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Cybersecurity · head to head

One Identity vs Yarn

One Identity logo

One Identity

Cybersecurity

Quest-owned identity governance, PAM and Active Directory management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Yarn logo

Yarn

Developer Tools

Fast, reliable, and secure dependency management

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Yarn has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: One Identity the portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.; Yarn yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which One Identity and Yarn actually diverge.

Attributes where One Identity and Yarn differ
AttributeOne IdentityYarn
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, LinuxWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown2016

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 One Identity

  • Identity Manager
  • Safeguard
  • Active Roles
  • OneLogin
  • Password Manager
  • syslog-ng
  • Starling connectors

Only in Yarn

Nothing recorded that One Identity does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

One Identity

  • An organisation whose authoritative directory will remain on premises Active Directory and needs delegated administration with attribute-level controlnot Yarn
  • A government or defence environment requiring privileged session management on a hardened physical appliance rather than a cloud servicenot Yarn
  • A manufacturer with SAP and Active Directory needing provisioning governed under one certification processnot Yarn
  • An enterprise consolidating Active Directory after an acquisition and needing automated account lifecycle across both forestsnot Yarn

Yarn

  • Monorepo teams managing dependencies across 50+ interdependent packagesnot One Identity
  • Enterprise JavaScript projects ensuring reproducible builds across CI/CDnot One Identity
  • Open-source projects with plugin ecosystems coordinating versionsnot One Identity
  • Teams requiring consistent package installs regardless of network conditionsnot One Identity

Where each one falls short

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

One Identity

  • The portfolio is assembled from separate acquisitions, so components are separately licensed, separately administered and do not present one console, which raises operational cost.
  • Identity Manager implementations are customisation-heavy and commonly run over a year, with the services spend exceeding the licence cost in the first year.
  • Quest has changed private equity ownership more than once since the Dell separation, and buyers should ask directly about product investment commitments before signing a multi-year deal.
  • Product documentation and support sit behind a customer portal, which makes independent evaluation before purchase harder than with vendors that publish openly.
  • The cloud-native and developer experience trails the pure-play identity vendors, so organisations moving decisively to SaaS applications find the on premises heritage becomes a constraint rather than an asset.

Yarn

  • Yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects
  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to npm, though still substantial

Pricing, plan by plan

One Identity

On request
  • Identity Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed identity
    • On premises or hosted
    • Access certification and provisioning
  • Safeguard$undefined/year
    • Priced per privileged user or per appliance
    • Hardened appliance option for session management
    • Licensed separately from Identity Manager
  • Active Roles$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed Active Directory account
    • Delegated administration and automated provisioning
    • Licensed separately

Yarn

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Yarn review.

Which should you pick?

Choose One Identity if

  • You need identity manager.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want safeguard.
One Identity review

Choose Yarn if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Yarn review

Questions people ask

Is One Identity or Yarn better?
Neither clearly leads. One Identity starts at On request and Yarn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, One Identity or Yarn?
Yarn has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for One Identity and Free for Yarn.
Does One Identity or Yarn run on more platforms?
One Identity runs on Web, Windows, Linux. Yarn runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Yarn for free?
Yes. Yarn has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. One Identity starts at On request.
What is One Identity best used for?
One Identity is most often used for an organisation whose authoritative directory will remain on premises active directory and needs delegated administration with attribute-level control, a government or defence environment requiring privileged session management on a hardened physical appliance rather than a cloud service, a manufacturer with sap and active directory needing provisioning governed under one certification process, an enterprise consolidating active directory after an acquisition and needing automated account lifecycle across both forests. Of those, an organisation whose authoritative directory will remain on premises active directory and needs delegated administration with attribute-level control and a government or defence environment requiring privileged session management on a hardened physical appliance rather than a cloud service are not what Yarn is typically brought in for.
What can One Identity do that Yarn cannot?
One Identity covers Identity Manager, Safeguard, Active Roles, OneLogin.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

One Identity: Is One Identity the same company as Quest?

Yes. One Identity is Quest Software's identity and access management business unit, not a separate vendor.

Yarn: What is Yarn's main advantage over npm?

Yarn downloads packages in parallel, significantly reducing installation time. It uses a yarn.lock file for deterministic installs, ensuring identical package versions across machines and preventing version conflicts common with npm.

Source
One Identity: Does it include privileged access?

Safeguard provides it, but it is licensed separately from Identity Manager. Neither includes the other.

Yarn: Can I use Yarn in offline environments?

Yes, Yarn supports secure offline environments. The yarn.lock file enables reproducible installs without requiring new downloads.

Source
One Identity: Why choose this over SailPoint or Saviynt?

Almost always because of Active Directory depth via Active Roles or an appliance requirement for privileged sessions. For cloud-first estates the specialists are the stronger choice.

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