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Developer Tools · head to head

Argo CD vs Delinea

Argo CD logo

Argo CD

Developer Tools

A declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Argo CD has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Argo CD licensed under Apache License 2.0 per the project's GitHub repository (argoproj/argo-cd LICENSE); as open source software it has no paid tier or vendor price to compare; Delinea the Thycotic and Centrify lineages are integrated unevenly, so buying the full portfolio means running consoles and agents that do not share one administrative model as cleanly as the marketing suggests.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Argo CD and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where Argo CD and Delinea differ
AttributeArgo CDDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelopen-sourcequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Linux, macOS
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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

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 Argo CD

Nothing recorded that Delinea does not also cover.

Only in Delinea

  • Secret Server
  • Privileged session recording
  • Privilege Manager
  • Server PAM
  • Discovery
  • DevOps secrets
  • Behaviour analytics

What people use each for

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

Argo CD

  • Declarative GitOps continuous deployment for Kubernetes applicationsnot Delinea
  • Automated configuration drift detection across multiple clustersnot Delinea
  • Multi-environment management with blue/green and canary deploymentsnot Delinea
  • Enterprise authentication with SSO, OIDC, OAuth2, LDAP, SAML 2.0not Delinea
  • Webhook integration for GitHub, BitBucket, and GitLab automationnot Delinea

Delinea

  • An organisation whose cyber insurer now requires privileged credentials to be vaulted and rotatednot Argo CD
  • A mid-market IT team that abandoned a heavier PAM rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeksnot Argo CD
  • A company removing local administrator rights from every workstation after a ransomware incidentnot Argo CD
  • An audit finding that shared service account passwords are stored in a spreadsheet and used by contractorsnot Argo CD

Where each one falls short

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

Argo CD

  • Licensed under Apache License 2.0 per the project's GitHub repository (argoproj/argo-cd LICENSE); as open source software it has no paid tier or vendor price to compare
  • The quick start installation requires the --server-side and --force-conflicts flags due to CRD size limitations, per argo-cd.readthedocs.io, a constraint the documentation states explicitly

Delinea

  • The Thycotic and Centrify lineages are integrated unevenly, so buying the full portfolio means running consoles and agents that do not share one administrative model as cleanly as the marketing suggests.
  • Modules are licensed separately by different units, per privileged user for the vault and per endpoint for privilege management, which makes total cost hard to model and easy to underestimate at scale.
  • Delinea does not publish rates, so buyers benchmark against third party and public sector listings; expect list prices to be negotiable by a wide margin, which means the first quote is not the price.
  • Thoma Bravo ownership since 2021 has coincided with firmer renewal pricing, and buyers with a single-vendor PAM estate have little leverage once credentials are inside the vault.
  • Migrating out of a privileged access vault is a genuinely hard project because every automated process that fetches a secret has to be repointed, so the switching cost is real and the vendor knows it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Argo CD

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Argo CD review.

Delinea

On request
  • Secret Server$undefined/year
    • Priced per privileged user, tiered by edition
    • Cloud or on premises deployment
    • Session recording in higher editions
  • Privilege Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per endpoint
    • Local admin rights removal and application elevation
    • Licensed separately from Secret Server
  • Server PAM$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed server or per privileged user
    • Just-in-time server access
    • Licensed separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Argo CD if

  • You want to start without paying.
Argo CD review

Choose Delinea if

  • You need secret server.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want privileged session recording.
Delinea review

Questions people ask

Is Argo CD or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. Argo CD starts at Free and Delinea at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Argo CD or Delinea?
Argo CD has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Argo CD and On request for Delinea.
Does Argo CD or Delinea run on more platforms?
Argo CD runs on Web. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Argo CD for free?
Yes. Argo CD has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Argo CD best used for?
Argo CD is most often used for declarative gitops continuous deployment for kubernetes applications, automated configuration drift detection across multiple clusters, multi-environment management with blue/green and canary deployments, enterprise authentication with sso, oidc, oauth2, ldap, saml 2.0. Of those, declarative gitops continuous deployment for kubernetes applications and automated configuration drift detection across multiple clusters are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can Argo CD do that Delinea cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Argo CD: What is the cost of Argo CD?

Argo CD is open source and free to use. No licensing fees, subscription charges, or commercial restrictions apply. The project is maintained by the CNCF community.

Source
Delinea: Is Delinea the same as Thycotic?

Delinea is the merged company formed from Thycotic and Centrify in 2021. Secret Server is the former Thycotic product; the server access products come from Centrify.

Argo CD: How frequently does Argo CD poll Git repositories by default?

Argo CD checks Git and Helm repositories every 3 minutes by default to detect configuration changes, enabling timely deployment of updates.

Source
Delinea: Is pricing published?

Not by Delinea. Public sector frameworks have listed Secret Server Cloud around 348 GBP per user per year, which is a reference point, not a quote.

Delinea: Does one licence cover endpoints and servers?

No. Secret Server, Privilege Manager and Server PAM are separately licensed on different units. Scope all three if your requirement spans them.

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