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Cybersecurity · head to head

BeyondTrust vs Spacelift

BeyondTrust logo

BeyondTrust

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management, endpoint privilege management and secure remote access

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Spacelift logo

Spacelift

Developer Tools

Infrastructure-as-code orchestration for Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi and Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spacelift 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.; Spacelift users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.
  • They diverge on capability: BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BeyondTrust and Spacelift actually diverge.

Attributes where BeyondTrust and Spacelift differ
AttributeBeyondTrustSpacelift
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteBy private worker and tier, not by user
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, WebWeb, Self-hosted, Cloud
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

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 BeyondTrust

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

Only in Spacelift

  • Multi-tool orchestration
  • Policy as code
  • Private workers
  • Spaces
  • Blueprints
  • Drift detection

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 Spacelift
  • A utility required to record every privileged session on operational systems for regulatory auditnot Spacelift
  • A firm giving external maintenance vendors access to specific servers without handing over credentialsnot Spacelift
  • A helpdesk consolidating remote support and privileged access onto one audited path rather than an unmanaged remote toolnot Spacelift

Spacelift

  • Platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application CInot BeyondTrust
  • Organisations standardising Terraform and OpenTofu across many teams with policy enforcementnot BeyondTrust
  • Estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the networknot BeyondTrust
  • Teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alonenot 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.

Spacelift

  • Users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast.
  • There is no affordable paid entry point. The free tier stops at two users and the next tier is a five-figure commitment with nothing in between.
  • Three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it.
  • The self-hosted build lags the hosted one, has no public worker pool and lacks the Azure and Google Cloud integrations available in the SaaS product, with OIDC federation offered as the workaround.
  • Stacks, Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and Spacelift-managed state are proprietary constructs, so leaving means rebuilding the orchestration layer rather than pointing it at a different runner.

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

Spacelift

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Two users
    • Public workers only
    • No private workers
  • Starter Plus$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Two public workers
    • One to two private workers
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Three private workers
    • Quoted
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Five to thirty private workers
    • Self-hosted option

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 Spacelift if

  • You need multi-tool orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want policy as code.
Spacelift review

Questions people ask

Is BeyondTrust or Spacelift better?
Neither clearly leads. BeyondTrust starts at On request and Spacelift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BeyondTrust or Spacelift?
Spacelift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for BeyondTrust and Free for Spacelift.
Does BeyondTrust or Spacelift run on more platforms?
BeyondTrust runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web. Spacelift runs on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud.
Can I use Spacelift for free?
Yes. Spacelift 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 Spacelift is typically brought in for.
What can BeyondTrust do that Spacelift cannot?
BeyondTrust covers Password Safe, Endpoint Privilege Management, Privileged Remote Access, Remote Support. Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Policy as code, Private workers, Spaces.

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.

Spacelift: How is Spacelift priced?

By tier and by private worker count rather than per user. Users are unlimited on every paid plan. The published figure on the pricing page carries no period label, and the FAQ describes the tier as an annual subscription, so confirm the period in writing.

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.

Spacelift: Does it support OpenTofu?

Yes, and Spacelift sponsors the OpenTofu project, which is a substantive hedge for anyone avoiding Terraform under the Business Source Licence.

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.

Spacelift: Is there a self-hosted version?

Yes, described as carrying Enterprise functionality, but it is priced on request and lags the hosted product on cloud integrations.

Spacelift: Why not just use the CI system we already have?

That is the real comparison. General purpose CI handles state, drift, approval gates and concurrency control for infrastructure poorly, and whether that is worth a five-figure floor depends on how much infrastructure change your organisation actually ships.

Spacelift: What happens to our pipelines if we leave?

They do not port. Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and managed state are Spacelift constructs and the orchestration has to be rebuilt elsewhere.

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