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Cybersecurity · head to head

Delinea vs GNU Emacs

Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
G

GNU Emacs

Developer Tools

Extensible, customizable free text editor and computing environment

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GNU Emacs has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; GNU Emacs steep learning curve for its default keybindings and Lisp-based configuration.
  • They diverge on capability: Delinea covers Secret Server, GNU Emacs covers Emacs Lisp Extensibility.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Delinea and GNU Emacs actually diverge.

Attributes where Delinea and GNU Emacs differ
AttributeDelineaGNU Emacs
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Linux, macOSlinux, mac, windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown1984

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 Delinea

  • Secret Server
  • Privileged session recording
  • Privilege Manager
  • Server PAM
  • Discovery
  • DevOps secrets
  • Behaviour analytics

Only in GNU Emacs

  • Emacs Lisp Extensibility
  • Package Ecosystem
  • Org Mode
  • Built-in Version Control Interfaces
  • Cross-platform

What people use each for

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

Delinea

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

GNU Emacs

  • Programming with deep Lisp-based customizationnot Delinea
  • Note-taking and planning with Org modenot Delinea
  • Managing email and file systems from a single environmentnot Delinea
  • Long-term, keyboard-driven text editing workflowsnot Delinea

Where each one falls short

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

GNU Emacs

  • Steep learning curve for its default keybindings and Lisp-based configuration.
  • Default UI looks dated compared to modern editors without heavy customization.
  • Performance can lag on very large files compared to newer editors.
  • Discoverability of features is poor without prior familiarity or external guides.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

GNU Emacs

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full editor and ecosystem, no paid tiers

Which should you pick?

Choose Delinea if

  • You need secret server.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want privileged session recording.
Delinea review

Choose GNU Emacs if

  • You need emacs lisp extensibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on linux, mac, windows.
  • You also want package ecosystem.
GNU Emacs review

Questions people ask

Is Delinea or GNU Emacs better?
Neither clearly leads. Delinea starts at On request and GNU Emacs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Delinea or GNU Emacs?
GNU Emacs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Delinea and Free for GNU Emacs.
Does Delinea or GNU Emacs run on more platforms?
Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS. GNU Emacs runs on linux, mac, windows.
Can I use GNU Emacs for free?
Yes. GNU Emacs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Delinea best used for?
Delinea is most often used for an organisation whose cyber insurer now requires privileged credentials to be vaulted and rotated, a mid-market it team that abandoned a heavier pam rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeks, a company removing local administrator rights from every workstation after a ransomware incident, an audit finding that shared service account passwords are stored in a spreadsheet and used by contractors. Of those, an organisation whose cyber insurer now requires privileged credentials to be vaulted and rotated and a mid-market it team that abandoned a heavier pam rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeks are not what GNU Emacs is typically brought in for.
What can Delinea do that GNU Emacs cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM. GNU Emacs covers Emacs Lisp Extensibility, Package Ecosystem, Org Mode, Built-in Version Control Interfaces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

GNU Emacs: Is GNU Emacs free, including for commercial use?

Yes, Emacs is free software released under the GNU General Public License, which allows anyone to use, study, modify, and redistribute it, including commercially.

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.

GNU Emacs: How do I install Emacs?

On Linux it is available via package managers like apt-get, pacman, dnf, or zypper; on macOS via Homebrew or MacPorts; on Windows via an installer or zip from GNU mirrors; and on Android via F-Droid or GNU FTP.

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.

GNU Emacs: What platforms does Emacs support?

Emacs runs on GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Haiku, macOS, MS Windows, Android (versions 2.2 to 15.0), Solaris, and MS-DOS/FreeDOS.

Source
GNU Emacs: How is Emacs extended with packages?

Emacs is customized and extended through its Emacs Lisp dialect, with thousands of community packages distributed via repositories like MELPA that add language modes and tools.

Source
GNU Emacs: Where can I get source code or development builds?

Emacs source code and development builds are hosted at savannah.gnu.org, in addition to stable releases distributed through GNU mirrors.

Source
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