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One Identity Safeguard vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

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

One Identity Safeguard
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (3rd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (1st)
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
15th
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 May 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of One Identity Safeguard is 4.4%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.7%, 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 (%)
One Identity Safeguard4.4%
Symantec Privileged Access Manager1.7%
Other93.9%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Executive at DigitalTrack Solutions Ind Pvt Ltd
Centralized control has strengthened privileged security and simplified audit investigations
While One Identity Safeguard is a strong and reliable PAM solution, there are a few areas where it can be further improved to enhance user experience and scalability. Regarding the user interface and experience, the UI, while functional, can be a bit complex for new users. A more intuitive and modern dashboard with simplified navigation would improve adoption, especially for non-technical stakeholders. Regarding integration flexibility, although it supports major integrations, expanding out-of-the-box connectors for more cloud-native apps, DevOps tools, and SaaS platforms would be beneficial. Faster and simpler API-based integrations could reduce deployment efforts. Regarding scalability and performance in large enterprise environments, performance tuning and scaling can require additional efforts. Enhancing seamless scalability and high availability configuration would improve enterprise readiness.
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

"It provides secure and centralized access to both on-prem and cloud servers, which we did not have before. Previously, there were myriad ways to access our servers, so this centralizing feature is beneficial."
"The solution transparently integrates into the infrastructure and users do not notice it. I would give this feature the highest rating."
"One Identity Safeguard has improved our organization's security posture by providing centralized privileged access management, secure password vaulting, and session monitoring."
"The auditing and approval mechanisms are features we did not have before and are greatly appreciated."
"One Identity Safeguard has had a very positive impact on our organization."
"The whole product solves the privileged access management challenge for our company. We have a secure tunnel, a secure session manager, and automatic logging of sessions, which is good for forensic purposes. We have a rich level of logs and can trace what happened on which machine and see who did what."
"The customer service and technical support are very good."
"One Identity Safeguard has been a cost-effective tool that has prevented major security breaches, avoided insider threats and misuse of admin privileges, and reduced audit and compliance costs."
"Comprehensive coverage of the required features for the PAM solution."
"It has simplified and unified the access of the users to a single point of access."
"Transparent login for users of privileged IDs (Linux, Windows). This prevents sharing of the password because it is never seen."
"For me, it is the robust API which is the most valuable feature."
"Transparent login for users of privileged IDs (Linux, Windows). This prevents sharing of the password because it is never seen."
"The most important feature is that we do not need to know the passwords any more; just having access to the end point; and that it’s easy to manage users and the account."
"We have received good support from the tech support team."
"The DB clustering is a really good benefit of using CA PAM."
 

Cons

"The main point regarding the user experience is that Safeguard has two separate management consoles."
"For the A2A use, it is not as easy as using something like HashiCorp's password management tools."
"The deployment affects our privileged users because it takes a long time for them to request privileges, which impacts the SLA."
"Some of the out-of-the-box reporting isn't that rich."
"From a usability perspective, what we are finding out is that our privileged domain admin users, in particular, want functionality for extending a checkout session."
"The UI can be more user-friendly."
"We have issues using Safeguard to record http/https connection in a video format. Currently, they don't have a mechanism to record this type of connection."
"Overall, One Identity Safeguard works well, but it could be improved in terms of UI simplicity and ease of navigation, especially for new users."
"So far, with the functionality of what we had, there has not been much improvement at this point of time."
"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 handled well by the system."
"There is already a feature for that. It is not too great to use."
"I would like this solution to be simpler. It should have a one-click access that works together with AWS."
"Reporting. It's difficult to locate the reports, there are limits on what reports can be run from the GUI, and the report formats are lacking."
"I think the management console could be improved."
"I would like to see better integration with Security Incident Management solutions, a SIM, like a Splunk."
"We experience stability issues after every patch upgrade. This is a place where CA needs to improve drastically."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They offer a fair price for a robust solution."
"Setup cost, pricing and licensing are all very expensive."
"One Identity Safeguard is expensive and the cost goes up as we scale."
"The pricing depends on our perspective, our budget, and, of course, the competitors we are taking into account."
"It was definitely cheaper than the other two products that we evaluated."
"The pricing is about $80,000 per 100 servers. There are few elective costs."
"As compared to other products, it is reasonable, but the training sessions are too expensive."
"The full license is expensive but if you plan to use it in a big organization then it is the best option because it is more flexible."
"They offer per-device, per-user, or monthly and yearly licensing models."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
"The prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
"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. ​"
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"It is reasonably priced."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business65
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Safeguard?
One Identity Safeguard is priced at a premium level, typical for enterprise-grade privilege access management solutions. The licensing is generally based on the number of privileged accounts, users...
What needs improvement with One Identity Safeguard?
While One Identity Safeguard is a strong privilege access management solution, there are some areas where improvements can be made. The initial deployment and configuration can be complex, especial...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Safeguard?
In my daily operations, I rely on One Identity Safeguard for administrator requests for access through One Identity Safeguard, which are approved via workflows. Once approved, sessions are launched...
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

No data available
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cavium
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about One Identity Safeguard vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.