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Cybersecurity · head to head

Akeyless vs One Identity

Akeyless logo

Akeyless

Cybersecurity

Runtime identity security at agentic scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
One Identity logo

One Identity

Cybersecurity

Quest-owned identity governance, PAM and Active Directory management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Akeyless has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Akeyless pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation; One Identity the portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.
  • They diverge on capability: Akeyless covers Secrets management, One Identity covers Identity Manager.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akeyless and One Identity actually diverge.

Attributes where Akeyless and One Identity differ
AttributeAkeylessOne Identity
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUsage-based pricing units that vary by product modulequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, Hybrid, On-PremisesWeb, Windows, Linux

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Akeyless

  • Secrets management
  • Machine identity
  • AI agent identity
  • Certificate management
  • Privileged access management
  • Multi-vault governance
  • Encryption and KMS
  • Password manager

Only in One Identity

  • Identity Manager
  • Safeguard
  • Active Roles
  • OneLogin
  • Password Manager
  • syslog-ng
  • Starling connectors

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Akeyless

  • Securing AI agents with dedicated identity trackingnot One Identity
  • Managing machine-to-machine credentials at scalenot One Identity
  • Automating PKI and certificate lifecyclenot One Identity
  • Implementing just-in-time privileged accessnot One Identity

One Identity

  • An organisation whose authoritative directory will remain on premises Active Directory and needs delegated administration with attribute-level controlnot Akeyless
  • A government or defence environment requiring privileged session management on a hardened physical appliance rather than a cloud servicenot Akeyless
  • A manufacturer with SAP and Active Directory needing provisioning governed under one certification processnot Akeyless
  • An enterprise consolidating Active Directory after an acquisition and needing automated account lifecycle across both forestsnot Akeyless

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Akeyless

  • Pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation
  • Free tier is very limited with restricted access
  • No transparent pricing published for enterprise features
  • Pricing model varies significantly by product module

One Identity

  • The portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.
  • Identity Manager implementations are customisation-heavy and commonly run over a year, with the services spend exceeding the licence cost in the first year.
  • Quest has changed private equity ownership more than once since the Dell separation, and buyers should ask directly about product investment commitments before signing a multi-year deal.
  • Product documentation and support sit behind a customer portal, which makes independent evaluation before purchase harder than with vendors that publish openly.
  • The cloud-native and developer experience trails the pure-play identity vendors, so organisations moving decisively to SaaS applications find the on premises heritage becomes a constraint rather than an asset.

Pricing, plan by plan

Akeyless

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited feature access
    • Restricted usage quotas
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing based on usage
    • Unlimited resource quotas
    • Full feature access

One Identity

On request
  • Identity Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed identity
    • On premises or hosted
    • Access certification and provisioning
  • Safeguard$undefined/year
    • Priced per privileged user or per appliance
    • Hardened appliance option for session management
    • Licensed separately from Identity Manager
  • Active Roles$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed Active Directory account
    • Delegated administration and automated provisioning
    • Licensed separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Akeyless if

  • You need secrets management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises.
  • You also want machine identity.
Akeyless review

Choose One Identity if

  • You need identity manager.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want safeguard.
One Identity review

Questions people ask

Is Akeyless or One Identity better?
Neither clearly leads. Akeyless starts at Free and One Identity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akeyless or One Identity?
Akeyless has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Akeyless and On request for One Identity.
Does Akeyless or One Identity run on more platforms?
Akeyless runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises. One Identity runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
Can I use Akeyless for free?
Yes. Akeyless has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. One Identity starts at On request.
What is Akeyless best used for?
Akeyless is most often used for securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking, managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale, automating pki and certificate lifecycle, implementing just-in-time privileged access. Of those, securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking and managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale are not what One Identity is typically brought in for.
What can Akeyless do that One Identity cannot?
Akeyless covers Secrets management, Machine identity, AI agent identity, Certificate management. One Identity covers Identity Manager, Safeguard, Active Roles, OneLogin.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Akeyless: What pricing model does Akeyless use?

Akeyless uses usage-based pricing units that vary by product. For example, Secrets Management is priced by clients, Certificate Management by managed certificates, Encryption by transactions, and PAM by users. Contact sales for a custom quote.

Source
One Identity: Is One Identity the same company as Quest?

Yes. One Identity is Quest Software's identity and access management business unit, not a separate vendor.

Akeyless: Does Akeyless support hybrid deployment?

Yes, Akeyless offers Pure SaaS cloud-managed deployment and Hybrid SaaS with on-premise gateways and zero-knowledge encryption for sensitive environments.

Source
One Identity: Does it include privileged access?

Safeguard provides it, but it is licensed separately from Identity Manager. Neither includes the other.

Akeyless: How does Akeyless handle AI agent identities?

Akeyless provides dedicated AI agent identity tracking with runtime access control, allowing organizations to manage AI agent access separately from human and machine identities.

Source
One Identity: Why choose this over SailPoint or Saviynt?

Almost always because of Active Directory depth via Active Roles or an appliance requirement for privileged sessions. For cloud-first estates the specialists are the stronger choice.

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