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CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Netgate pfSense comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
CyberArk enhances security, reduces risks and costs, improves efficiency, and streamlines workflows, but ROI remains difficult to quantify.
Sentiment score
5.9
Netgate pfSense provides high ROI by reducing hardware and licensing costs, enhancing reliability, and lowering support and maintenance expenses.
The return on investment lies in improved security infrastructure, addressing over-privileged access, and reducing the risk of credential compromise, which is a major source of data breaches.
Cyber Security Engineer at Isolutions Associates Ltd (ISOLS)
The end users have the authority to reconcile the password or verify it before using session isolation, which is one of the unique features that can be enabled through Privileged Session Manager, preventing any attacks from happening within the organization when connected with sessions through CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.
Senior Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager has helped customers save on costs primarily by reducing the number of engineering and information security personnel.
Head of Sales Services Department at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Since the memory leak fixes, it's been incredibly stable and requires minimal maintenance.
Network Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees
In four years of using it, that payment of 189 dollars per year has already paid off.
L2 Systems Administrator at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
It's very favorable to have the inclusion of firewall, VPN, and router functionalities.
Owner at SimpleIT
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager's customer service is knowledgeable but experiences delays and inconsistency in response times.
Sentiment score
7.8
Netgate pfSense users often rely on forums, yet paid support is praised for its responsiveness and problem-solving expertise.
CyberArk has been exceptional in coming back to us with immediate responses.
IT Cyber Security Lead at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It could be forever until you talk to someone who knows what they are doing.
Senior PAM Consultant at iC Consult GmbH
Based on the issue resolution and support quality, I rate the support 10 out of 10.
Operation Specialists at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
When I provide detailed information about the problem, they've been able to reply quickly with a solution or go research the problem and get back to us quickly with a fix.
NOC / Network Engineering Manager at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
They are highly responsive.
Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
I couldn't imagine having better support.
Director of IT at Cutting Edge Hair Salon RSS
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is scalable, supports diverse environments, but scaling decisions depend on licensing and proper planning.
Sentiment score
6.6
Netgate pfSense offers exceptional scalability and performance, efficiently managing various environments with seamless hardware integration and virtualization.
The CPM can reportedly handle up to 50,000 accounts independently without issue.
Privileged Access Management Engineer at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
I would rate it a ten out of ten for scalability.
IT Cyber Security Lead at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
They had 40,000 passwords in this one safe, and it was saving the last ten iterations of each password object. That means they had 400,000 password objects in this safe. They exceeded the limit.
Senior PAM Consultant at iC Consult GmbH
If I put things into a certain context and say that we have a network that has around 100 people, then you don't put up a device that can manage 100 people. Instead, you need to get a device that can manage 150 to 200 people, and then you can create room for growth.
CTO at Vigon Business Solutions Limited
I don't think Netgate pfSense can offer much scalability for big enterprises.
Director at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Even with a jump from a 50 megabit to a 500 megabit internet connection and approximately 65 active VPN clients, our firewall operates smoothly without any strain.
IT Manager at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is highly reliable and stable, with minor issues mainly from older versions or configurations.
Sentiment score
7.1
Netgate pfSense is highly stable and reliable, with user-reported issues typically tied to hardware or outdated versions.
Proper fine-tuning and expertise ensure the product performs well.
Cybersecurity Specialist at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Overall, the stability of the solution is high.
Senior Cybersecurity Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It has a large customer base and positive feedback within my network.
Senior Manager at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.
Infrastructure and integration Architect at CommunityForce
I've noticed a substantial improvement in stability and ease of use for upgrades and patching over the past year or two.
Technical Sales Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
When I replace consumer routers with pfSense for small businesses with two or three employees, they are often amazed to discover the router can run for a year without a reboot.
Partner and Owner at Free Range Geeks
 

Room For Improvement

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager needs improved navigation, reporting, automation, integration, platform compatibility, and pricing for enhanced user satisfaction.
Netgate pfSense users seek improvements in interface, management, features, reporting, and third-party integration for enhanced usability.
They want everything to be on the cloud, but even in the SaaS version of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, they need to deploy some servers on-premises.
Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
We cannot generate a plug-in for web-based applications.
Contractor at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
If they want clients to move to the cloud, they need to support them in real-time.
Senior Manager at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
If I need to go between different VLANs, I have VLAN 19.1 and VLAN 19.2, and I strictly use Netgate pfSense, but it doesn't route very efficiently and works quite slowly.
Information Security Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
They should support the idea of configuration management as code from source code and provide a more robust API for managing the pfSense configuration.
Co-Owner at Steffi and Tim
Monitoring is crucial. The easier the monitoring and user interface, the simpler our team can work on and investigate issues.
Infrastructure and integration Architect at CommunityForce
 

Setup Cost

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is costly but valued for features and security, deemed worthwhile for large implementations.
Netgate pfSense offers enterprises cost-effective, open-source security with free software and optional, competitively-priced support subscriptions.
CyberArk is expensive compared to other products I know.
Cybersecurity Specialist at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
CyberArk is comparatively expensive compared to other PAM solutions, such as Delinea, especially during renewal.
Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
CyberArk's SaaS solution is particularly expensive.
Senior Manager at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is far cheaper than big brand names like FortiGate and Cisco while delivering a feature set that's nearly the same across the entire list.
NOC / Network Engineering Manager at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Advanced features like Suricato or Snort require additional subscriptions for business use, but overall, pfSense remains a cost-effective solution.
Network Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees
Netgate's maintenance contracts are significantly more affordable compared to other vendors, demonstrating their competitive pricing and commitment to customer value.
Infrastructure & network manager at a non-tech company with self employed
 

Valuable Features

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager enhances security and efficiency with robust features, seamless integrations, and user-friendly, scalable architecture.
Netgate pfSense is a cost-effective, scalable, customizable firewall offering security, VPNs, traffic management, and strong community support.
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager helps ensure data privacy because we now know who is using which credentials and at what time.
Senior Cybersecurity Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It keeps a record of activities, allowing me to easily fetch screen recordings to detect any misuse and see who did what and what happened.
Senior Manager at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
It can integrate with Splunk, SNMP, and other solutions and technologies.
Technical Support Analyst at Capgemini
The price point is the most valuable aspect of the solution.
Director at InfoVale Ltd.
I like the tool's flexibility in the sense that you do not have to buy an appliance. You can put it on your own hardware, and it can be very simplistic hardware with simple configurations.
Information Security Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The most valuable feature is the routing capability.
Managing Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

CyberArk Privileged Access ...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
230
Ranking in other categories
User Activity Monitoring (1st), Enterprise Password Managers (2nd), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Mainframe Security (1st), Operational Technology (OT) Security (3rd)
Netgate pfSense
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
221
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is designed for Privileged Access Management (PAM) and holds a mindshare of 11.4%, down 19.6% compared to last year.
Netgate pfSense, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 9.1% mindshare, down 14.4% since last year.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager11.4%
Delinea Secret Server4.9%
One Identity Safeguard4.4%
Other79.3%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netgate pfSense9.1%
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
OPNsense10.3%
Other62.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Atul-Gujar - PeerSpot reviewer
CyberArk manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
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.
JA
Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control
What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.
report
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885,667 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
5%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise174
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business170
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

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?
My thoughts on the pricing of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager depend entirely on the vendors' requirements. If they want their things to be secure, they have to spend accordingly. We have four t...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I recommend PFSense. This software solutions can be installed on youf own hardware or ...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigate both cost-effective and efficient. One of the features we like most is that Fo...
What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and client, Open VPN and client, and PPTP client. Both also have intrusion detection a...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Rockwell Automation
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk, One Identity, Okta and others in Privileged Access Management (PAM). Updated: March 2026.
885,667 professionals have used our research since 2012.