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Idira Privileged Access Manager vs Top Secret comparison

Idira by Palo Alto Networks and Broadcom are both solutions in the Mainframe Security category. Idira by Palo Alto Networks is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6, while Broadcom is ranked #4. Idira by Palo Alto Networks holds a 5.8% mindshare in MS, compared to Broadcom’s 11.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Idira by Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Idira Privileged Access Man...

Read 231 Idira Privileged Access Manager reviews

30,034 Views
300 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Top Secret

Read 8 Top Secret reviews

1,128 Views
1,094 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Idira Privileged Access Man...

Top Secret

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 2, 2026

Idira Privileged Access Manager and Top Secret are competing products in the realm of access management. Based on data comparisons, Top Secret seems to have the upper hand due to its robust features, which justify its higher pricing. However, Idira Privileged Access Manager is preferred for its cost and support services.

Features: Idira Privileged Access Manager offers comprehensive access tracking, integration capabilities, and compatibility with various IT environments. Top Secret provides advanced security protocols, highly customizable access controls, and a focus on strong security measures.

Room for Improvement: Idira could enhance its security protocols and offer more customizable access controls. Top Secret might benefit from improving its deployment process, reducing complexity, and lowering its pricing to make it more accessible to budget-conscious buyers.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Idira Privileged Access Manager provides a streamlined deployment process with excellent customer service, ensuring rapid implementation and continuous support. Top Secret has a complex deployment model but compensates with a dedicated support team for personalized integration.

Pricing and ROI: Idira Privileged Access Manager presents a competitive setup cost with a promising ROI, making it attractive for budget-conscious buyers. In contrast, Top Secret demands a higher initial investment but delivers a high ROI due to its advanced feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Idira Privileged Access Manager vs. Top Secret Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Idira Privileged Access Manager vs. Top Secret

September 2026

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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

Idira Privileged Access Man...

Ranking in Mainframe Security

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

231

Ranking in other categories

User Activity Monitoring (2nd), Enterprise Password Managers (3rd), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (1st), Operational Technology (OT) Security (4th)

Top Secret

Ranking in Mainframe Security

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Mainframe Security category, the mindshare of Idira Privileged Access Manager is 5.8%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Top Secret is 11.2%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Mainframe Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Idira Privileged Access Manager	5.8%
Top Secret	11.2%
Other	83.0%

Mainframe Security

Featured Reviews

Mahmudul Hoque Khan

Lead Engineer at intelQong Technology

Centralized access has improved privileged control and visibility yet still needs better integrations

While the access control capabilities are useful, streamlining some configuration and policy management workflows could enhance the user experience for administrators. A simpler interface for creating access policies and quickly identifying unusual activities would make day-to-day administration more efficient. Stronger integration with existing identity data and secret management could be a significant improvement for Idira Privileged Access Manager. Deeper integration with cloud solutions would make it easier to correlate privileged access activity with other security events. I would also appreciate more flexible reporting and dashboards so administrators can swiftly see access patterns and unusual privileged access from a single view.

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it_user814482

Information Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

All the features help ensure we are compliant with banking regulations

Top Secret is our external security manager for our mainframe systems It's an integral part of all of our mainframe security functions. It's the core of our mainframe security functions. It helps ensure that we are compliant with all of the various banking regulations, security regulations and…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to develop and deploy applications with no stored secrets is very valuable."

"CyberArk is not just an IT security or cybersecurity tool. It's also an administrator tool. I had a fair number of systems where the passwords were not fully managed by CyberArk yet, and they were expiring every 30 or 45 days. I was able to get management turned on for those accounts. From an administrator perspective, I didn't have to go back into those systems and manually change those passwords anymore. CyberArk... lightened the load on our administrative work."

"The most valuable feature of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is privileged threat analytics."

"Since then, CyberArk's Privileged Access Management is still our central solution for the entire estate, including all our servers (Windows/Unix), databases, devices, and so on, with around 5,000 to 8,000 users globally."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is session recording."

"Technical support is excellent; one of the most knowledgeable and well-trained support staff."

"The access control feature and privilege and role-based assignment are outstanding."

"Their legacy of more than 20 years is very valuable. It brings a lot of stability to the product and a wide variety of integration with the ecosystem. Because of these factors, it has also been very successful in deployment. So, the legacy and integration with other technologies make the PAM platform very stable and strong. In terms of features, most of the other vendors are still focusing just on the privileged access management or session recording, but CyberArk has incorporated artificial intelligence to make PAM a more proactive system. They have implemented threat analytics into this, and there is also a lot of focus on domain controller production, Windows Server protection, and stuff like that. They have also further advanced it with the security on the cloud and DevOps systems. They have a bundle licensing model, which really helps. They don't have a complex licensing model. Even though in our market, people say CyberArk is expensive as compared to some of the other products, but in terms of overall value and as a bundling solution, it is an affordable and highly scalable product."

More Idira Privileged Access Manager pros

"It centralizes all the user security on a single tool, which has truly been the best part for us."

"It's an integral part of all of our mainframe security functions and helps ensure that we are compliant with all of the various banking regulations, security regulations and requirements."

"When selecting a vendor, the most important thing is support."

"We have implemented two-factor authentication, which is a new piece of CA Top Secret."

"The stability of the product is wonderful."

"Customer service is excellent, as any issue that we have had in working with the product received the best response that we could have hoped for, with technicians who have great knowledge of how the product works and who promptly responded with solutions to any problems that we have had over the years."

"We have an ongoing relationship with technical support; they are excellent."

"It protects our enterprise by providing an access monitor authentication protocol."

More Top Secret pros

Cons

"I think that this product can be improved in all the areas."

"I find it hard to mention a point of improvement because I'm happy with the platform. The only thing I would say is that they can improve their price."

"It is complicated to deploy for Windows servers compared to other vendors."

"Their post-sale support area requires a big improvement."

"CyberArk has two disadvantages; the first is that it's insanely expensive and the other is it's very complex."

"There were a lot of manual steps in the initial setup which could have been automated. I read the 10.4 release that was sent out about a month or two ago, and I saw the steps required for upgrade have been reduced by about 90%. That was a big thing for me, but I still haven't seen that yet because we have not upgrade past 9.9.5."

"The technical support is very poor."

"The authentication port is available in CyberArk Alero but not Fortinet products."

More Idira Privileged Access Manager cons

"I'd like to see integration with LDAP's services, because today we have the mainframe and Windows AD separated."

"The user interface could be improved. Sometimes, it is not simple to understand where a certain definition should be defined, and I go through a number of screens until I find where to do some of them."

"That is an area where I have a concern, because I don't see them keeping pace with what we're doing."

"As an IT auditor, the UI is the tough part. From the IT auditing standpoint, it needs to be more simple to use."

"It would be helpful if they removed limitations on user record sizes."

"In new releases, installation is not easy and can take about four months to roll out."

"I'd like to see that more granular, see where you could get the passwords that are being enforced, but you can enforce it at different hierarchical layers between the product."

"I would like to see better reporting, more emphasis on audit reporting, and better scrubbing of the canned reports."

More Top Secret cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is perceived to be somewhat overpriced compared to similar market products. It is a little bit overvalued. It could come down a little bit for my liking. However, the industry-leading reputation and the quality of service justify the high price point to some extent."

"I would rate the cost of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager seven out of ten with ten being the most expensive."

"It's expensive, certainly. But CyberArk is the leader in the market with regards to privileged access management. You pay a lot, but you are paying for the value that is being delivered."

"Its price can be reduced."

"This solution is expensive."

"CyberArk has been Gartner's number-one pick for the past ten years, so you can infer that their pricing is higher than everyone else. When you are the best, you will charge appropriately for it."

"No, I do not have any advice on the price of the product."

"The pricing for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is quite expensive, and the pricing varies from region to region. In APAC, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager can be obtained for less than in North America, according to my understanding."

More Idira Privileged Access Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	43
Large Enterprise	175

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Large Enterprise	8

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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?

The pricing is reasonable compared to other software options we evaluated, and it is straightforward. However, overall costs depend on deployment size and licensing requirements.

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What needs improvement with CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?

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Comparisons

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Teleport vs Idira Privileged Access Manager

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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Idira Privileged Access Manager

Compared 2% of the time

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ACF2 vs Top Secret

Compared 29% of the time

IBM Resource Access Control Facility vs Top Secret

Compared 21% of the time

IBM Security zSecure vs Top Secret

Compared 16% of the time

BMC AMI Security vs Top Secret

Compared 11% of the time

CA TPX Session Manager vs Top Secret

Compared 9% of the time

More Top Secret Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Idira Privileged Access Manager

October 2026

Download Idira Privileged Access Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Mainframe Security

October 2026

Download Top Secret product report

Also Known As

CyberArk Privileged Access Security, CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault

CA Top Secret

Overview

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager safeguards privileged accounts through password management, credential rotation, and session recording. With seamless integration and real-time monitoring, it ensures robust security across platforms.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager is recognized for its extensive capabilities in managing and securing privileged accounts. It offers vital functionalities such as automatic password rotation, real-time session monitoring, and cross-platform integration through APIs and custom connectors. Users find the flexibility in workflows and granular access controls beneficial, particularly in protecting access across cloud and on-prem infrastructures. However, improvements in its interface, installation process, plugin support, and integration with third-party tools are often suggested. Pricing is a concern for many, along with the need for better dashboard reporting, user provisioning, and enhanced documentation. Organizations leverage this tool for encrypting and monitoring critical account activities and automating password management to bolster security.

What are the key features of CyberArk Privileged Access Manager?

Enterprise Password Vault: Provides secure storage and management of enterprise credentials.
Privilege Session Manager: Offers comprehensive session recording and monitoring.
Privileged Threat Analytics: Detects and alerts on potential credential threats.
Integration Capabilities: Easily integrates with multiple systems using APIs and custom connectors.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Enhanced Security: Automates and centralizes password management, reducing risk of account misuse.
Compliance Support: Ensures alignment with compliance policies through automated processes.
Operational Efficiency: Streamlines security operations with real-time monitoring and integration.
Adaptability: Protects privileged access across diverse infrastructure setups including cloud and on-prem.

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager finds substantial use in industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology, where the protection of privileged accounts is critical. These sectors rely on its capabilities to manage application credentials securely and provide safe access for developers, administrators, and vendors across various infrastructures.

Idira by Palo Alto Networks

Top Secret offers a secure, innovative solution tailored for industries needing high confidentiality. Used widely, it delivers reliable performance and advanced data protection, establishing its role as a trusted name in cutting-edge technology.

Designed for those requiring top-level security, Top Secret provides a reliable infrastructure that ensures data remains confidential and protected. Its sophisticated features are geared to handle demanding tasks while being intuitive to use. Targeting sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, Top Secret continues to meet the complex requirements of enterprises aiming for data security and ease of management.

What are the most important features of Top Secret?

Advanced Encryption: Ensures all data is secured with high-level encryption protocols.
Real-time Monitoring: Provides continuous monitoring for suspicious activities.
Access Controls: Offers customizable user permissions to manage data accessibility.
Scalability: Easily adapts to expanding enterprise needs without compromising performance.

What benefits or ROI should users consider in Top Secret reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Promises reduced overhead costs with its streamlined processes.
Enhanced Security: Delivers unparalleled security measures that safeguard sensitive information.
Increased Productivity: Facilitates seamless operations, boosting overall organizational productivity.
Trust and Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry regulations, fostering trust among stakeholders.

Top Secret is implemented across diverse industries, each leveraging its capabilities for confidentiality and security. In financial services, it manages sensitive transactions with precision. Healthcare facilities trust its rigorous protection and management of patient records. Governmental bodies appreciate its robust infrastructure supporting data integrity and secure communications, demonstrating versatile solutions suitable for demanding environments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Rockwell Automation

First Tennessee Bank

Buyer's Guide

Idira Privileged Access Manager vs. Top Secret

September 2026

Free Report: Idira Privileged Access Manager vs. Top Secret

Find out what your peers are saying about Idira Privileged Access Manager vs. Top Secret and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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