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Developer Tools · head to head

Azure DevOps vs Delinea

Azure DevOps logo

Azure DevOps

Developer Tools

Plan smarter, collaborate better, and ship faster

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Free plan
No

The short version

  • Only Azure DevOps has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Azure DevOps first 5 users free applies to Basic plan only; Test Plans users are not included in free tier; 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 Azure DevOps and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where Azure DevOps and Delinea differ
AttributeAzure DevOpsDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelmixedquote
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 Azure DevOps

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.

Azure DevOps

  • CI/CD pipelines and build automation for software development teamsnot Delinea
  • Source code repository management and version controlnot Delinea
  • Test planning and tracking for QA teamsnot Delinea
  • Artifact storage for packages and binariesnot Delinea

Delinea

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

Where each one falls short

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

Azure DevOps

  • First 5 users free applies to Basic plan only; Test Plans users are not included in free tier
  • Storage pricing increases per-GiB cost as volumes grow, with no volume discount threshold below $0.25

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

Azure DevOps

Free
  • Basic$6/month per user
    • First 5 users free
    • Additional users $6/user/month
    • Pipelines (free tier)
  • Basic + Test Plans$52/month per user
    • All Basic features
    • Test planning, tracking, and execution
  • Azure Pipelines CI/CD - Microsoft-hosted$40/month per additional parallel job
    • 1 free parallel job with 1,800 minutes per month
    • Additional jobs at $40/month each
  • Azure Artifacts Storage$2/month per GiB
    • First 2 GiB free
    • 2-10 GiB: $2/GiB
    • 10-100 GiB: $1/GiB

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 Azure DevOps if

  • You want to start without paying.

Choose Delinea if

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

Questions people ask

Is Azure DevOps or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. Azure DevOps 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, Azure DevOps or Delinea?
Azure DevOps has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Azure DevOps and On request for Delinea.
Does Azure DevOps or Delinea run on more platforms?
Azure DevOps runs on Web. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Azure DevOps for free?
Yes. Azure DevOps has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Azure DevOps best used for?
Azure DevOps is most often used for ci/cd pipelines and build automation for software development teams, source code repository management and version control, test planning and tracking for qa teams, artifact storage for packages and binaries. Of those, ci/cd pipelines and build automation for software development teams and source code repository management and version control are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can Azure DevOps do that Delinea cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Azure DevOps: How much does Azure DevOps cost?

Azure DevOps Basic plan is $6 per user per month after the first 5 users are free. Basic + Test Plans tier costs $52 per user per month. Azure Pipelines add-on for extra parallel jobs costs $40 per job for Microsoft-hosted runners and $15 per job for self-hosted runners.

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.

Azure DevOps: Is there a free tier for Azure DevOps?

Yes, Azure DevOps includes 5 free users on the Basic plan. Additional free allocations include 1,800 free minutes per month on Azure Pipelines with a free parallel job, 2 GiB free storage on Azure Artifacts, and free access for Visual Studio subscribers and Stakeholders with limited functionality.

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.

Azure DevOps: What does the Basic + Test Plans tier add to Azure DevOps?

The Basic + Test Plans tier adds test planning and execution capabilities, browser-based testing, and centralized reporting features. This tier costs $52 per user per month compared to $6 per user for the Basic plan.

Source
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.

Azure DevOps: How is Azure Artifacts priced?

Azure Artifacts provides 2 GiB of free storage, then charges $2 per GiB for 2-10 GiB, $1 per GiB for 10-100 GiB, $0.50 per GiB for 100-1,000 GiB, and $0.25 per GiB for over 1,000 GiB.

Source
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