Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

MetricStream vs RSA Archer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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

MetricStream
Ranking in GRC
10th
Ranking in IT Governance
4th
Ranking in IT Vendor Risk Management
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Controls Monitoring (12th)
RSA Archer
Ranking in GRC
1st
Ranking in IT Governance
1st
Ranking in IT Vendor Risk Management
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the GRC category, the mindshare of MetricStream is 5.3%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Archer is 15.9%, down from 16.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
GRC Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
RSA Archer15.9%
MetricStream5.3%
Other78.8%
GRC
 

Featured Reviews

AP
Reasonably priced, stable, with out of the box deployment, and has good local support
They have now reworked it. The interface is mobile-friendly and it is getting a good response from our customers. It's a very good feature that the product offers. It is also available as a cloud option, which is getting a lot of interest from customers who are looking into the GRCC. It is very useful, especially in the solution platform. It has good features and good functionality, and our customers feel there is a lot of merit in that. I think that the portal is constantly improving. They do their own enhancements very often. They keep doing those enhancements from their site itself.
IMRAN ALMARZOOQI - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates compliance management effectively but needs improved interface and dashboards
The tool basically automates whatever processes you already have, so I cannot specify improvements in that regard. However, my main issue with Archer is the graphics. The graphics have always been lacking. I always need to depend on another tool to read information from Archer to have better dashboards. It is like using Linux, and it has a Linux mindset and interface. I want to use Archer for top management and CEOs, but it looks too technical, and the dashboards are not really friendly. They are bulky, like opening an old Nintendo system from nineteen-ninety. The management agrees that Archer lacks in terms of presentation and dashboarding. It is complex, not user-friendly, and bulky. The interface just looks old.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The interface is mobile-friendly and it is getting a good response from our customers."
"Key features are usability and ease of configuration. It allows us to have all the information in a single place and provide real-time indicators and information for our executives."
"The solution has helped our organization manage our internal and external activities."
"The most valuable part of the product is the ease-of-use and the opportunity to create custom security applications easily."
"The last project was for an investment group that was using Excel. Shifting their records from one position to another took approximately 15 minutes. In Archer, we created a workflow for them to leverage it, and they could send the single record with one click to one person within seconds. The whole process went from 15 minutes to two minutes to get the approval for the records. The main purpose of Archer is to just make it easy."
"RSA is a very rich application. I like its adaptive suggestion, where based on your users and the class of data, it can actually recommend you the proper control to choose. For example, we have been using PCI DSS as an NIST. So based on application feedback, it will provide you with a suggestion on which control objective needs to be set. Based on that, you can make a decision—you don't need to take the suggestion, but you can customize that particular provided suggestion. RSA Archer's workflow is also good, in terms of process automation."
"This solution helped us with the centralization of our governance data, so we could house all of our controls in one place. We could use that central repository of all our controls to build our risk management strategy and our policy and governance. So we could use controls as a central library and build policy, and then build risk management around it."
"I have found all the features to be valuable, including those involving reporting, the dashboard, notifications, email modules, the database and data input."
"I like how Archer requires very little programming ability. A person with minimum coding experience can configure the necessary fields in Archer. It's more of a drag-and-drop solution."
"Archer has simplified our security audits. It's made it easier to raise and trigger questionnaires to customers."
 

Cons

"We would like to have more dashboards and reports, such as geographical and trend reports in the next version. Also, an improvement in the mobile version would be helpful."
"I would like to see out-of-the-box integration with more security, it would be helpful."
"The ticket handling process could be improved."
"Its customization features could be better."
"Recently, we made a suggestion for cross references, like for one application to another. There were limitations there, so we're hoping that will be included in the next upgrade."
"If I were to rate RSA technical support on a scale from one to ten, I would give it about four, as there is definitely room for improvement, but support is available."
"GUI could be improved."
"I would like to have the ability to build and maintain an inventory of personal data processing activities and assets utilizing a purpose-built taxonomy and data structure."
"The design and advanced workflow need to be improved."
"If you need to integrate the RSA products with another SEIM solution, then it doesn't work properly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They are flexible in terms of customers' needs."
"It is not expensive. It is reasonable. We only pay for the licensing."
"The solution is not at all a cheap product."
"The license is costly for the solution, but the remaining set up and maintenance is quite cheaper."
"The price of the solution is very affordable."
"Fairly highly-priced, especially for smaller companies."
"The solution's price should be reduced. You only have to pay the license and there are no additional fees."
"The initial purchase is cheap. You pay a nominal price to start then renew the license annually. You also must buy a license for each module. I'm not too fond of that aspect of the licensing model. You buy the elephant and then spend more money to feed the elephant."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which GRC solutions are best for your needs.
865,985 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Insurance Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What are the main differences between RSA Archer, MetricStream and IBM OpenPages?
RSA Archer, IBM OpenPages and MetricStream are the top GRC software solutions in the market today. Out of the 3, IBM OpenPages has a slightly upper hand as IBM has come up with powerful Artificial ...
What do you like most about RSA Archer?
It has various valuable features. For example, showing us if a control aligns with specific standards or frameworks helps us understand it better and verify its compliance.
What needs improvement with RSA Archer?
While it provides benefits in terms of security, the pricing is a bit higher than customers typically expect. It would be helpful if RSA Archer had the capability for two-way integration because, i...
What is your primary use case for RSA Archer?
Regarding the compliance, risk, and governance tools, I am comfortable discussing the tools in the GRC category. The specific module from ServiceNow is the ServiceNow Compliance, Risk, and Governan...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Archer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, ACCO Brands Corporation, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, AIB International, Associated Banc-Corp, BAE Systems, Barclaycard, Dell Inc, DIRECTV, Energizer, Fresenius Kabi, Hasbro, Goodyear, HudsonCity Savings Bank, Infigen Energy, Kaydon, Leroy Merlin, Mountry Financial Corp., Nicholas Piramal, Pepco, Pfizer, Societe Generale, Whitney Bank
T-Systems, Bridge Point, Equifax, First Data, Global Imaging Company, Manulife Financial
Find out what your peers are saying about MetricStream vs. RSA Archer and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
865,985 professionals have used our research since 2012.