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Delinea Secret Server vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 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

Delinea Secret Server
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Password Managers (8th), Secrets Management Tools (5th)
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of Delinea Secret Server is 3.5%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 2.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Delinea Secret Server3.5%
Symantec Privileged Access Manager2.0%
Other94.5%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

SP
Adjunct Assistant Professor at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Robust credential management has improved security and simplifies privileged access control
I would characterize common frustrations related to Delinea Secret Server rather than using the term dislike. One area is the complexity for the administrative part. While it is straightforward in core values, configuring advanced policies, custom templates, and other areas including discovery scans and detailed reporting have a steep learning curve and may require extra training. The user interface and terminology present another challenge. Some users feel that the user interface can feel dated or overly complex, with terminology around secrets and folder structures taking time to master. Pricing perception is another point where some costs are mixed, while many others find Delinea Secret Server more affordable and flexible than tier one competitors. However, smaller teams still view enterprise licensing as a significant investment. I have observed poor technical support, particularly in multiple reviews. The support can be slow, limited, and sometimes unhelpful when troubleshooting complex configurations or stability issues. Aggressive or untransparent sales practices also present a concern. Some customers on G2 have cited frustrations with hidden costs, such as unexpected EC2 instance fees and core features being unbundled or oversold during contract negotiation. Complex implementation and setup is another significant challenge. The initial configuration, deployment, and managing advanced policies or connectors requires specialized expertise that most organizations do not have, and the steep learning curve compounds this issue. Users transitioning to the cloud-hosted version frequently complain that the updated interface and permissions structure feel slow and problematic compared to the legacy on-premise setup. Integration and API challenges represent the final area of concern. The platform points out challenges with API tokenization and external system integration, and the lack of documentation is one of the key points I would highlight. This limitation affects the ability to integrate with external systems effectively.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Secure management of sensitive servers and seamless applications with direct linking
The credential injection feature is highly valued, particularly for RDP sessions. A majority of customers use it for RDP, and a couple for Linux servers. The broader capabilities, including access to multiple systems, web-based applications, and clustering, have never posed an issue. The threat analytics aspect is also a robust feature that analyzes all pertinent information.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When making a decision about which solution to purchase, it often comes down to a choice between Thycotic and CyberArk, and the cost and features one gets with the latter provides a little more value and saves money in the process, although the former is somewhat easier to deploy and to get up and running."
"There are lots of great custom features and network monitoring capabilities."
"This is a product that I would recommend."
"Delinea Secret Server offers features similar to CyberArk and BeyondTrust, such as maintaining and securing privileged passwords and session monitoring."
"Password checkout and the ability to change a password after checkin are the most valuable features."
"I have found most valuable the automatic scheduled password rotation and remote desktop monitoring. Additionally, the documentation is readily available and easy to find and the dashboard is straightforward."
"I like that you can change the password remotely."
"One valuable feature is that it will support a dedicated database. Delinea provides multiple features, like reporting and remote password changes."
"It is great for identity governance."
"You can do A2A integration. You can have your own script, which can then run outside of PA to retrieve the password and perform other tasks."
"The key benefits are we improve our governance. We ensure we can build more trust in the way we run and operate our environment, and most of all is the accountability."
"It is the best product for monitoring the recorded session of your IT admins and external consultants."
"On the access management side, our system administrators, under privileged management, don't have to use their local tools to log on to the production servers, because they log on to a web interface that makes the access more secure and keeps the sessions strictly between the production servers and the IA PAM."
"We can enforce complicated password policies and very important frequent password changes."
"We do not have to authenticate users due to automatic authentication, so this allows us to be much more secure."
"Comprehensive coverage of the required features for the PAM solution."
 

Cons

"Support could be better. I have heard about a lot of problems in the Bangladesh market. People are saying that there are support issues. So, Delinea should focus on support and services."
"The setup for this solution is complex."
"What needs improvement? The product can be improved by reducing the number of updates provided."
"Documentation could be improved if they were to include more about connectors. There is not enough documentation."
"Whenever an update is applied to Secret Server, it requires downtime. Most of the time, the solution tends to fail, necessitating the need to pull data from backup servers."
"Delinea Secret Server can improve in areas like statistics and notifications, and risk scoring, especially for highly privileged accounts where financial transactions occur."
"The biggest improvement needed for Delinea Secret Server is enhancing the mobile app integration into password managers on devices such as cell phones or iPads."
"It is also very expensive, and its price should be lower."
"Now, the reporting feature on CA PAM only shows the basic information in white-black table format."
"There are currently other tools on the market which are much cheaper than PAM. They can do almost all of what PAM does, and even do it better."
"When there are new patches or upgrades, they need to test the new release well so it will not break the functional parts."
"It was a challenge for our newer staff members to install."
"Some rollover credentials often do not work or you need a more complex configuration."
"The service account management functionality needs to be extended to application pools, SQL database, PowerShell scripts, service account discovery, etc."
"So far, with the functionality of what we had, there has not been much improvement at this point of time."
"Technical support was good when CA handled it. After Broadcom took over, it's not as good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is good."
"Pricing is comparable to competing products."
"I would give the price a four on a scale from one to ten, with one being the cheapest and ten being the most expensive. We pay for the license on a yearly basis, and we paid for three years. It costs around 5000 a year."
"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being a high price."
"There are different plans and additional licensing costs that can be instituted for add-ons."
"Secret Server is expensive when compared to the cost to some alternatives."
"The tool's pricing is expensive."
"There is an annual license needed to use Delinea Secret Server."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"The version we are using is affordable compared to BeyondTrust, which is maybe three to four times as expensive, but it depends on the features."
"The prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
"Don’t go with an agent model. Don’t go with a model that has you buying a thousand different parts. Go with PAM that gives you everything, or you’ll just be paying costs of implementing another tool that PAM would have just given you up front."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
"Cost-wise, CA was better compared to others in the market. ​"
report
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920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
18%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

Looking for recommendations and a pros/cons template for software to detect insider threats
This is an inside-out --- outside-in --- inside-in question, as an insider can be an outsider as well. There is no short answer other than a blend of a PAM tool with Behavioral Analytics and Endpo...
Which PAM tool do you prefer: CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, One Identity Safeguard, Delinea Secret Server, or BeyondTrust Privileged Remote A
For a banking or financial services use case you should check out SplitSecure. Very easy to deploy and use and splits secrets across devices rather than on cloud servers so you get full cryptograph...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Thycotic Password Reset Server?
Pricing for Delinea Secret Server aligns with my expectations, including setup costs, with licensing generally falling in line with what I anticipated for an enterprise solution, making it reasonab...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Due to the nature of the solution, it is hard to gauge, but compared to competitors, the pricing is very good. I would rate it as an eight and a half out of ten.
What needs improvement with Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
Recent releases need improvement in webpage management. For instance, navigating through a webpage that acts like a wizard, where I proceed to the next page and enter more information, is not handl...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Privileged Access Manager?
With the customers that I have so far, I help them broker RDP sessions to sensitive servers, particularly those that manage aspects like physical access. I have also done it for backend databases, ...
 

Also Known As

Thycotic Secret Server, Delinea Password Reset Server
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Secure-24, University of San Diego, International Rescue Committee, San Francisco Ballet, Perkins Coie, University of San Diego, D.S.S. Limited, Turbo's Hoet, Eclipse Computing, Cathay Bank, Stellarise, J&R Consulting
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about Delinea Secret Server vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.