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Bitwarden 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

Bitwarden
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
6th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
225
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 August 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of Bitwarden is 7.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is 8.0%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Featured Reviews

Alex Maftei - PeerSpot reviewer
An affordable and easy-to-use tool that enables users to save all their passwords in one place
We also use 1Password. 1Password is available like a small window. We can just load it up. It is really fast. 1Password has enterprise features and a lot more visibility and control for admins to secure things a bit more. I have also used LastPass and NordPass. I lost trust in LastPass after we had multiple breaches, so I didn't want to keep my passwords in there. NordPass was limited. It was so hard to use. We could have only one device in sync with the free account. We could not use the platform manager on more than one device at the same time. I chose Bitwarden because I really enjoyed the idea of having the option to store my passwords and information there. I don't have to rely on any other tool.
Abdul Durrani - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables granular and secure access with just-in-time access and Zero Trust model
CyberArk provides a good amount of control over access types. However, as a future enhancement, having additional features for cross-platform integration would be beneficial. It would be good to have integrations with other tools and firewalls, such as Zscaler and CrowdStrike. Although I am not fully aware of recent updates, more cross-platform integration would be valuable. A SOC analyst would like to have centralized access in terms of information flowing in even for privileged access management. They would like to have control over everything instead of opening four to five tabs for different sorts of information. Cross-platform integration would help with that. Customers also want CyberArk's pricing to be better so that they can implement it further and have more licenses. Implementing a privileged access management solution can be challenging. It would be great if CyberArk could provide recommendations based on the compliance standards of an organization. It would help system admins ensure that all the required ports are closed and the systems are being managed properly. If any system is not being used anymore, any ports opened for that system need to be closed. Having such recommendations would be helpful.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is open source and the premium package is reasonable."
"The product has a very friendly community."
"I've found something else that is extremely valuable. Bitwarden refers to it as "emergency access". It's essentially a digital legacy where you can assign approved users who can request access. If you don't decline within a certain timeframe, they can access it in case you're incapacitated or deceased. When I last checked, only a few services offered this feature. Bitwarden had the simplest and best implementation."
"Having all the passwords in one place is helpful."
"The customer service and support are good. The technician is on time and the follow-up is amazing."
"Its integration capabilities and versatility, like the ability to securely save passwords and other critical information, make it incredibly useful."
"In our organization, we use Bitwarden for managing product credentials. Bitwarden's collection feature enables us to securely create and store credentials, and we can easily provide team members with access to the relevant collections."
"I find the discovery feature, which includes credential management, session management, monitoring, and remediation within a session, to be very valuable."
"Password Vault's main advantage is its scalability. We constantly see huge enterprises implementing something like this, and the privileged session management is an excellent piece. You can kind of watch videos of whatever an admin has done."
"Creating policies and the password rotation feature have been valuable. We don't have to memorize our password for the ADM account."
"The most valuable features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager are its robust functionality and reliability."
"CyberArk is a very stable product and it's a stable product because it has a simple design and a simple architecture that allows you to leverage the economies of scale across the base of your infrastructure that you already have implemented. It doesn't really introduce any new complex pieces of infrastructure that would make it that much more difficult to scale."
"We are able to know who is accessing what and when; having accountability."
"The product has allowed us to improve both the management and access to privileged credentials, while also creating a full audit trail of all activities happening within isolated sessions of all tasks and activities taking place within the solution."
"We have been able to manage application credentials in CyberArk, whether they come as a custom plugin or straight out-of-the-box."
 

Cons

"The product could be cheaper."
"It would be ideal if the application could be seamlessly integrated into our open-source software, especially for the purpose of enabling straightforward logging."
"The solution should be made more secure as it has the banking sector and assets saved."
"Enhancing the tool by including additional security variables would be a valuable improvement."
"I would like to log in with a master account using a passkey, that would be easy."
"I often use another password manager as well to keep my passwords separate, ensuring redundancy. But one simple thing Bitwarden could improve is providing an option to duplicate credentials. Often, you're creating many sets of credentials for the same thing. If they all have the same information, notes, login, collection, and naming - all you're changing is the password. The ability to duplicate credential records quickly would be a big win. It doesn't do that right now."
"The product must be a bit more unified and refined."
"We don't often contact technical support, but when we do it, the response could be faster and better."
"It should be easy to use for non-technical people. Its interface can be a bit difficult. Some parts of its interface are not very intuitive. Some of the controls are hidden, and instead of having a screen with all the controls for that account on it, you have to use menus and other similar things."
"I would like to see better usability for non-technical people."
"It could be more user-friendly. Sometimes I encounter issues, and I do not know what the issue is."
"The lead product has a slow process. There are some reports and requirements from CyberArk which are not readily available as an applicable solution. We have made consistent management requests in the logs."
"One area for improvement is the user interface. It needs significant enhancements."
"The challenge with the product is pricing since it's expensive. It also needs to improve the customization. We encountered some stability issues as well."
"The usual workload is sometimes delayed by the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source tool."
"In our region, it comes at an affordable price."
"The solution is reasonably priced."
"I use a free version and it works well for me."
"The product is not costly. I pay $10 per month."
"The solution is cost-effective for the features."
"They have two types of licensing: purchase and subscription. You have to pay for each admin user, such as Microsoft admin, mail admin, database admin, etc."
"The price of this solution is quite reasonable."
"Pricing is a problem. CyberArk is expensive compared to other products I know. It is similar to buying a German car. It comes with all the bells and whistles, but some companies may find it too 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."
"Network and security licenses are currently being managed by other outsource vendors, so they are facing some type of problems in the digital aspect."
"The license CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is on an annual basis."
"It is in line with its competitors, but all such solutions cost too much money."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Bitwarden?
I've found something else that is extremely valuable. Bitwarden refers to it as "emergency access". It's essentially a digital legacy where you can assign approved users who can request access. If ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Bitwarden?
The product is not costly. I pay $10 per month. I use the basic plan, so I don't need the higher plan with more compliance features.
What needs improvement with Bitwarden?
The functionality to fully utilize passkeys could be improved. The last time I spoke to support, they said the development team was working on it. So far, it's working okay on my personal devices. ...
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.
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Rockwell Automation
Find out what your peers are saying about Bitwarden vs. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.