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Cybersecurity · head to head

Delinea vs Google Cloud for Government

Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Google Cloud for Government logo

Google Cloud for Government

Government

Innovation Cloud for Government

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Google Cloud for Government 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.; Google Cloud for Government the free tier gives new customers $300 in credits, and the 20+ always-free products are capped by monthly usage limits
  • They diverge on capability: Delinea covers Secret Server, Google Cloud for Government covers FedRAMP High Authorized.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Delinea and Google Cloud for Government actually diverge.

Attributes where Delinea and Google Cloud for Government differ
AttributeDelineaGoogle Cloud for Government
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Linux, macOSWeb, Cli, Sdk
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment
FoundedUnknown2008

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 Google Cloud for Government

  • FedRAMP High Authorized
  • Data Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Kubernetes
  • Assured Workloads
  • Workspace
  • Chronicle
  • Third-party Tools

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 Google Cloud for Government
  • A mid-market IT team that abandoned a heavier PAM rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeksnot Google Cloud for Government
  • A company removing local administrator rights from every workstation after a ransomware incidentnot Google Cloud for Government
  • An audit finding that shared service account passwords are stored in a spreadsheet and used by contractorsnot Google Cloud for Government

Google Cloud for Government

  • Running public sector workloads on Google Cloud compute and storagenot Delinea
  • Data analytics and AI for government agenciesnot Delinea
  • Migrating agency applications off on-premises infrastructurenot 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.

Google Cloud for Government

  • The free tier gives new customers $300 in credits, and the 20+ always-free products are capped by monthly usage limits
  • Pricing is pay as you go and varies by product and usage, so there is no single published rate for the platform
  • Committed use discounts of up to 57% require pre-paying for resources rather than being available on demand
  • Organizations are directed to request a quote rather than being given a published organizational price

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

Google Cloud for Government

Free
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Compute Engine
    • Cloud Storage
    • BigQuery

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 Google Cloud for Government if

  • You need fedramp high authorized.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cli, Sdk.
  • You also want data analytics.
Google Cloud for Government review

Questions people ask

Is Delinea or Google Cloud for Government better?
Neither clearly leads. Delinea starts at On request and Google Cloud for Government at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Delinea or Google Cloud for Government?
Google Cloud for Government has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Delinea and Free for Google Cloud for Government.
Does Delinea or Google Cloud for Government run on more platforms?
Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS. Google Cloud for Government runs on Web, Cli, Sdk.
Can I use Google Cloud for Government for free?
Yes. Google Cloud for Government 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 Google Cloud for Government is typically brought in for.
What can Delinea do that Google Cloud for Government cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM. Google Cloud for Government covers FedRAMP High Authorized, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Kubernetes.

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.

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.

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.

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