No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

One Identity Safeguard 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

One Identity Safeguard
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (2nd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (2nd)
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
16th
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 June 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of One Identity Safeguard is 4.3%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
One Identity Safeguard4.3%
Symantec Privileged Access Manager1.7%
Other94.0%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Associate at DigitalTrack Solutions ind pvt ltd
Centralized control has strengthened privileged security and simplified audit investigations
While One Identity Safeguard is a strong and reliable PAM solution, there are a few areas where it can be further improved to enhance user experience and scalability. Regarding the user interface and experience, the UI, while functional, can be a bit complex for new users. A more intuitive and modern dashboard with simplified navigation would improve adoption, especially for non-technical stakeholders. Regarding integration flexibility, although it supports major integrations, expanding out-of-the-box connectors for more cloud-native apps, DevOps tools, and SaaS platforms would be beneficial. Faster and simpler API-based integrations could reduce deployment efforts. Regarding scalability and performance in large enterprise environments, performance tuning and scaling can require additional efforts. Enhancing seamless scalability and high availability configuration would improve enterprise readiness.
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

"This solution gives them real confidence that they can keep their customers safe and their data protected."
"But otherwise, I think it is a good product and a good buy."
"It offers high availability and enables end users to deploy the solution with 99.999 percent uptime, which is crucial in an enterprise environment with a large number of endpoints."
"Safeguard can define and update processes and procedures into the security framework of a company, including mobile. It allows us to change the policies and configurations on a mass scale in regards to security."
"I like the discovery functionality and the change password feature through the check-in. I also like the bulk import with the help of templates that come with it out of the box. With the help of these few features, my tasks are made easier."
"One Identity Safeguard has improved our organization's security posture by providing centralized privileged access management, secure password vaulting, and session monitoring."
"We have limited the possibilities for malicious actions and have made it safer for our users when they are using privileged accounts."
"Now, once they are logged into the organization and are registered on our ERP system, their complete access will be ready within five seconds, and they will receive an SMS with their username and password so they can start working, which has increased efficiency and effectiveness of the access control function and reduced operational costs while providing services 24/7 on a platform that can be used anytime and anywhere for investigation."
"It has simplified and unified the access of the users to a single point of access."
"Whoever built it from the ground up, they understand how an organization is laid out."
"The agent-based credential management solution allows clients to programmatically use the agent to collect passwords during runtime from Symantec Privileged Access Manager."
"It is the best product for monitoring the recorded session of your IT admins and external consultants."
"The RDP-gateway: For limiting which server an operator can access."
"It is simple to implement and is suitable for medium to large-scale enterprises."
"The CA PAM’s ability to seamlessly integrate and provide a demarcation between users and systems is the most attractive aspect."
"We know we can scale up with what we have, and we probably will not need to buy any further appliances down the road."
 

Cons

"One Identity Safeguard could be improved by simplifying the user interface and initial configuration process, especially for first-time users."
"For the A2A use, it is not as easy as using something like HashiCorp's password management tools."
"One Identity Safeguard can be improved with a more modern and intuitive interface, better troubleshooting and diagnostic tools, enhanced real-time monitoring and reporting, and stronger integration with cloud and hybrid identity platforms to simplify administration and improve operational visibility."
"Support can be improved in terms of response times and consistency. Sometimes resolving complex issues takes longer than expected and requires multiple follow-ups."
"Some of our users find the functionality a bit complex, and it could be made more user-friendly."
"The automated change of the passwords, which is now integrated, could be improved to be more flexible regarding different systems."
"When we compare One Identity Safeguard with Cyberark, we know CyberArk has other tools or other features that are more complex and more useful for the customers. For example, I have one customer that wants to elevate the permission that is available in CyberArk."
"The only part of the Safeguard solution that I think could be a problem over time is the amount of storage it takes in the sessions."
"We have to do a lot of manual work to automate features."
"We experience stability issues after every patch upgrade. This is a place where CA needs to improve drastically."
"I think the management console could be improved."
"The demonstration and consideration portion does not work the best. It's not that intuitive."
"Evaluations are not just about features and functions of this specific product, but it is taking that holistic view around what else we can get out of it in the next three to five years."
"The response time for support could be faster. Some features should be added: cloud-based, VPN-less, more secure, and it should be adjusted in a hybrid environment."
"Instead of just giving passwords to the user based on job function, from auditing perspective, turn that cycle around. That would really help from an auditing standpoint."
"It'd be great if you just stuck in your PIV card and Windows popped up, asked you for your password. You typed it in, then it remembered your credentials."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As compared to other products, it is reasonable, but the training sessions are too expensive."
"The pricing is about $80,000 per 100 servers. There are few elective costs."
"The license is very expensive for us, partly due to inflation and partly because of the exchange rate between the Dollar and the Iranian Rial. We purchased a perpetual license that we've been using up until now, but I believe that we are not going to update it in the future. Instead, we plan to find another third-party to support us with the license, in the sense that we would have access to their license as a shared agreement."
"They have comparable pricing. All identity products are essentially priced in a similar way. It's a per-user base."
"Safeguard is cheaper than CyberArk."
"We have a yearly license. The cost depends on how much a company wants to invest in technology. In our organization, we believe in modern digitization and automation processes so we found it affordable. One Identity was not that much less than other solutions and it is not a cheap solution. There were number of cheaper solutions. However, it's the most effective, according to our evaluation."
"Setup cost, pricing and licensing are all very expensive."
"They offer a fair price for a robust solution."
"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."
"It is reasonably priced."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"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."
"Cost-wise, CA was better compared to others in the market. ​"
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions are best for your needs.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Retailer
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
9%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business84
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Safeguard?
Pricing, setup cost, and licensing are managed by the management team.
What needs improvement with One Identity Safeguard?
One Identity Safeguard is a very strong privileged access management solution, and the only thing that needs to be enhanced is its dashboard customization; apart from this, everything is perfect.
What is your primary use case for One Identity Safeguard?
One Identity Safeguard is used primarily to secure privileged credentials, enforce control over administrative access, and provide visibility into privileged activities. Whenever a network or serve...
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

No data available
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cavium
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about One Identity Safeguard vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.