Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Bitwarden vs Delinea

Bitwarden logo

Bitwarden

Cybersecurity

Open source password management for everyone

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bitwarden has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bitwarden the integrated TOTP authenticator, encrypted file attachments, vault health reports and Emergency Access are all withheld from the free plan and need Premium at $1.65 per month; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: Bitwarden covers Unlimited password storage, Delinea covers Secret Server.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bitwarden and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where Bitwarden and Delinea differ
AttributeBitwardenDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web, CliWeb, Windows, Linux, macOS
Founded2016Unknown

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 Bitwarden

  • Unlimited password storage
  • Cross-platform sync
  • Secure password sharing
  • Password generator
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Encrypted file attachments
  • Vault health reports
  • Emergency access

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.

Bitwarden

  • Personal password managementnot Delinea
  • Team credential sharingnot Delinea
  • Enterprise securitynot Delinea
  • Compliance requirementsnot Delinea
  • Developer secrets managementnot Delinea

Delinea

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

Where each one falls short

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

Bitwarden

  • The integrated TOTP authenticator, encrypted file attachments, vault health reports and Emergency Access are all withheld from the free plan and need Premium at $1.65 per month
  • Free accounts can share vault items with one other Bitwarden user and no more
  • File storage is capped at 5 GB on Premium and 5 GB personal plus 5 GB family on the Families plan
  • Two-step login accepts up to 10 hardware security keys per account
  • The Families plan is capped at 6 people, so a seventh member means moving to a Teams subscription at $4 per user per month

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

Bitwarden

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic password management
    • Zero-knowledge encryption
    • Advanced two-step login
  • Premium$1.65/month
    • Integrated authenticator
    • File attachments
    • Emergency access
  • Premium$19.8/year
  • Families$3.99/month
    • Up to 6 premium accounts
    • Unlimited sharing and collections
    • Organization storage included

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 Bitwarden if

  • You need unlimited password storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web, Cli.
  • You also want cross-platform sync.
Bitwarden 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 Bitwarden or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. Bitwarden 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, Bitwarden or Delinea?
Bitwarden has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bitwarden and On request for Delinea.
Does Bitwarden or Delinea run on more platforms?
Bitwarden runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web, Cli. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Bitwarden for free?
Yes. Bitwarden has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Bitwarden best used for?
Bitwarden is most often used for personal password management, team credential sharing, enterprise security, compliance requirements. Of those, personal password management and team credential sharing are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can Bitwarden do that Delinea cannot?
Bitwarden covers Unlimited password storage, Cross-platform sync, Secure password sharing, Password generator. Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bitwarden: Does Bitwarden have a free plan?

Yes, Bitwarden offers a free tier with basic password management, zero-knowledge encryption, advanced two-step login, and unlimited devices across browser, mobile, and desktop apps.

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.

Bitwarden: How much does Bitwarden Premium cost?

Bitwarden Premium costs $1.65 per month billed annually at $19.80 per year, including integrated authenticator, file attachments, emergency access, and security reports.

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.

Bitwarden: What is the difference between Bitwarden Teams and Enterprise?

Teams plan at $4 per user per month (annual billing) includes centralized ownership and secure credential sharing. Enterprise at $6 per user per month adds granular access control, passwordless SSO, account recovery, self-hosting, and complimentary Families plans for all users.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on Bitwarden

More on Delinea

Keep looking

Other head to heads