Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Chainguard vs Delinea

Chainguard logo

Chainguard

Cybersecurity

Secure-by-default open source software with hardened container images and libraries

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 Chainguard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Chainguard containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people; 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: Chainguard covers Hardened container images, Delinea covers Secret Server.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chainguard and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where Chainguard and Delinea differ
AttributeChainguardDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelLicensing by artifact type and team sizequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, Container, VMWeb, Windows, Linux, macOS

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 Chainguard

  • Hardened container images
  • CVE remediation SLA
  • SLSA L2/L3 builds
  • Sigstore signatures
  • SBOM generation
  • Language libraries
  • VM images
  • Artifact scanning

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.

Chainguard

  • Deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surfacenot Delinea
  • Meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industriesnot Delinea
  • Reducing CVE exposure with contractual remediation guaranteesnot Delinea
  • Building secure language packages with automatic backportsnot Delinea
  • Verifying artifact provenance with Sigstore signaturesnot Delinea

Delinea

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

Where each one falls short

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

Chainguard

  • Containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people
  • Per-image pricing for containers requires custom quotes with no transparency
  • Free tier limited to 5 container images for testing
  • Libraries pricing by ecosystem and developer count lacks transparent per-developer cost
  • VM image catalog pricing opacity makes cost estimation difficult

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

Chainguard

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • Five container images to test and deploy
  • Containers Per-Image$undefined/custom
    • Licensed by quantity and type
    • Base images, application images, AI/ML images, FIPS variants
    • Custom pricing per image
  • Containers Catalog$19000/year
    • For 10-person engineering teams
    • 2,000+ container images
    • Contractual CVE remediation SLAs
  • Libraries Licensing$undefined/custom
    • Licensed by ecosystem (Python, Java, JavaScript)
    • Licensed by developer count
    • Unlimited pulls with no metering

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 Chainguard if

  • You need hardened container images.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Container, VM.
  • You also want cve remediation sla.
Chainguard 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 Chainguard or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. Chainguard 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, Chainguard or Delinea?
Chainguard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Chainguard and On request for Delinea.
Does Chainguard or Delinea run on more platforms?
Chainguard runs on Cloud, Container, VM. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Chainguard for free?
Yes. Chainguard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Chainguard best used for?
Chainguard is most often used for deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface, meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries, reducing cve exposure with contractual remediation guarantees, building secure language packages with automatic backports. Of those, deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface and meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can Chainguard do that Delinea cannot?
Chainguard covers Hardened container images, CVE remediation SLA, SLSA L2/L3 builds, Sigstore signatures. Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chainguard: How much is the Chainguard Containers Catalog?

The Containers Catalog is 19,000 USD per year for 10-person engineering teams, providing access to 2,000+ hardened container images.

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.

Chainguard: What SLAs does Chainguard offer?

Chainguard provides contractual CVE remediation SLAs: 7 days for critical vulnerabilities, 14 days for high/medium/low severity, all with priority support.

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.

Chainguard: Can I try Chainguard before purchasing?

Yes. The free tier includes five container images for testing and deployment, allowing hands-on evaluation.

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 Chainguard

More on Delinea

Keep looking

Other head to heads