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AWS Secrets Manager vs CyberArk Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 16, 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

AWS Secrets Manager
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
227
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Mainframe Security (2nd), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of AWS Secrets Manager is 15.9%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 7.8%, up from 7.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS Secrets Manager15.9%
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager7.8%
Other76.3%
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Featured Reviews

Mahadev Metre - PeerSpot reviewer
Consistent security and efficiency improvements optimize IT infrastructure with effective management
When creating AWS Secrets Manager, it should be automated using tools such as Terraform, Puppet, or Ansible. With Terraform code, you specify the encryption key, secret name, rotation policy, and secret replication. Human error occurs when feeding secret values manually, especially with large amounts of secrets to input. Secrets should never be protected only by IAM. They should be protected by multiple layers, such as IAM and one or two KMS keys. Additional security measures could be beneficial if necessary. The rotation policy is crucial because some secrets may become obsolete, require updates, or get compromised. With a weekly rotation policy, if unauthorized access occurs, the exposure is limited to seven days. The rotation policy can be customized according to needs.
Atul-Gujar - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very scalable."
"AWS Secrets Manager is used for storing secret information that has to be a secret from your customer and your employees."
"The product is easy to use and is inexpensive."
"Secrets Manager helps in retrieving the enrollment variables used by the code."
"The most valuable feature is security."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services."
"The API is fine and works well."
"I would highly recommend AWS Secrets Manager for secret management in AWS."
"We are able to rotate credentials and have privileged account access."
"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."
"It provides an accountability to the individuals who are using it, knowing that it is audited and tracked."
"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager’s ability to safeguard credentials is very important."
"PSM enables after-hours monitoring."
"You can write different types of policies for custom business needs or any developer needs. If they need certain functions allocated, they can be customized easily."
"Every aspect of the solution is very well integrated, and even that gives comfort. It is a fail-safe kind of environment."
"The Password Upload Utility tool makes it easier when setting up a Safe that contains multiple accounts and has cut down the amount of time that it takes to complete the task."
 

Cons

"If you add one more layer of security to AWS Secrets Manager, even the programmer will not be able to see the secrets."
"The sidecar feature has room for improvement."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"AWS Secrets Manager could support hybrid infrastructure."
"The price of the solution could improve."
"We occasionally have problems with rate limits, although that is a problem more generally with AWS."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"If you don't have enterprise support, then you will not be able to get through to them to get the help. It is not only applicable to AWS Secrets Manager. It is also applicable to any service on AWS."
"The greatest area of improvement is with the user interface of the Password Vault Web Access component."
"Improvements in CyberArk Privileged Access Manager should focus on simplifying installation and upgrade times, and also consider making professional services training more accessible to implementers and partners."
"There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's a pretty complex solution."
"The solution needs better features for end users to manage their own whitelisting for API retrieval."
"There is a little bit of confusion in the implementation part, especially when one tries to understand the actual working of the product."
"I'd like it to be a little more granular. I want a little bit more control over exactly what we do. I know if you do that, you add more knobs and dials to deal with, but that's just my personal approach: granular access."
"I would like to see improvement in the custom connector for integration with different devices."
"There is room for improvement, particularly with Vendor PAM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't believe there is a license cost for the solution."
"The cost is somewhat high."
"We purchase a monthly license for the product."
"We've observed that AWS Secrets Manager pricing is based on a per-secret-per-month model. As a result, we prefer to divide our secrets into individual pieces to increase security and grant specific access permissions to certain secrets, systems, or individuals. However, this approach results in higher costs. Therefore, we have been exploring ways to combine our secrets into groups to reduce expenses and simplify management. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that this issue may not be related to the secret manager's functionality."
"The solution is expensive."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"I focus more on the technical side, but I hear customers say that if CyberArk was more affordable, they might have acquired more licenses. Some clients consider alternative solutions due to pricing concerns."
"I believe that this solution is priced well. It's the market leader and I think that it's the best solution."
"The solution is costly but we get what we pay for."
"Generally, I don't get involved in the licensing or the purchasing side of it, but I do know that the licenses are expensive."
"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."
"The price of this solution is quite reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise171
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Azure Key Vault or AWS Secrets Manager?
Azure Key Vault is a SaaS solution. You can easily store passwords and secrets securely and encrypt them. Azure Key Vault is a great solution to ensure you are compliant with security and governanc...
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 AWS Secrets Manager?
The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Clevy, Stackery
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Secrets Manager vs. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: November 2025.
873,282 professionals have used our research since 2012.