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Safeguard by One Identity vs Symantec Privileged Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 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

Safeguard by One Identity
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (2nd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (2nd)
Symantec Privileged Access ...
Ranking in Privileged Access Management (PAM)
16th
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 July 2026, in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category, the mindshare of Safeguard by One Identity is 4.4%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Privileged Access Manager is 1.8%, 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 Manager1.8%
Other93.8%
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Associate 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

"The best feature One Identity Safeguard offers is that it is a pretty new, modern tool that makes extensive use of its API."
"From my experience, the features are best for monitoring and the usage of LDAP and SSH."
"By comparison, Safeguard is much better in terms of performance, networking, and server stability."
"But otherwise, I think it is a good product and a good buy."
"The integration of One Identity Safeguard has had a clear positive impact on both security and operational efficiency, with earlier estimates showing thirty to forty percent fewer password-related tickets and fifty percent faster audit preparation, along with reducing risk and eliminating shared credentials."
"One of the biggest positive impacts of One Identity Safeguard on my organization is the improved control over privileged access; before implementing it, managing administrative credentials and tracking privileged activity required more manual effort, and after implementation, access became more structured and we had better visibility into who was accessing critical systems and when, which helped strengthen our security posture and made audit-related activities easier to manage."
"One Identity Safeguard has positively impacted our organization by contributing to a significant drop in compliance and audit overhead, aiding in the preparation of security audits that were previously chaotic, making the process much simpler now, and improving operational efficiency and admin satisfaction."
"It's one of the best products we've seen. When you start looking at the functionality and use cases and usability of the product, it's straightforward. They designed this product with the end-user in mind, and they also had the sysadmin who is supporting the product in mind. They really did a nice job. Overall, it's a nice product to work with."
"When we started analyzing different products, CA was really good."
"The password manager is a valuable feature."
"The possibility to control the remote activity and establish different policies, because it depends on the position of workers, how much access they needed, and in what platforms they connect, and the possibility to separate this in an easy way is very useful."
"The password vault and access to the systems are the most valuable features."
"The exposure of sensitive usernames and passwords has been limited in a massive way."
"We can enforce complicated password policies and very important frequent password changes."
"CA PAM has session recording, which is a very valuable feature."
"It is the best product for monitoring the recorded session of your IT admins and external consultants."
 

Cons

"One area for improvement in One Identity Safeguard would be reporting and dashboard customization; while the platform provides useful information, having more flexible and easier-to-customize reports would help with administration and gaining insights more quickly."
"I rated One Identity Safeguard nine out of 10 because the stability and control could be better, as there are some problems with stability and errors when we use it."
"I find it challenging mostly when managing complex work, especially when trying to implement it on a larger scale; sometimes it becomes slow, and the automation process also slows down."
"I think the aspects that could be improved in One Identity Safeguard include the learning curve, since the installation is complex and expert guidance is required in the first steps."
"One Identity Safeguard could be improved by simplifying the user interface and initial configuration process, especially for first-time users."
"The Transparent Mode could be somewhat easier to use."
"If I had to point out something that could be improved or is sometimes seen as missing, it would be user experience or UI."
"Monitoring of the platform should be easier and more functional so that you can have a clear picture of the running service."
"I would like to see improvements in branding customization and multi-tenancy."
"There is already a feature for that. It is not too great to use."
"Recent releases need improvement in webpage management."
"Technical support is average. They took a long time to provide good answers, only recommended to upgrade SW version which in some environments is not an option and they don’t even know if that will fix the problem."
"I wouldn't recommend this solution because the support isn't good, and the response time isn't good."
"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."
"Bring more technology into the portfolio and being able to collapse those products into a much more integrated way."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is around $3,000 per month."
"It is a bit on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for. You don't want to get anything too cheap because then you get cheap stuff and cheap support. That really never helps anybody."
"The pricing is about $80,000 per 100 servers. There are few elective costs."
"They have comparable pricing. All identity products are essentially priced in a similar way. It's a per-user base."
"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."
"We bought their other products, so it was not that expensive. It is one of those where the more you buy, the cheaper it is."
"The pricing depends on our perspective, our budget, and, of course, the competitors we are taking into account."
"We have a yearly license. The cost depends on how much a company wants to invest in technology. In our organization, we believe in modern digitization and automation processes so we found it affordable. One Identity was not that much less than other solutions and it is not a cheap solution. There were number of cheaper solutions. However, it's the most effective, according to our evaluation."
"Pricing is fair compared to other top vendors."
"They offer per-device, per-user, or monthly and yearly licensing models."
"It is reasonably priced."
"Cost-wise, CA was better compared to others in the market. ​"
"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 licensing is simple and scalable."
"I would prefer better licensing options for the 20-100 users we have at a given time."
"The prices are not low, but one can ask for a discount. It’s not the cheapest PAM solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Retailer
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise37
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?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been overall positive. One Identity Safeguard is positioned as an enterprise product, so the licensing cost is not inexpensive, but I felt ...
What needs improvement with One Identity Safeguard?
One Identity Safeguard is a strong privileged access management solution, though there are a few areas in which it could be improved. The initial deployment and configuration can be complex, especi...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Safeguard?
One Identity Safeguard is used to securely manage privileged accounts and protect administrative credentials sessions across our IT environment. It helps control access to critical systems and enfo...
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 Safeguard by One Identity vs. Symantec Privileged Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
904,973 professionals have used our research since 2012.