We use Azure Key Vault to store all of our applications’ keys and secrets in the Azure platform. The secrets and keys are for our public facing SaaS software which mainly includes websites and APIs.
Executive Manager at Hexagon AB
Highly scalable solution for managing keys and secrets
Pros and Cons
- "I find the simplicity of key management to be the most valuable feature. Key management has always been a difficult function to do, especially in the cloud premises. Azure Key Vault provides you with a mechanism for managing keys, without having to worry about protecting secrets is valuable."
- "We encountered a few problems where Azure had infrastructure problems like the DMS."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has reduced the amount of time that we had spent worrying about the management of the keys and secrets.
What is most valuable?
I find the simplicity of key management to be the most valuable feature. Key management has always been a difficult function to do, especially in the cloud premises. Azure Key Vault provides you with a mechanism for managing keys, without having to worry about protecting secrets, and that is valuable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about five years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten. We encountered a few problems where Azure had infrastructure problems like the DMS. It was not necessarily a problem with the Key Vault but a problem with the infrastructure that did not allow us to access it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would give a rating of ten out of ten for the scalability of the solution. I have not found any scalability issues with Azure Key Vault.
How are customer service and support?
I have found the customer service and support of Microsoft to be very good and very high.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We haven’t used any different solution before Azure Key Vault. We have used it since initially implementing it in the cloud.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment was straightforward. I was involved in the deployment of the solution in a project management role.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the solution with the help of an in-house team. There was only one team member doing the deployment.
What was our ROI?
We have seen ROI with the solution. We observed reduced internal development effort with the use of the tool. The solution was certainly worth the cost.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I find the pricing of Azure Key Vault to be reasonable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate any other options because we were fully on the Microsoft platform, so we went ahead with their recommendation.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Azure Key Vault a nine out of ten. I recommend it as a good solution for those using Azure Cloud to host their services. The solution does not require any maintenance.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner

Solution architect at Rackspace
User-friendly interface and robust security features, including AES 256 encryption
Pros and Cons
- "Azure Key Vault is very affordable, with charges of less than a dollar for over ten thousand keys."
- "While it's very reliable in terms of stability, there's always room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
I use Azure Key Vault to securely store and manage my API keys, passwords, and certificates. It allows me to store them securely and share access without revealing the secrets. Azure Key Vault also automates password rotation every sixty days and offers options for managing keys either by me or by Azure.
What is most valuable?
Azure Key Vault securely stores passwords and secrets, eliminating the need to share them. Instead, access can be provided to users who log in with their own credentials. Integration with Azure services and third-party applications is seamless, as it's readily available and requires no specific deployment. Automatic retrieval of keys and certificates simplifies usage across different platforms. Overall, Azure Key Vault offers efficient key storage and management with easy integration across various services and applications.
What needs improvement?
Azure Key Vault is very affordable, with charges of less than a dollar for over ten thousand keys. Microsoft regularly updates and upgrades the service, offering a user-friendly interface and robust security features, including AES 256 encryption.
Overall, I haven't identified any significant areas for improvement as Azure Key Vault already offers comprehensive functionality and security.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Key Vault for the past 5 years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'd rate the stability of Azure Key Vault as a nine out of ten. While it's very reliable, there's always room for improvement.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability isn't a concern for Azure Key Vault as it's primarily for storing keys and certificates. There's no specific limit to the number of keys you can store. Our company has around seven thousand users utilizing the product.
How are customer service and support?
Support from Microsoft is available, though I haven't personally used it.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Azure Key Vault is straightforward and safe, taking about ten to fifteen minutes.There's no need for additional worry or complex deployment steps. It's a pre-deployed service on Azure, so you just need to subscribe and start using it.
What about the implementation team?
For deployment and maintenance of Azure Key Vault, you typically need a technical architect and an engineer, possibly a product manager.
What was our ROI?
Azure Key Vault plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance with regulatory and governance policies by securely managing secrets and limiting access to only necessary personnel. For example, Azure Key Vault allows us to implement robust access control policies, such as distinguishing between administrative access and application-to-database communication. This helps maintain a clear separation of duties and enhances overall security.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a cheap option.
What other advice do I have?
For those considering Azure Key Vault, I highly recommend it for consolidating and managing security assets in one place. Integration with various enterprise applications is already robust. Updates are frequent and timely, addressing any identified bugs promptly. Overall, Azure Key Vault meets our needs effectively. I rated it as nine instead of ten because there's always room for improvement in any product, including Azure Key Vault. While it's reliable, there may be areas where enhancements can be made based on customer feedback and experiences.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Azure Key Vault
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Azure Key Vault. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
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Cloud Infrastructure consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
A cloud solution to secure and store managed sensitive information
Pros and Cons
- "The solution uses the encryption technique to store the secret information data that uses EPCE. There is also one feature that monitors Azure Key Vault."
- "They should improve its policies, which sometimes reapplied but don't sync properly between the Key vault and the role-based access. When I put some roles on the user side, it sometimes misses the end data to secure."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to secure and store managed sensitive information and cryptographic keys in an application secret.
What is most valuable?
The solution uses the encryption technique to store the secret information data that uses EPCE. There is also one feature that monitors Azure Key Vault.
What needs improvement?
They should improve its policies, which sometimes reapplied but don't sync properly between the Key vault and the role-based access. When I put some roles on the user side, it sometimes misses the end data to secure.
One feature that could be added is the transparency of Key stored. There could be a feature to monitor the Key Vault because we can't monitor the Key Vault with a third party. We can't configure the automation or sync the key vault. We store passwords and all those things.
The user intervention also needs to be implemented there. This allows the user to automatically change the password, ensuring that it synchronizes and updates across all stored keys.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Key Vault for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. If they improve certain things with the update, that will be a more scalable product. There are a lot of users that use the Key Vault because it is the organization’s choice.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is super easy.
There is a key that says, 'MS bug is there.' Azure has keyword secret information and connectivity issues. Azure File Share has Key connectivity issues. If we share some files and link through the Key, it loses connection.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive compared to other products. It is costly to install as data records are charged based on the data. The Key type and plans are the factors that affect the pricing.
What other advice do I have?
We are implementing Azure Key for certain projects. It completely depends on the project. Suppose your company gives us a project and asks us to implement Azure Key for other users.
I don't recommend it to everyone. It completely depends on the scenario base if you use a VM application or shared data. You can use Key Vault to secure information when transferring over the network. Sometimes, you are trying to assess your web information, and it is not working because of the connectivity issue due to some access control policies.
If you are the user and can work on the Azure portal or have access, you may be the support or IT person. You have the right to choose the architecture we must implement in our organization. They want to implement that on their user, but that's not a suitable option for everyone. We have 2,000 employees using this solution. We should have a strong plan to implement the Key Vault.
Anyone can learn Azure Key Vault within a day or two days.
There's a lot of work to do on the standalone side. If we are required to create a different workflow or automate it, then it's not possible or difficult to do that. If I want to keep the alerts on my email or team channel, that isn't easy to automate with the help of the Sentinel.
I need to use Azure Key Vault to ensure my application sends me refined data weekly. This data includes high and low alerts, which are sent to my email address or possibly generate an incident using a third-party API such as ServiceNow or Jira.
We can automate several things. We can fetch the log, but we can't automate that defender workflow itself in Container.
The solution is best because it completely secures passwords, which we can use to access.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: customer/partner
VP - Global Delivery Head at Enhops
Seamlessly integrates with other services
Pros and Cons
- "We use Azure Key Vault for securing secret connection streams, like API secrets, Azure services Secret Key, and AD Client Secret."
- "Azure Key Vault is only available for Microsoft services, and it should be exposed to non-Microsoft cloud services, like GCP and Amazon."
What is most valuable?
We use Azure Key Vault for securing secret connection streams, like API secrets, Azure services Secret Key, and AD Client Secret. Azure Key Vault is a stable solution that seamlessly integrates with other services.
What needs improvement?
Azure Key Vault is only available for Microsoft services, and it should be exposed to non-Microsoft cloud services, like GCP and Amazon.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Key Vault for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Azure Key Vault is a stable solution.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We've never had any scalability issues with Azure Key Vault. More than 30 customers are working with the solution.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The solution’s technical support team is knowledgeable.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is easy. We use Microsoft's templates and PowerShell scripts for the solution's seamless deployment.
What about the implementation team?
Azure Key Vault has an automated deployment, which does not take more than five minutes. We create the Azure Key Vault service and set up its lifetime and client secrets. Then, we create a secret and its text and values and update the solution. We then configured Azure Key Vault so that we could access it. We use mostly dot NET APIs and integrated this into the application setup. We inject the service whenever required, and we'll create the keys.
What was our ROI?
Azure Key Vault provides a single source of truth and a secure database for all my secrets.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use a pay-as-you-go license for the solution, which is not very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
Azure Key Vault is a cloud-based solution.
Overall, I rate Azure Key Vault a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Senior Lead Software Engineer Individual Contributor at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
We can store secrets securely and encrypt them
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the ability to store secrets securely and encrypt them. It is pretty easy and straightforward to use."
- "I would like more code examples."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is for storing secrets.
How has it helped my organization?
It has improved our organization. We have been able to secure our passwords and secrets. We didn't have to add an extra tool in addition to this solution.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the ability to store secrets securely and encrypt them. It is pretty easy and straightforward to use.
What needs improvement?
I would like more code examples.
For how long have I used the solution?
Over six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a reliable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have had no problems with scalability.
We are deploying it on 10 client systems.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't needed support for this application. However, when I need support from Microsoft, I get it immediately.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I went straight to this solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
Including research and getting up to speed with the technology, the deployment took less than a week for the PoC. Deploying it all the way to production took about a month. It took a week to determine that it was the right tool. It took another three weeks to implement in all environments, like UAT production and test. We tried it on a dev environment first, then we implemented it over different stages, like QA, test, and production.
We deploy the solution in just one location.
What about the implementation team?
I did the deployment.
What was our ROI?
It is a good deal.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is decent. It has a pretty low price. It is a straightforward cost based on usage.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I just went straight to Azure Key Vault.
What other advice do I have?
Follow the Microsoft official documentation for this solution. It is pretty straightforward and very well documented.
I would rate Azure Key Vault as nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
AVP at MIDDAY INFOMEDIA LIMITED
Provides good integration capabilities and security to users
Pros and Cons
- "The solution's technical support is good. My company received support from Microsoft whenever we needed it."
- "If I consider how some people complain that a solution to store information should be available at a low cost, I would say that Azure Key Vault's price should be made cheaper."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company to install our digital certificates and deal with our organization's secret information.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from its ability to allow its users to simply install some digital certificates and some key-value pairs, which are useful for our organization.
What needs improvement?
If I consider how some people complain that a solution to store information should be available at a low cost, I would say that Azure Key Vault's price should be made cheaper.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Key Vault for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
My company has never found any problems with the stability of the product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Azure Key Vault is considered a secondary tool in our company since we don't exclusively work on it. In general, Azure Key Vault or BitLocker are just supporting tools we use in our company for certain features such solutions provide. My company has not explored the aforementioned tools in-depth.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The users do not directly use the product since my company uses the applications in Azure Key Vault. My company uses Azure Key Vault in approximately five applications.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is good. My company never had to contact the tool's support team since we don't use the product's advanced features. My company received support from Microsoft whenever we needed it.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is straightforward. As I have more than twenty-five years of work experience, things have become easier with the tools you have used for so many years. For me, the tool's setup is easy and easy to use.
For the product's deployment phase, my company has different environments. In my company, we use certain products in various departments by using CI/CD pipelines on which we write the instructions to deploy the tools on a few particular servers.
The solution is deployed on the cloud.
What was our ROI?
The main benefit derived from using the product stems from the fact that it provides security to our company's digital assets.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the product is okay for my company.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not evaluate other options against Azure Key Vault since I prefer to use Microsoft products since we use most of its technologies in our company.
What other advice do I have?
I use the tool to manage application secrets by storing digital assets separately. My company puts the digital assets directly in the tool using the credentials.
Azure Key Vault plays a key role in encryption in certain projects or scenarios in our company. In our company, if we want to apply some algorithms to encrypt our data, we store such data in Azure Key Vault and pull it manually from the solution later to encrypt our organization's data.
My company doesn't exactly use the access policies in Azure Key Vault for managing permissions, but we do use it for the storage of our secret information. For managing our company's secrets, we use Azure Key Vault, but we don't use it for managing permissions as we use IdentityServer and other tools for such purposes.
Azure Key Vault can integrate very well with other Azure services.
Azure Key Vault is a good option since it is a secure and useful tool.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Director at Lucid Spare
Centralized and secure storage
Pros and Cons
- "The centralized storage and secure storage are features we like."
- "Many times, the first round of support itself will fail, and they will bring some more competent people in the subsequent support. So it gets into a hierarchical mode. By then, we will lose a good amount of time. The technical support needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
Azure Key Vault is used to store the encrypted keys. It can be used from the application side or the device side.
What is most valuable?
The centralized storage and secure storage are features we like. We don't find many effective solutions where we can securely store the encryption keys. So that is essentially, that is what we appreciate.
What needs improvement?
Many times, the first round of support itself will fail, and they will bring some more competent people in the subsequent support. By then, we will lose some good amount of time. The technical support needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Azure Key Vault for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is highly scalable, you can scale up to any level. Our direct clients are small to medium businesses, but we also have large indirect clients, such as Microsoft in the US.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment takes two weeks. I would rate the initial setup a ten out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Associate Vice President - Cloud Security at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Easy to use GUI, good support, and it's reasonably priced
Pros and Cons
- "The GUI was quite easy for me to use."
- "The integration with Thales HSM is complex and is not out-of-the-box. Uploading the keys was quite a tedious process."
What is our primary use case?
We are a financial institution and we are using this product to manage our keys. We are currently trying to roll out a "Bring Your Own Key" solution for Azure and Office 365.
What is most valuable?
The GUI was quite easy for me to use.
Integration with Fortanix is good.
What needs improvement?
The integration with Thales HSM is complex and is not out-of-the-box. Uploading the keys was quite a tedious process.
For how long have I used the solution?
We are just beginners with the Microsoft Azure Key Vault and only started using it within the past six months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 150,000 employees across the organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support from Microsoft is excellent. The reason we still buy Microsoft products is because of their support. The documentation is good and they also provide free, professional support.
The premium support is available at an additional cost, but professional support is free with the license.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to Azure Key Vault, we were using the Bring Your Own Key solution, Thales Hardware Security Module (HSM). It worked seamlessly to generate our own key and upload it to the key vault. However, with Azure and Office 365, Microsoft manages the keys. I started using Azure Key Vault because it is an out-of-the-box feature with Azure, and it replaced our Thales HSM.
The installation of Thales HSM is a little bit complex. When we installed it, we needed to have two VDAs. There is an online VDA and an offline VDA, and we have to retrieve information from the offline one and pass it to the online one. These are complex tasks in our environment. Because it is a highly regulated industry, even moving a key is not easy for us. We have to go through all of the processes.
Because of the complications that we have had, we were looking at replacing Thales HSM with Fortanix. It integrates with Azure Key Vault and the key upload process is quite easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing is quite reasonable and support is included, although premium support is available for an additional fee.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am currently researching and evaluating HashiCorp Vault. We have not yet run a PoC but I am learning the differences between these two solutions. In addition to Azure, we have AWS and multiple cloud platforms, and we have heard that HashiCorp Vault is the best solution for cases like this.
HashiCorp Vault is open-source and has a command-line interface.
One of the things that I would like to know is whether HashiCorp can be used for Azure workloads. For example, can it be used in a situation where a user brings their own key for Office 365, or does that only work with Azure Key Vault?
What other advice do I have?
Overall, this is a good product and the support is fantastic.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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