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Certificate Lifecycle Manager vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 2, 2026

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

Certificate Lifecycle Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Certificate Management Software (2nd)
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Certificate Lifecycle Manager is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec VIP Access Manager is 2.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Certificate Lifecycle Manager1.9%
Symantec VIP Access Manager2.0%
Other96.1%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Deb Malya - PeerSpot reviewer
Section Head Cybersecurity at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Strong privileged access controls have protected critical sessions and improved credential oversight
The best features of CyberArk Certificate Manager include its robust privileged access management capability, session monitoring, and strong defense against threat vectors. PSM, PIM, and application legacy connectivity for CyberArk Certificate Manager are probably the best in the market. The real-time threat intelligence feature helps with preventing security breaches as it never allows any privileged access to get into the application until you check out the user ID and password, effectively managing credentials. It also includes MFA and session monitoring, tracking who is checking out the password and credentials, which are capabilities that cannot be bypassed, thus neutralizing threat protection. I use features like PSM, PIM, session monitoring, and everything else with CyberArk Certificate Manager.
Berk Onur - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Consultant at Cyberwise
With its mobile application, this tool offers a convenient and user-friendly experience to its users
To improve the tool, I think that the solution should consider integrations with other cybersecurity and IT technologies, such as Privileged Access Management and Site Integration. Additionally, the implementation of second-factor authentication via Symantec VIP Access Manager, CyberArk, and Delinea, among other technologies, could be best for the product. While the existing technology is okay, improving the integration capabilities for Symantec VIP Access Manager would benefit the product. I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company. While many cybersecurity solutions can function independently, they often lack integration with our systems due to missed integration points. Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Automating anything, whether on-prem or cloud, is possible."
"Venafi's technical support is impressively fast."
"The most valuable feature of Venafi is the automation that helps save time and reduce human error."
"CyberArk Certificate Manager has excellent capability in handling certification renewals; whenever you specify any validity period that needs to be renewed within certain days, it triggers automatically, and I appreciate that aspect."
"Venafi solved the issue of many misplaced internal certificates, as we know that at one place we can get all the information, and the problem of notifications about expiring certificates is resolved, improving our overall system for Expedia."
"Venafi takes care of automatically renewing and deploying your certificate so that you don't need to worry when it expires."
"CyberArk Certificate Manager has positively impacted my organization by automating the credential process, allowing users to rotate and share passwords with no human intervention required."
"The most important feature for us is the ease of use. If something is not available, we can develop our own scripts for it. We can create change management around this tool."
"It is a fast and easy solution for end users, and you are always online."
"The two-factor authentication is most definitely valuable and moves us closer to being able to check off those important boxes for compliance."
"Mostly from a product expert's point of view, it provides solutions for my clients."
"It is easy to use."
"It's a good tool. It's pretty straightforward."
"The ease of integrating into an existing authentication system."
"The main benefit of Symantec VIP is that it provides strong authentication while keeping it as a very user friendly experience."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
 

Cons

"I would like to see included in the next release of Venafi integration with the cloud HSM's, Hardware Security Module. Additionally, I would say other cloud services, because it's not only cloud that's essential. If you have a customer that has a lot of their IT moved into cloud, integration with different cloud services is always an area to improve."
"Documentation could use some improvement, but that's about all."
"For Java applications, we currently convert the certificate in JKS manually. It would be helpful to have the capability to download certificates in JKS automatically."
"The product was really good when it was a Venafi product. However, since its acquisition by CyberArk, there has been a lack of significant innovations. They are pushing for cloud adoption, but we prefer on-premises solutions due to regulatory concerns."
"There are quite a few different technical aspects of Venafi that I feel they just missed out on; I'd have to look at my notes for the specifics."
"Venafi excels in automating certificate rotation and deployment but could enhance its offering by improving support for hardware security modules like Fortanix and providing more advanced, out-of-the-box integrations with public certificate authorities for DNS re-verification."
"Regarding needed improvements, the UI needs enhancement. Sometimes it experiences latency-wise issues."
"For the stability of the solution itself, I would rate it a seven."
"The User Store synchronization part needs to improve. Also, the logs, reports, and dashboard can be improved."
"Every time that I have a new phone or computer, it takes a little longer to deploy it."
"There are some shortcomings on the reporting side, such as how many connections you can get per month."
"Maybe Symantec could consider providing a step-by-step guide for first-time users."
"At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode."
"Technical support is one of the worst problems."
"Our only issue was with user training. The additional challenge was not well received."
"In my opinion, for this solution, the technical support is not so expert when we talk about integration using the API."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model is complex, considering factors beyond the number of certificates. This complexity can make our payments to Venafi challenging if costs continue to rise. It is good but more expensive than the competitors."
"Venafi's pricing appears to be competitive within the market."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Venafi?
In terms of pricing, they are a little costly, but they are the best in the market today, so I would say they are worth every penny, rating them again at seven or eight.
What needs improvement with Venafi?
CyberArk Certificate Manager can be improved, particularly in terms of integrations with other tools. I would like to see improvements in integrations with ID, Kerberos, or with other companies for...
What advice do you have for others considering Venafi?
Since using CyberArk Certificate Manager, I have seen specific outcomes such as a reduction in incidents because I can work with CyberArk Certificate Manager, where digital certificates are everywh...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Venafi
Symantec VIP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Surescripts, CME Group, TD Bank Group, Aetna, MoneyGram, Zions Bancorp, Cisco
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Certificate Lifecycle Manager vs. Symantec VIP Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.