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Developer Tools · head to head

CLion vs Delinea

CLion logo

CLion

Developer Tools

A cross-platform IDE for C and C++

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CLion has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CLion specific subscription pricing not listed on product page; 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 CLion and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where CLion and Delinea differ
AttributeCLionDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
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 CLion

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.

CLion

  • C and C++ development with real-time analysisnot Delinea
  • Embedded systems and ARM toolchain developmentnot Delinea
  • Remote development via Docker and WSLnot Delinea
  • Educational programming instructionnot Delinea
  • Cross-platform development for Linux and Windowsnot Delinea

Delinea

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

Where each one falls short

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

CLion

  • Specific subscription pricing not listed on product page
  • Requires reference to separate store page for tier details
  • AI credits needed for integrated AI features
  • No mention of free trial for commercial use

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

CLion

Free
  • Free (Non-commercial)Free
    • Non-commercial use license
    • Full IDE features for hobby and open-source projects
  • Free (Educational)Free
    • Student licenses
    • Teacher licenses
    • Full IDE access for educational purposes
  • Subscription$null/month
    • Different subscription options for individuals and organizations
    • 25% discount for switching from competing products

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 CLion if

  • You want to start without paying.
CLion 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 CLion or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. CLion 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, CLion or Delinea?
CLion has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CLion and On request for Delinea.
Does CLion or Delinea run on more platforms?
CLion runs on Web. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use CLion for free?
Yes. CLion has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is CLion best used for?
CLion is most often used for c and c++ development with real-time analysis, embedded systems and arm toolchain development, remote development via docker and wsl, educational programming instruction. Of those, c and c++ development with real-time analysis and embedded systems and arm toolchain development are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can CLion do that Delinea cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CLion: Is CLion free?

CLion offers free licenses for students, teachers, and non-commercial use. Commercial users can purchase subscriptions with organization pricing available.

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.

CLion: What free options does CLion provide?

CLion provides non-commercial use licenses for open-source and hobby projects, plus full licenses for students and teachers without cost.

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.

CLion: Does CLion include AI assistance?

Yes, CLion natively integrates AI with support for Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok models. Users can apply JetBrains AI credits or bring their own API keys to avoid vendor lock-in.

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.

CLion: Are there discounts for switching to CLion?

CLion offers a competitive discount of 25% for users switching from other IDEs and similar products.

Source
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