."
"The license is costly for the solution, but the remaining set up and maintenance is quite cheaper."
"The solution's price should be reduced. You only have to pay the license and there are no additional fees."
"I am not sure about other companies, but it's quite expensive."
"As I am a developer and responsible for providing production support, I do not have personal knowledge of the pricing. However, my colleagues claim that it is very expensive in comparison with other tools."
"I am not 100% familiar with that, especially with their new model. I just know that the way they've licensed per user to scale is good."
"The price of RSA Archer is good. The price isn't too high considering it is a leading tool in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Insurance Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What are the main differences between RSA Archer, MetricStream and IBM OpenPages?
RSA Archer, IBM OpenPages and MetricStream are the top GRC software solutions in the market today. Out of the 3, IBM OpenPages has a slightly upper hand as IBM has come up with powerful Artificial ...
What do you like most about RSA Archer?
It has various valuable features. For example, showing us if a control aligns with specific standards or frameworks helps us understand it better and verify its compliance.
What needs improvement with RSA Archer?
While it provides benefits in terms of security, the pricing is a bit higher than customers typically expect. It would be helpful if RSA Archer had the capability for two-way integration because, i...
What is your primary use case for RSA Archer?
Regarding the compliance, risk, and governance tools, I am comfortable discussing the tools in the GRC category. The specific module from ServiceNow is the ServiceNow Compliance, Risk, and Governan...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Archer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, ACCO Brands Corporation, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, AIB International, Associated Banc-Corp, BAE Systems, Barclaycard, Dell Inc, DIRECTV, Energizer, Fresenius Kabi, Hasbro, Goodyear, HudsonCity Savings Bank, Infigen Energy, Kaydon, Leroy Merlin, Mountry Financial Corp., Nicholas Piramal, Pepco, Pfizer, Societe Generale, Whitney Bank
T-Systems, Bridge Point, Equifax, First Data, Global Imaging Company, Manulife Financial
Find out what your peers are saying about MetricStream vs. RSA Archer and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.