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Cybersecurity · head to head

Delinea vs Keygen

Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Keygen logo

Keygen

Cybersecurity

Open, source-available software licensing API

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Keygen 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.; Keygen specific Active Licensed User (ALU) pricing not listed; requires interactive pricing calculator
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Delinea and Keygen actually diverge.

Attributes where Delinea and Keygen differ
AttributeDelineaKeygen
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Linux, macOSWeb

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 Delinea

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

Only in Keygen

Nothing recorded that Delinea does not also cover.

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

Keygen

  • Software licensing and distributionnot Delinea
  • Product release managementnot Delinea
  • API-based license verificationnot 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.

Keygen

  • Specific Active Licensed User (ALU) pricing not listed; requires interactive pricing calculator
  • Whitelabel API add-on costs $995/year per domain

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

Keygen

Free
  • DevFree
    • Up to 100 Active Licensed Users
    • 10 product releases
    • Core licensing API only
  • Std$null/month
    • Scaling with licensing volume
    • Distribution API (OCI/Docker, npm, Rubygems, PyPI, Tauri)
    • Flat monthly/yearly fees
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Audit logs
    • SAML/SSO
    • IP filtering

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 Keygen if

  • You want to start without paying.
Keygen review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Keygen: Does Keygen have a free tier?

Yes, the Dev tier is free and supports up to 100 Active Licensed Users with 10 product releases and core licensing API access.

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.

Keygen: How is Keygen pricing calculated?

Keygen uses scalable, flat monthly or yearly fees based on your licensing volume (Active Licensed Users). No revenue share or transaction fees are charged.

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.

Keygen: Does Keygen charge for additional features like SSO?

SAML/SSO is included in Enterprise tiers. Whitelabel API support costs $995/year per domain. Premium Support SLA is $995/month for Enterprise.

Source
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