Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Delinea vs. Crowdstrike

Deciding access is not the same as controlling it.

Delinea controls the credential and session, so the credential never reaches the user or the AI agent. The privileged session can be recorded and stopped. Crowdstrike sees identity risk and decides whether to grant or revoke access only.

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Delinea seamless security		Crowdstrike
Traditional PAM buyer
Privileged credential vaulting	Available	Not offered
Credential vaulting for business users and applications	Available	Not offered
Privileged session recording and control	Available	Not offered
Endpoint privilege management	Available	Not offered
Just-in-time access and zero standing privilege	Available	Available, risk-based
Modern workload access buyer
Native protocol access (SSH, RDP, database, Kubernetes)	Available, in the connection path	Decision layer, not the connection
Credential separation (never reaches the user)	Available	User holds the credential
Secrets management	Available	Not offered
Risk-based access revocation	Available	Available, real-time risk signals
AI agent identity
Runtime authorization of agent actions	Available	Risk-based, decision layer
Credential separation (never reaches the agent)	Available	Agent holds the credential
Data path enforcement of agent actions	Available	Decision layer, not the connection
Named identity attribution and session recording for agent actions	Available	Not offered
Deployment and ecosystem
Self-hosted or air-gapped deployment	Federates with your IdP	SaaS only
Native endpoint and threat-intelligence risk signals	Integrates with your signals	Native

Faster to deploy: Easier to use

Delinea is consistently recognized for requiring fewer resources to manage and less time to achieve full functionality.

• 99.995% uptime SLA
• No multi-year commitment required to start

Zero standing privilege—available now

Delinea ships ephemeral access with proxy injection, JIT entitlement, and full session recording for human, machine, and AI agent identities - today.

• Native tools, broker invisible
• Time to value in weeks

Identity security built for the AI era

Delinea centralizes authorization with runtime enforcement across every AI agent in your stack.

• MCP-native connectivity
• Customers are using this in production today

Deciding access is not controlling the credential

CrowdStrike grants and revokes access based on risk. Delinea makes sure the credential never reaches the user or the agent in the first place.

CrowdStrike’s strength is the risk signal that decides and pulls access.
Delinea brokers the connection and injects the credential at the proxy, so the user never sees or handles it, and there is nothing to steal.

Revocation is after the fact; the session still needs control

A risk score can pull access, but it does not record or stop what happens inside a live privileged session.

CrowdStrike revokes access when risk changes.
Delinea records, monitors and terminates the session, and stops unsanctioned actions in it.

Regulated and isolated environments need the vault and secrets

Many PCI, OT and air-gapped environments require credential vaulting, session recording and secrets management.

A cloud-only control plane does not reach isolated and regulated environments.
Delinea runs self-hosted and air-gapped, alongside SaaS and multi-cloud.

Two different jobs

CrowdStrike is strong at seeing identity risk and deciding whether access should be granted or pulled. That is the detection and decision layer, and CrowdStrike is strong in identity threat detection. Deciding access is not the same as controlling it. Once access is granted, the questions that matter are whether the credential ever reaches the user or the agent, whether the privileged session can be recorded and stopped, and whether the secret is vaulted and rotated.

Delinea controls the entire access path. The Delinea Platform vaults and rotates credentials, brokers the network connection, injects credentials at the proxy so a user never sees or handles them, records and terminates sessions, manages secrets and enforces least privilege, across endpoints, infrastructure and applications.

The same vault protects credentials for business users and the applications they rely on, not only administrators. Those applications often hold or open access to sensitive data even when the person is not privileged, so teams run one vault instead of separate ones for admins and everyone else. A CrowdStrike implementation gets strong risk-aware access decisions but still needs the credential, session and secrets controls that privileged access management provides.

Risk-based access is not a vault

CrowdStrike removes standing privilege with just-in-time access driven by real-time risk signals, and revokes access when risk changes. It does not hold the credential away from the user or the agent, record and terminate a live privileged session, manage secrets, or enforce least privilege on the endpoint. CrowdStrike positions against the vault, deciding and revoking access at the session level, after something has already started.

Delinea controls the vault and the brokered connection, so a stolen session or a compromised agent has nothing to take. Delinea authorizes each action before it runs, for as long as the session lasts, records and terminates the live session, manages secrets and enforces least privilege on the endpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Delinea replace CrowdStrike?

Most customers keep CrowdStrike for endpoint, SOAR, SIEM and identity threat detection. Delinea adds the credential, session, and secrets control that CrowdStrike does not provide. Many organizations run both, and CrowdStrike risk signals can inform Delinea enforcement.

We already use CrowdStrike just-in-time access. Why add Delinea?

CrowdStrike removes standing privileges and revokes access based on risk signals, which is useful. It does not vault credentials, broker the connection so the credentials never reach the user or the agent, record and terminate sessions, manage secrets, or enforce least privilege on the endpoint. Delinea does, in production today across on-premise, multi-cloud and ephemeral infrastructure.

How does Delinea secure AI agents differently from CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike decides and revokes agent access based on risk, after something has already started. Delinea authorizes each individual agent action before it executes, for as long as the session runs, not just once when the connection opens. Delinea also sits inside the connection itself, at the network layer, rather than outside it as a decision layer, so the credential never reaches the agent and the action is stopped before it happens, not after.

Does Delinea do identity threat detection too?

Yes. Delinea includes identity threat detection and response. CrowdStrike is strong with ITDR and many customers keep it for that. The strength of the Delinea Platform is controlling credentials and sessions, which complement detection.

Can Delinea run where CrowdStrike cannot?

Delinea offers self-hosted and air-gapped deployment, so it secures isolated and regulated environments that a cloud-only control plane does not reach.

Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Identity security vendors – compare the differences

The Delinea Platform stops unauthorized access without slowing teams down

Delinea seamless security

Crowdstrike

Traditional PAM buyer

Privileged credential vaulting

Credential vaulting for business users and applications

Privileged session recording and control

Endpoint privilege management

Just-in-time access and zero standing privilege

Modern workload access buyer

Native protocol access (SSH, RDP, database, Kubernetes)

Credential separation (never reaches the user)

Secrets management

Risk-based access revocation

AI agent identity

Runtime authorization of agent actions

Credential separation (never reaches the agent)

Data path enforcement of agent actions

Named identity attribution and session recording for agent actions

Deployment and ecosystem

Self-hosted or air-gapped deployment

Native endpoint and threat-intelligence risk signals

Why the differences between Delinea and CyberArk matter

Faster to deploy: Easier to use

Zero standing privilege—available now

Identity security built for the AI era

Why the differences between Delinea and Crowdstrike matter

Thousands of customers. One easy choice.

Two different jobs

Risk-based access is not a vault

See the Platform in action

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Delinea replace CrowdStrike?

We already use CrowdStrike just-in-time access. Why add Delinea?

How does Delinea secure AI agents differently from CrowdStrike?

Does Delinea do identity threat detection too?

Can Delinea run where CrowdStrike cannot?