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CyberArk Secrets Management vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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

CyberArk Secrets Management
Ranking in Access Management
19th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Password Managers (16th)
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Access Management
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (17th), Network Access Control (NAC) (8th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (9th)
 

Featured Reviews

RJ
Helps with compliance and improves operational flexibility
We have had both on-premises and SaaS models. The on-premise setup was a little difficult, but now that it has been moved to the SaaS model, everything is controlled by CyberArk. We just go and do our work. The initial on-premises setup took two weeks because it was an integrated effort. I had to spin up the servers and bring in the CyberArk Secrets Management resource to deploy the scripts. I then had to open networks and firewalls between CyberArk Secrets Management's on-premise servers and the application server. In the initial phase, it took two to three weeks, but it became easier when moving to the SaaS model. In terms of maintenance, it requires patching or upgrades, which happens one day in a month. If there is a failure, we have to roll back and try once again, which takes more time, but if everything goes smoothly, there is three to five hours of downtime.
Ashish Kumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure
I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The audit trails have been extremely important for us in helping our organization meet regulatory requirements."
"One of the most important features for us is the system's performance, particularly its speed of retrieving secrets."
"CyberArk's support team is knowledgeable and helpful, consistently responding on time."
"It's vital for effectively managing and securing my credentials."
"CyberArk Secrets Management is a critical solution for strengthening our security posture."
"The automatic rotation of the password is the top feature."
"With CyberArk Secrets Management, we were able to resolve the automatic change of the passwords based on timelines. We were also able to retrieve the passwords in an encrypted format by utilizing the CyberArk platform, which was not provided to us by UiPath."
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
"I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) to others due to its reliability, and it is perceived as critical to security infrastructure."
"Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product."
"On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten."
"The portal access was very good."
"Our customers have never complained about the stability"
"The load balancing features are valuable."
 

Cons

"We did not have a good experience with technical support because their numerous processes caused delays in engaging, leading to project delays or issues with production."
"We occasionally experience incidents that delay password injection back into the script."
"The password search feature and integration between different vaults could be enhanced. For instance, when updating passwords in both lower and higher environment vaults, improvement is required in search and upgrade functions."
"Implementation was complex and required professional services."
"There is room for improvement with better documentation and less need for CyberArk Secrets Management personnel to assist us with their presence."
"Implementing it and ensuring seamless password rotations present challenges."
"Improvements for CyberArk Secrets Management include enhanced documentation with more use cases and step-by-step integration guides."
"The operational deployment is not great."
"Cloud services are something that F5 Access Policy Manager could do better"
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS."
"In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side."
"The solution is quite costly."
"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."
"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."
"The technical support’s response time must be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CyberArk Secrets Management has a moderate pricing structure based on a per-tenant licensing model rather than a per-user account model like their PAM solution."
"It is in the middle. It is neither very cheap nor very expensive, so I would place it in the middle."
"The product is very expensive."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Secrets Management?
It is in the middle. It is neither very cheap nor very expensive, so I would place it in the middle.
What needs improvement with CyberArk Secrets Management?
There is room for improvement with better documentation and less need for CyberArk Secrets Management personnel to assist us with their presence.
What is your primary use case for CyberArk Secrets Management?
My main use cases at the moment promote security all across the organization.
What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchasing a Bentley as opposed to an Audi.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM ( /categories/application-performance-monitoring-apm-and-observability )) does not have a direction for SaaS. Most solutions focus more on remote access and acc...
 

Also Known As

No data available
F5 Access Policy Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk Secrets Management vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.