Cybersecurity · head to head
Delinea vs Metasploit
Delinea
Cybersecurity
Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Metasploit
Cybersecurity
The world's most used penetration testing framework
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Metasploit 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.; Metasploit the free Framework edition is command line only; the web interface is Pro only
- They diverge on capability: Delinea covers Secret Server, Metasploit covers Exploit database.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Delinea and Metasploit actually diverge.
| Attribute | Delinea | Metasploit |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, Linux, macOS | Desktop, Cli |
| Founded | Unknown | 2000 |
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 Metasploit
- Exploit database
- Payload generation
- Post-exploitation
- Evasion modules
- Auxiliary scanners
- Social engineering
- Credential harvesting
- Session management
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 Metasploit
- A mid-market IT team that abandoned a heavier PAM rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeksnot Metasploit
- A company removing local administrator rights from every workstation after a ransomware incidentnot Metasploit
- An audit finding that shared service account passwords are stored in a spreadsheet and used by contractorsnot Metasploit
Metasploit
- Penetration testing and exploit development against known vulnerabilitiesnot Delinea
- Validating whether a reported vulnerability is actually exploitablenot Delinea
- Running phishing and credential attack simulations on the Pro editionnot 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.
Metasploit
- The free Framework edition is command line only; the web interface is Pro only
- Automated exploitation, automated credential attacks and antivirus evading dynamic payloads are restricted to Metasploit Pro
- Reporting, audit wizards, task chains and closed loop vulnerability validation are Pro only
- Rapid7 publishes no price for Metasploit Pro and routes buyers to contact sales
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
Metasploit
Free- Metasploit Framework (OSS)Free
- Open source
- 1500+ exploits
- Command line
- Metasploit ProFree
- Web interface
- Automated testing
- Phishing campaigns
Which should you pick?
Choose Delinea if
- You need secret server.
- You work on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
- You also want privileged session recording.
Choose Metasploit if
- You need exploit database.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Desktop, Cli.
- You also want payload generation.
Questions people ask
- Is Delinea or Metasploit better?
- Neither clearly leads. Delinea starts at On request and Metasploit at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Delinea or Metasploit?
- Metasploit has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Delinea and Free for Metasploit.
- Does Delinea or Metasploit run on more platforms?
- Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS. Metasploit runs on Desktop, Cli.
- Can I use Metasploit for free?
- Yes. Metasploit 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 Metasploit is typically brought in for.
- What can Delinea do that Metasploit cannot?
- Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM. Metasploit covers Exploit database, Payload generation, Post-exploitation, Evasion modules.
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.
Metasploit: Is Metasploit Framework free to use?
Yes, Metasploit Framework is available as free open-source software with source code accessible via GitHub. Community support is provided through Slack, GitHub, Twitter, and email.
SourceDelinea: 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.
Metasploit: What is the difference between Metasploit Framework and Metasploit Pro?
Metasploit Framework is the free open-source version. Metasploit Pro is a commercial offering with customer support from Rapid7, though specific pricing and features are not detailed on the download page.
SourceDelinea: 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.
Metasploit: What support is available for the free Framework version?
Community-based support for Metasploit Framework is available through Slack, GitHub, Twitter, and email ([email protected]). Commercial customers using Metasploit Pro receive customer support from Rapid7.
SourceRelated pages
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