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Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Delinea  vs. Xage


Securing the asset is not the same as authorizing every action across the enterprise.

Delinea is built for enterprise-wide identity security, controlling privileged access across every human, machine, and AI identity, spanning IT, cloud, databases, and modern workloads. Xage is purpose-built for operational technology and critical infrastructure.

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Identity security vendors – compare the differences

Delinea Logo        
vs          
cyberark-idira-logo

Delinea delivers one platform built for the way modern enterprises actually run

Easier to implement - Easier to use – Easier to manage

The Delinea Platform serves both traditional PAM and modern workload-access buyers through one identity,
one policy, and one audit. CyberArk (now Idira) ties your choice of vault to Palo Alto Networks' broader SOC and security platform commitment.

The Delinea Platform secures privileged access across the whole enterprise, not just the edge

Delinea extends Privileged Access Management (PAM) into continuous, per-action authorization. With Delinea, privileged access is controlled while it is being used, not granted and reviewed later, across every human, machine and identity.

Compare the differences between Delinea and Xage

Delinea seamless security

Delinea Logo

Xage

Traditional PAM buyer 

   

Privileged credential vaulting and rotation

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Available 

strong
Mesh vault, OT-first

Privileged session recording and control

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Available

strong
Available

Privileged and service-account discovery at scale

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Available

good
OT asset focus

Endpoint privilege management

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Available 

poor
No workstation EPM

Modern workload access buyer 

 

 

Native protocol access (SSH, RDP, databases, Kubernetes, cloud)

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Available, in the connection path

good
OT and remote access

Credential injected at the proxy, never reaches the requester

delinea-icon-strong-purple
Available, injected at the proxy

good
Session-based issuance

Per-action runtime authorization, block or redact live

good
Available, Postgres and SQL Server

poor
Session-level only

Database engine breadth

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Available, 47+ engines

poor
Industrial protocols only

AI agent identity

    

Governed per-tool-call access for AI agents (MCP)

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Available

good
Network-layer wrapping

Credential separation for agents (never reaches the agent)

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Available, injected at the proxy

good
Different model

One model across human, machine and AI

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Available, in the data path

good
Separate OT and AI layers

Deployment and ecosystem 

    

Coverage across IT, cloud and modern workloads on one platform

delinea-icon-strong-purple
Available

good
OT-first 

Self-hosted or air-gapped deployment

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Available, air-gapped

delinea-icon-strong-purple
Available

Integration ecosystem breadth

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Available, broad marketplace

good
Focused ecosystem

 Recognized by analysts, trusted by you.  

Leading industry analysts consistently recognize Delinea, but the most meaningful endorsements come from our customers.  


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Why the differences between Delinea and CyberArk matter

delinea-icon-lightning

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
delinea-icon-just-in-time-teal

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
delinea-icon-ai-agent-teal

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

Why the differences between Delinea and Xage matter

Authorize the action, don't just grant access to the asset.

Xage's control is strongest at the point of access. Delinea's is strong end to end, including every action while the session runs.

  • Xage grants zero-trust access to an asset and records the session for review after the fact.
  • Delinea authorizes each command, query, or tool call as it happens, injects the credential at the proxy so it never reaches the user or agent, and can end or revoke the session in real time if an action violates policy.
Built for the enterprise estate, not only the plant floor

An enterprise identity security program has to extend coverage well beyond the operational edge.

  • Xage is purpose-built for OT and critical infrastructure and is a representative vendor in the emerging OT secure-remote-access market.
  • Delinea spans enterprise vaulting and dependency-aware rotation, workstation endpoint privilege, native-protocol access to servers, databases, Kubernetes, and cloud, and per-tool authorization for AI agents.
One enforcement model across human, machine and AI

The identity mix is converging, and running a separate stack for each identity type does not scale.

  • Xage secures AI agents by wrapping them at the network layer, a separate approach from its OT access model.
  • Delinea governs human users, service accounts and AI agents through the same proxy, policy, and audit model, authorizing agent tool calls in the connection and keeping the credential off the agent.

Thousands of customers. One easy choice.

Industry leaders and innovative disrupters agree: our PAM solutions are the easiest to try, buy, implement, and own.
With Delinea, privileged access is more accessible.

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A mesh for the plant floor is not a platform for the enterprise

Xage is genuinely strong where it was built to be. Its distributed mesh has no central vault to compromise, overlays the existing environment without network changes or agents, keeps enforcing policy even when a site or edge location loses connectivity to the center, and speaks the industrial and legacy protocols the plant floor runs on. For OT, ICS, and the disconnected edge, that architecture is real engineering.

The enterprise, though, is far larger than the edge. Delinea is the identity security platform for the whole estate: enterprise credential vaulting with dependency-aware rotation, workstation endpoint privilege, brokered native-protocol access to servers, databases, Kubernetes, and cloud, and per-tool authorization for AI agents. This is done all under one identity, one policy and one audit trail. Delinea is a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for PAM seven years running and a KuppingerCole Overall Leader, giving enterprises a proven foundation for building a comprehensive PAM program.

delinea-photo-mesh-network

Securing the asset is not the same as authorizing the action

Xage verifies identity, grants zero trust access to the requested asset and records the session for review afterward. Its enforcement is concentrated at the point of access, deciding whether a connection is allowed and to which asset, which is the right model for tightly controlled industrial endpoints.

Delinea remains connected for the duration of the session. It brokers the connection and injects the credential at the proxy so the user or agent never sees or handles it. It checks every command, query, or tool call against policy while the session runs, and can block a destructive query or redact a sensitive column on Postgres and Microsoft SQL Server before it executes, then record and end the session if something goes wrong.

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See the Platform in action

The Delinea Platform enforces policy at execution, reduces risk, simplifies operations, and ensures every action is authorized, auditable, and defensible across every human, machine, and AI identity.

Delinea Platform Demo Screen

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Delinea different from Xage?

Delinea controls privileged access across the entire enterprise, human, machine and AI identities, and stays in the connection to authorize every action as it happens, injecting the credential so it never reaches the user or agent. That per-action control spans IT, cloud, databases, Kubernetes, and modern workloads on one platform. Xage is purpose-built for OT and critical infrastructure, using a distributed mesh to grant zero trust access at the point of connection. The difference: Delinea authorizes the action, not just the access, and does it across the whole estate, not only the operational edge.

Is Xage the better fit for OT and industrial environments?

In heavy OT, ICS, air-gapped, and critical-infrastructure edge environments, Xage's distributed mesh and industrial-protocol focus are genuine strengths, and it is a representative vendor in the OT secure-remote-access market. Delinea covers OT alongside IT, cloud, and AI, and many organizations standardize on Delinea for the enterprise while pairing OT-specialist tooling where the plant floor demands it.

Does Delinea enforce privileged actions in real time?

Delinea authorizes each action in the live connection and can block a destructive query or redact sensitive columns on Postgres and Microsoft SQL Server today, with more database coverage on the roadmap. Xage grants access to the asset and records the session, but does not block a specific action inside it.

How does Delinea secure AI agents differently from Xage?

Delinea authorizes each tool call an AI agent makes and keeps the credential off the agent, on the same platform that governs human and machine access. Xage takes a network-layer approach, wrapping the agent and the resources it touches, a different architecture aimed at a similar goal.

Can Delinea run on-premise or in air-gapped environments?

Delinea deploys on-premise, in the cloud or hybrid, holds FedRAMP High authorization for its Privileged Access Management, and supports a resilient, replicated deployment on-premise or cloud. With Delinea, privileges access stays available through an incident. Xage's distributed mesh solves a narrower problem: keeping a disconnected OT edge site enforcing policy even when it loses connectivity to any central system.

Can Delinea and Xage run side by side?

Delinea and Xage can run together. Organizations commonly standardize on Delinea for enterprise IT, cloud and AI agent access, and deploy Xage where OT and critical-infrastructure edge environments demand its specialization.