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Cybersecurity · head to head

BeyondTrust vs Falco

BeyondTrust logo

BeyondTrust

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management, endpoint privilege management and secure remote access

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Falco logo

Falco

Cybersecurity

CNCF-graduated runtime threat detection for Linux and Kubernetes using eBPF

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Falco has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BeyondTrust the product lines came from separate origins and still have separate consoles, so buying the suite does not deliver the single pane of glass the bundle implies.; Falco falco detects and alerts but does not block; stopping an attack requires wiring up Falco Talon or your own response tooling, so out of the box a confirmed detection still means a human intervening after the fact.
  • They diverge on capability: BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, Falco covers eBPF kernel instrumentation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BeyondTrust and Falco actually diverge.

Attributes where BeyondTrust and Falco differ
AttributeBeyondTrustFalco
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, WebLinux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted

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 BeyondTrust

  • Password Safe
  • Endpoint Privilege Management
  • Privileged Remote Access
  • Remote Support
  • Discovery
  • Session recording

Only in Falco

  • eBPF kernel instrumentation
  • System call rules engine
  • Container and Kubernetes context
  • Default rule set
  • Falcosidekick
  • Falco Talon
  • Plugins framework
  • DaemonSet deployment

What people use each for

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

BeyondTrust

  • An organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of Windows endpoints without swamping the service desknot Falco
  • A utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory auditnot Falco
  • A firm giving external maintenance vendors access to specific servers without handing over credentialsnot Falco
  • A helpdesk consolidating remote support and privileged access onto one audited path rather than an unmanaged remote toolnot Falco

Falco

  • A platform team that needs to know when a shell is opened inside a production container, which image scanning cannot detect because it happens at runtimenot BeyondTrust
  • A regulated business required to evidence host and container intrusion detection on Kubernetes nodes for an auditnot BeyondTrust
  • A security team wanting a vendor-neutral detection layer whose rules they can read and modify rather than a black-box agentnot BeyondTrust
  • A cluster where a compromised dependency might write to sensitive paths or open unexpected outbound connections, and only kernel-level visibility will catch itnot BeyondTrust

Where each one falls short

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

BeyondTrust

  • The product lines came from separate origins and still have separate consoles, so buying the suite does not deliver the single pane of glass the bundle implies.
  • Licensing metrics differ between products, per managed account, per endpoint, per concurrent session, which makes multi-product quotes hard to compare with competitors and hard to forecast as you grow.
  • Self-hosted deployments carry real infrastructure and upgrade burden, and organisations without a dedicated PAM administrator find the system drifts out of maintenance.
  • Endpoint privilege management requires sustained rule authoring as applications change, so the first-year saving in helpdesk tickets erodes if nobody owns the policy afterwards.
  • Discovery finds far more privileged accounts than most organisations expect, which is valuable but converts a licence purchase into a longer remediation programme before the control is real.

Falco

  • Falco detects and alerts but does not block; stopping an attack requires wiring up Falco Talon or your own response tooling, so out of the box a confirmed detection still means a human intervening after the fact.
  • The default rule set is noisy in real clusters and generates a large volume of benign matches from normal operational activity; without weeks of tuning, alert fatigue sets in and the team stops reading the feed, which is the usual failure mode.
  • There is no storage, console, search or case management in the project, so a working detection capability means also running Falcosidekick, an event store, a dashboard and alert routing, all of which you build, host and maintain.
  • The modern eBPF driver requires kernel 5.8 or later; older hosts fall back to the legacy probe or the kernel module, which brings driver-building against kernel headers and the operational fragility that comes with it on every kernel upgrade.
  • Per-node syscall instrumentation carries measurable CPU overhead on busy hosts, and the cost scales with syscall volume rather than with cluster size, so the noisiest and most performance-sensitive workloads are exactly the ones that feel it most.

Pricing, plan by plan

BeyondTrust

On request
  • BeyondTrust Platform$undefined/year
    • Password Safe priced by managed asset or account
    • Endpoint Privilege Management priced per endpoint
    • Remote access products priced per concurrent licence or endpoint

Falco

Free
  • Falco (open source)Free
    • Apache 2.0 licence, CNCF graduated project
    • eBPF and kernel module drivers
    • Full rules engine and default rule set

Which should you pick?

Choose BeyondTrust if

  • You need password safe.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web.
  • You also want endpoint privilege management.
BeyondTrust review

Choose Falco if

  • You need ebpf kernel instrumentation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want system call rules engine.
Falco review

Questions people ask

Is BeyondTrust or Falco better?
Neither clearly leads. BeyondTrust starts at On request and Falco at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BeyondTrust or Falco?
Falco has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for BeyondTrust and Free for Falco.
Does BeyondTrust or Falco run on more platforms?
BeyondTrust runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web. Falco runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use Falco for free?
Yes. Falco has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BeyondTrust starts at On request.
What is BeyondTrust best used for?
BeyondTrust is most often used for an organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of windows endpoints without swamping the service desk, a utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory audit, a firm giving external maintenance vendors access to specific servers without handing over credentials, a helpdesk consolidating remote support and privileged access onto one audited path rather than an unmanaged remote tool. Of those, an organisation removing local administrator rights across thousands of windows endpoints without swamping the service desk and a utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory audit are not what Falco is typically brought in for.
What can BeyondTrust do that Falco cannot?
BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, Endpoint Privilege Management, Privileged Remote Access, Remote Support. Falco covers eBPF kernel instrumentation, System call rules engine, Container and Kubernetes context, Default rule set.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BeyondTrust: Is endpoint privilege management sold separately from the vault?

Yes. They are distinct products with distinct licensing metrics, and many customers buy only one.

Falco: Does Falco block attacks?

No. It detects and emits events. Response requires Falco Talon or your own automation on top.

BeyondTrust: Can it record vendor sessions?

Yes, with credential injection so the third party never learns the password, and full video and keystroke recording for audit.

Falco: Is Falco owned by Sysdig?

Sysdig created and open sourced it, but it graduated within the CNCF in February 2024, so governance sits with the foundation rather than the vendor.

BeyondTrust: Is there a FedRAMP option?

BeyondTrust offers FedRAMP-authorised deployments for United States government buyers, which is often the deciding factor in that sector.

Falco: What does it cost?

The project is Apache 2.0 with no licence fee. The cost is the storage, routing, tuning and staff time needed to make its output useful.

Falco: What kernel version do I need?

Kernel 5.8 or later for the default modern eBPF driver. Older hosts need the legacy eBPF probe or the kernel module.

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