Executive Summary
Privileged Access Management (PAM) secures powerful credentials like domain accounts, database logins, and API keys to prevent attackers from becoming administrators. The choice of PAM platform hinges on its ability to discover and govern all privileged and non-human identities across an estate, not just vaulting. Legacy PAM excels for human administrators, while modern approaches suit cloud and ephemeral workloads, with most enterprises needing both.
Privileged credentials are the keys to the kingdom — a significant share of breaches involve compromised privileged accounts, making PAM a high-priority security investment.
Privileged Access Management (PAM) secures the most powerful credentials in your enterprise: root/admin accounts, service accounts, API keys, and infrastructure secrets. With 80% of breaches involving compromised privileged credentials, PAM is the cornerstone of Zero Trust identity security.
This guide evaluates 7 platforms including CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Delinea, HashiCorp Vault, Saviynt, One Identity, and Teleport.
Why PAM Is the Highest-ROI Security Investment
Privileged Access Management (PAM) matters because privileged accounts are the difference between a contained and catastrophic incident, enabling attackers to disable logging, alter policy, and erase tracks. PAM shrinks this blast radius by addressing credential theft, lateral movement, and accountability. It is consequential because almost every other security investment assumes it is already in place, especially with the growing complexity of non-human identities and cloud-native stacks.
Privileged accounts provide unrestricted access to critical systems: domain controllers, databases, cloud consoles, CI/CD pipelines, and network infrastructure. A compromised privileged credential enables lateral movement, data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, and complete infrastructure takeover.
Key 2026 trends: secrets management for DevOps/cloud-native, machine identity management, cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM), and convergence with IGA into unified identity security platforms.
Should you build or buy Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
You should buy a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution, as building a full platform from scratch is too complex. The real decision is whether to buy a packaged PAM suite with session recording and audit-ready reporting, or to use open-source or platform-native primitives like HashiCorp Vault for secrets management. Most enterprises will likely run a legacy core for people and a modern layer for infrastructure.
Evaluate the build-vs-buy decision for your organization.
| Scenario | Recommendation | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| No PAM solution with shared admin accounts | Deploy PAM Immediately | Shared privileged credentials are the #1 audit finding and the easiest attack vector. PAM is urgent. |
| CyberArk deployed for servers, no cloud coverage | Extend to Cloud + DevOps | Extend PAM to cloud consoles, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines with secrets management. |
| HashiCorp Vault for secrets only | Add Session Management | Vault handles secrets but lacks session recording, just-in-time access workflows, and compliance reporting. |
| Cloud-native with minimal on-prem | Evaluate Cloud-Native PAM | Cloud-first organizations should evaluate SaaS PAM (Delinea, BeyondTrust Cloud) for faster deployment. |
| DevOps-heavy with secrets sprawl | Prioritize Secrets Management | Start with secrets management (Vault, CyberArk Conjur) before full PAM for developer adoption. |
How do you evaluate Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
To evaluate Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions, prioritize capabilities based on your estate, weighing domains like Credential Vaulting (25%), Privileged Session Management (20%), Just-in-Time Access (20%), Secrets Management (20%), and Discovery, Analytics & Compliance (15%). Crucially, never underweight discovery, as a platform unable to find unmanaged accounts cannot protect them. Test discovery first in a proof of concept to identify gaps between what the tool finds and your CMDB.
Use the following weighted evaluation framework to assess vendors.
| Capability Domain | Weight | What to Evaluate |
|---|---|---|
| Credential Vaulting | 25% | Password vaulting, rotation, checkout/checkin, SSH key management, API key storage, certificate management |
| Session Management | 20% | Session recording, real-time monitoring, keystroke logging, session termination, audit trail |
| Just-in-Time Access | 20% | Time-bound access, approval workflows, privilege elevation, zero standing privileges, emergency break-glass |
| Secrets Management | 20% | Dynamic secrets, API-based retrieval, Kubernetes integration, CI/CD pipeline injection, cloud provider secrets |
| Discovery & Analytics | 15% | Privileged account discovery, risk scoring, behavior analytics, compliance reporting, SIEM integration |
Which vendors lead in Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
For Privileged Access Management, consider legacy leaders like CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Delinea, One Identity, and WALLIX for audit-grade evidence on long-lived systems. Modern options include HashiCorp Vault for secrets, Teleport for identity-native infrastructure access, and Keeper Security for ephemeral cloud workloads. Many large enterprises utilize vendors from both camps.
| Vendor | Positioning | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| CyberArk | Leader — Enterprise PAM | Large enterprises requiring comprehensive PAM with deep compliance and audit capabilities |
| BeyondTrust | Leader — Unified PAM | Organizations seeking unified PAM covering privileged passwords, endpoints, and remote access |
| Delinea | Strong — Cloud-First PAM | Mid-market and cloud-first organizations seeking fast deployment with modern SaaS PAM |
| HashiCorp Vault | Strong — Secrets Management | DevOps/cloud-native organizations prioritizing secrets management and infrastructure-as-code |
| Teleport | Emerging — Infrastructure Access | Engineering teams seeking modern, certificate-based infrastructure access without traditional PAM complexity |
The market includes established leaders and innovative challengers.
CyberArk
Leader — Enterprise PAMStrengths: Broadest PAM capabilities, deepest enterprise integrations, Conjur for DevOps secrets, strongest compliance features, and largest customer base (8,000+ enterprises). Considerations: Complex deployment; premium pricing; modernization to SaaS (Identity Security Platform) still in progress.
BeyondTrust
Leader — Unified PAMStrengths: Unified platform (privileged passwords + endpoints + remote access), strong endpoint privilege management, and competitive pricing vs. CyberArk. Considerations: Cloud-native capabilities maturing; less DevOps-focused than CyberArk Conjur/Vault.
Delinea
Strong — Cloud-First PAMStrengths: Cloud-native SaaS deployment, fastest time-to-value, modern UX, and competitive pricing for mid-market. Considerations: Less feature depth than CyberArk for complex enterprise scenarios; smaller partner ecosystem.
HashiCorp Vault
Strong — Secrets ManagementStrengths: Best-in-class secrets management, dynamic secrets, excellent cloud/Kubernetes integration, open-source community, and developer-first approach. Considerations: Not a full PAM solution (no session recording, limited admin workflows); requires engineering capacity.
Teleport
Emerging — Infrastructure AccessStrengths: Modern infrastructure access platform, certificate-based authentication (no passwords), excellent Kubernetes/SSH/database access, and open-source option. Considerations: Narrow scope (infrastructure access only); lacks traditional PAM features (vaulting, compliance reporting).
How much should you budget for Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
PAM budgeting rarely reduces to a single number, as vendors like CyberArk, BeyondTrust, and Delinea meter on different units such as privileged users, managed targets, or protected resources. The license is often a smaller part of the bill, with significant costs arising from deployment infrastructure, professional services for onboarding, and internal engineering time. Modules like session managers or secrets management can also be licensed separately, impacting the total cost.
Pricing varies significantly by vendor, deployment model, and scale.
| Vendor | Pricing Model | Relative Cost Tier | Key Cost Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| CyberArk | Per-user + per-target | Lower | Privileged user count; target systems; modules (Vault, PSM, Conjur, EPM) |
| BeyondTrust | Per-asset, bundled | Lower | Managed systems count; module bundle; endpoint privilege management scope |
| Delinea | Per-user, SaaS | Lower | User count; Secret Server vs. Platform tier; cloud vs. on-prem |
| HashiCorp Vault | Open source + Enterprise | Lower | Free OSS; Enterprise priced per secret/node; HCP Vault consumption-based |
| Teleport | Per-resource, tiered | Lower | Protected resources count; Team vs. Enterprise tier; SSO/RBAC features |
How long does implementation take for Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
PAM implementation typically takes 11-14 months, focusing on risk and reachability. The initial 1-3 months involve discovering and vaulting high-risk human credentials. Session control and JIT for humans follow in months 4-6. Secrets and non-human identity integration occur during months 7-10, with analytics and continuous coverage completing the process in months 11-14.
Follow a phased approach to minimize risk and maintain operational continuity.
Discover all privileged accounts, vault top-priority credentials (domain admin, root), implement automated password rotation, establish break-glass procedures.
Enable session recording for critical systems, implement just-in-time access workflows, deploy approval chains, train administrators on new access procedures.
Integrate secrets management with CI/CD pipelines, vault API keys and service accounts, implement dynamic secrets for cloud workloads, extend to Kubernetes.
Enable behavior analytics for privileged sessions, implement risk-based access decisions, achieve zero standing privilege targets, establish PAM KPIs and compliance reporting.
What should you ask vendors about Privileged Access Management (PAM)?
Use this checklist during vendor evaluation to ensure comprehensive coverage of critical capabilities.
Frequently asked questions about Privileged Access Management (PAM)
When is HashiCorp Vault a sufficient PAM solution, and when do I need a full PAM suite?
HashiCorp Vault is sufficient for DevOps and platform-engineering teams needing automated, dynamic secrets for cloud-native and infrastructure-as-code workloads. However, it is a secrets engine, not a full PAM suite. You will need a PAM suite for privileged session recording, human approval chains, and packaged compliance reporting, which Vault does not provide.
We’re a mid-market company with a lean team, currently using shared admin passwords. What’s the most practical first step for PAM, and which vendor should we consider?
For a mid-market company with a lean team and no PAM, the most practical first step is to deploy a vault-led PAM now, starting with discovery and vaulting high-risk human accounts. You should choose a cloud-native, low-friction PAM. Delinea is a strong option for mid-market to large enterprises wanting modern, fast-to-deploy PAM.
Our organization has strict compliance requirements, including keystroke-level recording. Which vendors are best suited for this, and what are the key cost drivers?
For strict compliance requiring keystroke-level recording and four-eyes approval, a purpose-built session-recording PAM suite is necessary. CyberArk is best for large, compliance-driven enterprises. Key cost drivers for CyberArk include per-identity/per-target counts, specific modules (vault, session manager), and professional services.