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OpenText Privileged Access Manager vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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

OpenText Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
30th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
12th
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 October 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of OpenText Privileged Access Manager is 1.2%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 2.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec Privileged Access Manager2.0%
OpenText Privileged Access Manager1.2%
Other96.8%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Solutions Architect at IP Protocol INC
Has a useful credential vault feature but the user interface needs to be improved
I don't have a complete picture to be able to tell you that this is the best product. Because each customer in their own environment has a different set of circumstances and different situations that mandate different technologies. I cannot recommend this as the best product or recommend that you should use it. I would rate this product a six out of 10.
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

"Technical support is very good."
"Most valuable feature is the credential vault."
"For me, it is the robust API which is the most valuable feature."
"This application is very easy, fast, and trustworthy!"
"The best features are the comprehensive coverage of the required features for the PAM solution like a credential vault, a session recording, an endpoint agent, security analytics."
"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."
"Transparent login and cluster synchronization are quite stable compared with other products, and it is easy to manage for the administrator."
"The system is very stable."
"The exposure of sensitive usernames and passwords has been limited in a massive way."
"Monitoring privileged users’ actions is valuable because of the high level of trust and wide-ranging access insiders typically enjoy."
 

Cons

"Micro Focus needs a lot of enhancements. Actually, it's a good product, but it's not the best product."
"The user interface could be improved, it's not that good,"
"The user interface and dependence on applets and Windows could use some improvement."
"They need to improve how it scales."
"We have to do a lot of manual work to automate features."
"They need to do a little bit more on the mainframe side.​"
"I would like this solution to be simpler. It should have a one-click access that works together with AWS."
"Broadcom has neglected product development since acquiring Symantec, and nothing major has been added to PAM."
"I think the management console could be improved."
"There were some issues with stability. From what I remember, people would complain that every 30 minutes to an hour or so, their connection would drop and they'd have to reconnect, but it wasn't clear whether that was a problem with the network we were working on or whether that was a problem with Privileged Access Manager."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
"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."
"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. ​"
"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."
"It is more expensive than other solutions on the market."
"The licensing is simple and scalable."
"They offer per-device, per-user, or monthly and yearly licensing models."
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917,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
19%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
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...
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

Micro Focus Privileged Account Manager
CA PAM, Xceedium Xsuite, CA Privileged Access Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
NEOVERA, Telesis, eSoft
Find out what your peers are saying about Idira by Palo Alto Networks, One Identity, Okta and others in Privileged Access Management (PAM). Updated: October 2026.
917,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.