COMPARE
Infisical vs Delinea Secret Server
Delinea Secret Server built privileged credential vaulting for IT operations. Infisical brings modern secrets management to every developer and every workflow — without the Windows dependencies, professional services, or product sprawl.
Looking to improve your secret management processes?Talk to an expert
Infisical provided all the functionality and security settings we needed to boost our security posture and save engineering time. Whether you're working locally, running kubernetes clusters in production, or operating secrets within CI/CD pipelines, Infisical has a seamless prebuilt workflow.— Adrien Carreira, Head of Infrastructure, Hugging Face
Executive Summary
Delinea Secret Server (formerly Thycotic Secret Server) is an enterprise Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution focused on vaulting and rotating privileged credentials — primarily Windows service accounts, domain admin passwords, and IT operations credentials. It is designed for IT security teams managing human privileged access, with strengths in Active Directory integration, session recording, and privileged account discovery. Secret Server is available as an on-premises deployment on Windows Server/IIS/SQL Server or as Secret Server Cloud (SaaS). However, this PAM-first heritage comes with trade-offs:
- Windows-centric architecture: Secret Server on-premises requires Windows Server, IIS, and Microsoft SQL Server. There is no Linux or container-native deployment option. Kubernetes-native deployment is not supported — teams wanting container-based secrets management must look to Delinea's separate DevOps Secrets Vault (DSV) product, which has a different architecture, API, and licensing model.
- Product sprawl: Delinea's secrets management capabilities are fragmented across multiple products. Secret Server handles credential vaulting and PAM. DevOps Secrets Vault (DSV) handles DevOps-oriented dynamic secrets and CI/CD workflows. Privilege Manager handles endpoint privilege management. Account Lifecycle Manager handles service account governance. Each product has separate licensing, APIs, documentation, and operational requirements.
- Limited developer workflows: Secret Server's UI is designed for IT administrators managing privileged accounts — not for developers managing application secrets. There are no built-in approval workflows with native Slack/Teams notifications, no access request portals, no change request reviews, no environment comparison views, and no secret referencing across projects. Secret versioning is not natively supported — previous values are overwritten.
- Narrow DevOps integration surface: Secret Server provides a REST API and an SDK (.NET library with a .NET Core CLI client) along with a Python SDK. Kubernetes integration relies on External Secrets Operator (ESO) — not a native operator. CI/CD integrations exist for Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, and Ansible, but many rely on Docker-based retrieval patterns rather than first-party plugins. There are no native secret sync destinations to push secrets to downstream services.
Infisical takes a different approach: a unified platform built for developers and modern infrastructure.
- Open source and self-hostable: MIT-licensed core with 25,000+ GitHub stars. Deploy on any infrastructure — Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, cloud, on-prem, or air-gapped. Audit the codebase, eliminate vendor lock-in, and avoid Windows licensing dependencies.
- Built-in governance workflows: Native approval chains, access requests, temporary access with auto-expiration, change request workflows, and Slack/Teams integration — all out of the box. No ServiceNow integration or custom development required.
- Complete developer lifecycle: From local development to staging, CI/CD, IaC, and production — secrets are managed consistently with 35+ secret syncs, 10+ first-party SDKs with built-in caching and auth management, and native integrations for every major platform.
- Unified platform: Secrets management, PKI, PAM, KMS, secret scanning, and AI agent governance — all in a single platform with a single API, a single dashboard, and a single licensing model. No product sprawl.
The result: Faster adoption, broader coverage, no Windows infrastructure dependencies, and a platform that works for both security teams and developers — all delivered out of the box.
Infisical
Delinea Secret Server
Why It Matters
Open Source
Fully open source under MIT license with 25,000+ GitHub stars and 2M+ downloads. Transparent codebase publicly audited by the security community.
Proprietary and closed source. No open-source edition of Secret Server. Delinea's separate DevOps Secrets Vault product has some open-source components, but Secret Server itself is entirely commercial.
Open-source security products allow community review and audit of the codebase. MIT licensing eliminates vendor lock-in risk and copyleft obligations. Closed-source PAM products require full trust in the vendor's security practices.
Self-Hosting
Full self-hosted deployment via Helm, Docker Compose, or Linux packages. Runs on PostgreSQL. Supports Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes, air-gapped, and on-prem.
Self-hosted on Windows Server with IIS and Microsoft SQL Server. No Linux or container-native deployment. Requires Windows Server licensing, SQL Server licensing, and .NET/IIS infrastructure. Cloud option available via Secret Server Cloud (SaaS).
Infisical's platform-agnostic deployment eliminates Windows licensing costs and infrastructure requirements. Teams already running Linux-based infrastructure don't need to stand up and maintain Windows servers.
Dashboard UI
Modern, responsive dashboard designed for both developers and security teams. Configure secrets, view audit logs, manage access, and monitor usage — enabling a self-serve model that reduces friction and drives adoption.
Web-based dashboard designed for IT administrators managing privileged accounts. Focused on credential vaulting, checkout, and session management workflows. UI is functional but oriented toward PAM use cases rather than developer secrets management.
Security tools are most effective when widely adopted. A dashboard designed for developers — not just IT admins — drives broader adoption and reduces the shadow practices that lead to secrets sprawl.
Native Authentication
Tokenless authentication using OIDC for both human and machine identities. Human access via SSO (Okta, Azure AD, Google, any OIDC IdP). Machine access via short-lived identity tokens (K8s SA tokens, AWS IAM roles, GCP Workload Identity, Azure Managed Identity).
Active Directory, LDAP, SAML, OIDC, RADIUS, and local accounts. Strong AD integration with domain authentication. OIDC support for SSO with providers like Okta, Azure AD, and Auth0. Cloud-native machine identity methods (K8s service account tokens, AWS IAM roles, GCP Workload Identity) are not natively supported in Secret Server — these are available in the separate DSV product.
Both platforms support OIDC and SAML for human SSO. Infisical additionally provides cloud-native machine identity authentication (Kubernetes, AWS IAM, GCP Workload Identity) that eliminates static credentials for application-to-vault access. Secret Server's machine authentication relies on application accounts with IP allowlisting or the separate DSV product for cloud-native patterns.
SDKs
First-party SDKs for 10+ languages (Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP, C++) with built-in auth, caching, token lifecycle management, and helper methods.
.NET SDK library (NuGet package) with a .NET Core CLI client, a Python SDK, and a Go SDK. REST API accessible from any language via OpenAPI/Swagger client generation. Official SDKs cover fewer languages than Infisical and expose limited subsets of the REST API without built-in caching or lifecycle management.
Infisical provides first-party SDKs for 10+ languages with built-in auth, caching, and lifecycle management. Secret Server has official SDKs for .NET, Python, and Go, with REST API access from any language. The difference is in SDK depth — Infisical's SDKs handle token refresh, caching, and retry logic out of the box.
CLI
Full-featured CLI for secret injection and local development. infisical run injects secrets into any process with a single command. Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows).
.NET Core CLI client for secret retrieval via the SDK. Designed for server-side automation rather than developer workstation use. No single-command secret injection for local development workflows.
Developer-focused CLI with single-command injection streamlines local development. Secret Server's CLI is oriented toward automated server-side retrieval rather than interactive developer workflows.
RBAC
Native role-based access control with intuitive UI. Assign roles (Developer, Admin, custom) and scope permissions by project, environment, folder, or individual secret.
Role-based access control with configurable roles and granular folder/secret-level permissions. Supports AD group-based assignment. Strong permission model but configured through an admin-focused interface.
Both platforms offer RBAC. Infisical's model is scoped to projects and environments for developer workflows. Secret Server's model is optimized for IT admin credential management with folder-based hierarchies.
Approval Workflows
Built-in approval workflows with configurable chains, native Slack/Teams notifications, and self-serve UI. No custom development required.
Native multi-step approval workflows with up to 15 approval levels, configurable approver groups, quorum voting, and timeout-based escalation. Integration with ServiceNow and BMC for ticket validation. Email-based approval notifications. No native Slack/Teams integration for approvals.
Both platforms provide native approval workflows. Secret Server supports up to 15 approval steps with configurable quorum and timeout escalation. Infisical provides native Slack/Teams integration for real-time approval notifications, while Secret Server relies on email notifications and optional ITSM integration.
Access Requests
Self-serve access request portal. Developers request temporary or scoped access with built-in approval gates, auto-expiration, and full auditability.
Native access request feature with time-limited access grants, approval groups, email notifications to approvers, and full audit trails. Checkout provides exclusive one-time-password access. No self-serve portal with Slack/Teams notifications or developer-facing request UI.
Both platforms support access requests with time-limited grants. Infisical provides a self-serve developer portal with Slack/Teams notifications and JIT provisioning. Secret Server's access request system is approval-group based with email notifications, oriented toward IT admin workflows.
Temporary Access / JIT
Native just-in-time access with configurable TTLs, approval requirements, and automatic revocation. Visual tracking of dynamic secret leases in the dashboard.
Secret checkout with configurable time-limited access windows, one-time passwords, and automatic check-in on expiration. Combined with multi-step approval workflows for privileged access. No visual dashboard tracking of active leases across the organization.
Both platforms provide time-limited access. Infisical integrates JIT with dynamic secrets and visual lease tracking in a unified dashboard. Secret Server's checkout model provides exclusive, time-boxed access with OTP but without centralized visual tracking of all active grants.
Change Request Workflows
Git-style change request proposals for secrets. Review before changes go live with full version history.
No native change request workflow. Secret changes take effect immediately. Change control requires external change management processes.
Change review workflows for secrets apply the same rigor as code review, catching errors and enforcing separation of duties before changes reach production.
Access Tree Visualization
Visual, hierarchical interface to explore and audit who has access to what — across users, roles, groups, and environments.
Folder-based permission views. Role assignment reporting. No visual access hierarchy tree for quick audit and misconfiguration detection.
Visualizing access hierarchies makes it faster to answer audit questions and identify overly broad permissions across the organization.
Workflow Integrations
Native Slack and Microsoft Teams integration for real-time notifications on access requests, secret changes, and approval workflows.
No native Slack/Teams integration for approval workflows. Notifications rely on email, syslog, or integration with SIEM/ITSM tools.
Native integrations with collaboration tools meet teams where they already work, improving response times for approvals and alerts.
Audit Logging
Every secret access, change, or permission grant recorded with timestamped metadata. Audit logs exportable to SIEMs or reviewed in-app for compliance.
Comprehensive audit logging with detailed event tracking, syslog forwarding, and SIEM integration. Session recording for privileged access. Strong compliance reporting.
Both platforms provide strong audit capabilities. Secret Server's audit and compliance reporting is mature and well-suited for regulatory requirements. Infisical's audit logs are integrated with its governance workflows for end-to-end visibility.
SPIFFE Workload Authentication
Native SPIFFE Auth method for JWT-SVID verification. Supports static JWKS bundles and HTTPS Web Bundle profile for dynamic fetching from SPIRE endpoints. Glob-pattern SPIFFE ID matching with trust domain and audience validation.
No native SPIFFE or SPIRE integration. Workload authentication relies on Secret Server's SDK/API credentials, IWA, or certificate-based authentication designed for traditional server environments.
SPIFFE support matters for cloud-native and Kubernetes-heavy estates standardizing on workload identity. Infisical fits natively into a SPIRE-based identity fabric; Delinea's authentication model is oriented toward traditional on-prem PAM use cases.
Project & Environment Management
Logical separation by project and environment with independent access controls, versioning, and audit trails. Side-by-side dashboard view for comparing secrets across environments.
Folder-based organization with inheritance. Secret templates define credential types. No native project/environment abstraction or comparison UI. Environments are modeled through folder hierarchies.
Clear project and environment boundaries help prevent cross-environment credential leakage. Built-in environment comparison accelerates debugging of environment-specific issues.
Secret Versioning
Automatic versioning with timestamps, author tracking, and ability to view and restore any previous version through the dashboard.
Secret Server automatically keeps history on all fields in a secret template, including previous passwords. Password history is viewable and previous values can be retrieved. However, there is no snapshot-based version system with one-click rollback to a specific version state.
Both platforms track changes to secret values. Infisical provides snapshot-based versioning with one-click restore to any previous version. Secret Server maintains field-level history with password history retrieval, but without a unified version/restore model.
Point-in-Time Recovery
Snapshot and restore secrets to any previous state. Roll back entire folders or environments to recover from bulk misconfigurations.
No environment-wide snapshot or point-in-time recovery. Recovery relies on SQL Server database backups, which are full-system, not granular.
Environment-wide snapshots enable faster, more targeted recovery from bulk misconfigurations without requiring full database restores.
Environment Comparison
Side-by-side dashboard view comparing secrets across environments. Spot missing or mismatched values instantly.
No native comparison UI. Environments are modeled as folders — comparing across them requires manual inspection or custom tooling.
Side-by-side environment comparison accelerates debugging of environment-specific issues and helps ensure configuration consistency across stages.
Secret Referencing
Reference secrets across projects, environments, and folders. Single source of truth that propagates updates everywhere automatically.
No native cross-project or cross-folder secret referencing. Secrets must be duplicated across folders or retrieved programmatically by applications.
Cross-project secret referencing establishes a single source of truth, so rotating a shared credential propagates automatically rather than requiring updates in multiple locations.
Secret Sharing
Secure, zero-knowledge sharing via expiring links with full audit trail. Safe alternative to sharing through messaging or email.
No native secret sharing via expiring links. Secrets are shared by granting folder/secret access to users or groups.
Secure sharing with expiration and audit trails provides a sanctioned alternative to ad-hoc sharing methods that leave credentials exposed in chat history or email.
Project Templates
Define default environments, project-level roles, and naming conventions. New projects automatically inherit organizational standards.
Secret templates define the structure (fields) of credential types. No project-level templates for environments, roles, or organizational standards.
Project templates enforce consistent structure and security baselines across the organization. Secret Server's templates define credential schemas, not organizational project patterns.
Dynamic Secrets
24+ templates: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, MSSQL, Cassandra, Redis, RabbitMQ, Snowflake, AWS IAM, AWS ElastiCache, Azure Entra ID, Azure SQL, GCP IAM, LDAP, Elasticsearch, Couchbase, Mongo Atlas, SAP ASE, SAP HANA, Vertica, GitHub, TOTP, K8s service accounts. Tied to JIT access workflows for least-privilege, ephemeral access.
Secret Server itself does not generate dynamic secrets. Delinea's separate DevOps Secrets Vault (DSV) product supports dynamic secrets for AWS IAM, Azure, and GCP. Database dynamic secrets require DSV — they are not available in Secret Server.
Dynamic secrets eliminate standing credentials by generating ephemeral, short-lived credentials on demand. Secret Server's credential model is based on vaulting and rotating static credentials. Dynamic secret generation requires purchasing and operating a separate Delinea product.
Secret Rotation
Native secret rotation support for databases, LDAP, and cloud vendors with configurable rotation periods. Dashboard-driven configuration.
Strong credential rotation (Remote Password Changing / RPC) for Active Directory accounts, Windows local accounts, SQL Server accounts, SSH keys, and many other account types. Heartbeat monitoring validates credential health. Rotation is a core strength of Secret Server.
Both platforms handle rotation. Secret Server's RPC engine is mature and broadly covers Windows/AD credential types. Infisical's rotation covers databases and cloud providers with dashboard-driven configuration optimized for application secrets.
Privileged Account Discovery
Secret scanning for 140+ secret types across Git repos and infrastructure — focused on detecting leaked credentials in code and configuration.
Continuous account discovery across Active Directory, local accounts, cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure). Discovers unmanaged privileged accounts, shadow admins, and accounts bypassing the vault. Discovery is a core strength.
These are complementary capabilities. Secret Server discovers unmanaged privileged accounts across infrastructure. Infisical scans code and configuration for leaked secrets. Different problem spaces with different solutions.
Secret Syncs (Push)
35+ destinations: AWS Parameter Store, Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, GCP, GitHub, Vercel, Terraform Cloud, 1Password, Heroku, Fly.io, Netlify, Railway, Render, Supabase, and more. Available in the open source version.
No native secret sync/push destinations in Secret Server. The 2025 Azure Key Vault Integration (AKVI) enables centralized management of Azure Key Vault secrets from Secret Server. AWS and GCP equivalents are not available.
Broad push-based sync to downstream services enables a single source of truth. Secret Server's model is pull-based — applications must authenticate to Secret Server to retrieve credentials at runtime.
CI/CD
Native first-party integrations with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, CircleCI, Bitbucket Pipelines, Jenkins, TeamCity, Azure DevOps.
Jenkins plugin, GitHub Actions integration (Docker-based), Terraform provider. GitLab CI support through DSV, not Secret Server directly. Limited first-party CI/CD plugins compared to secrets management-focused platforms.
Infisical offers more turnkey, first-party CI/CD integrations designed for developer-centric pipelines. Secret Server's CI/CD integrations exist but are narrower and often Docker-container-based rather than native plugins.
Framework & IaC
Framework hooks for Remix, SvelteKit, Vite, Vue, Spring Boot/Maven, Gradle. First-class Ansible modules, Terraform provider, Backstage plugin.
Terraform provider for Secret Server. Ansible integration via custom scripts or API. No framework-specific hooks, Backstage integration, or modern web framework support.
Turnkey framework hooks and IaC integrations eliminate glue code. Secret Server's integration model assumes server-side credential retrieval rather than developer framework injection.
Agent
Lightweight agent for VMs and non-Kubernetes workloads. Fetches and injects secrets, handles token refresh, and renders secrets to files or environment variables.
Distributed Engines extend Secret Server's reach into remote networks for discovery, RPC, and session management. Not a lightweight secret injection agent — they are full infrastructure components requiring dedicated Windows servers.
Infisical Agent is a lightweight sidecar for secret injection on any VM or server. Distributed Engines are infrastructure components for extending Secret Server's operational reach, not application-level secret injection.
Kubernetes
Operator syncs to K8s Secrets via CRDs (InfisicalSecret, InfisicalPushSecret) with auto-reload for Deployments, DaemonSets, and StatefulSets. Agent Injector (mutating webhook sidecar). CSI Provider.
No native Kubernetes operator or CRD-based sync. Kubernetes integration relies on External Secrets Operator (ESO) with a Delinea provider (currently Beta, Delinea-supported). DSV (separate product) offers a sidecar injector and mutating webhook for Kubernetes.
Infisical's CRD-based Operator provides declarative, GitOps-friendly secret sync with native auto-reload. Secret Server's Kubernetes path uses ESO (a third-party operator with a Delinea-maintained provider) or requires switching to DSV for native sidecar/webhook support.
Internal CA
Create and manage private CA hierarchies with root and intermediate CAs. Visual certificate management dashboard. Certificate Templates and Profiles for policy-driven issuance.
No internal CA capability. Secret Server can store SSL certificates and keys as vault items but cannot issue or sign certificates. Delinea's separate DSV product can issue signed X.509 leaf certificates from imported root/intermediate CAs. Full certificate lifecycle management requires integration with third-party tools (Keyfactor, Venafi).
Infisical provides a self-contained internal PKI. Secret Server stores certificates as vault items but cannot issue them natively. DSV can issue leaf certificates from imported CAs, but this requires a separate product. Full PKI lifecycle management requires third-party tools.
External CA Integration
Integrate with Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, Microsoft AD CS, Google Trust Services, SSL.com, any ACME-compatible CA.
No native external CA integration within Secret Server. Keyfactor integration enables certificate discovery and automation but requires a separate Keyfactor deployment. DSV supports certificate issuance from imported CAs.
Infisical integrates directly with external CAs from the core platform. Secret Server's external CA capabilities require Keyfactor or similar third-party deployments.
Enrollment Methods
API, ACME (automated certificate management), EST (Enrollment over Secure Transport) for device and workload enrollment.
No certificate enrollment methods. Secret Server is not a certificate authority or enrollment service.
ACME and EST support enable automated certificate management for a wide range of devices and workloads.
Certificate Syncs
Push certificates to AWS Certificate Manager, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, and more.
No native certificate sync destinations. Certificates stored in Secret Server remain in the vault.
Certificate sync automates distribution to cloud services, reducing manual steps in certificate deployment workflows.
Certificate Discovery
Automatically scan network infrastructure — IP ranges, CIDR blocks, and domains — across TLS ports to discover deployed certificates. Schedule recurring scans. Supports scanning through Gateway for private networks.
No native certificate discovery within Secret Server. Keyfactor integration can provide certificate discovery and inventory if deployed alongside Secret Server.
Discovery eliminates blind spots and prevents surprise expirations from untracked certificates. Secret Server can achieve this through Keyfactor integration, adding a product dependency.
Certificate Alerts
Configurable expiration alerts and webhook notifications for certificate lifecycle events.
No native certificate alerting. Certificate expiration monitoring requires external tools or custom scripts.
Expiration alerts help prevent outages caused by overlooked certificate renewals.
PAM Capabilities
Built-in PAM with session recording for database queries, SSH, RDP, and K8s access. Credential rotation. Full audit trails. SSH certificate-based authentication included as a native access method. Available in both cloud and self-hosted deployments.
Comprehensive enterprise PAM platform. Session recording for SSH and RDP via session connector/proxy. Credential vaulting and rotation for AD, local, database, and SSH accounts. Secret checkout with approval workflows. Session monitoring with real-time keystroke logging. This is Secret Server's core strength.
Secret Server is a mature, full-featured PAM platform — this is its primary domain. Infisical includes PAM as part of a unified secrets management platform, providing session recording, SSH certificate auth, and database access without requiring a separate PAM deployment.
Session Recording
All session activity recorded automatically when users connect through Infisical Gateway. Recordings stored centrally with searchable playback across database queries, SSH, RDP, and K8s sessions.
Advanced session recording with highly efficient video compression (~5 MB per hour). SSH and RDP session recording via session connector. Keystroke logging. Real-time session monitoring with ability to terminate sessions. Mature and feature-rich.
Secret Server's session recording is a mature, enterprise-grade capability with excellent compression and real-time monitoring. Infisical's session recording covers database queries and K8s sessions in addition to SSH/RDP, integrated within the secrets management platform.
Privileged Account Discovery
— Secret scanning focused on code and infrastructure — not privileged account discovery.
Continuous Identity Discovery across AD, local systems, and cloud providers. Finds shadow admins, unmanaged privileged accounts, and accounts bypassing the vault. Workday integration for identity enrichment.
Account discovery is a core Secret Server differentiator for organizations with large Windows/AD environments and unmanaged privileged accounts.
Gateway
Lightweight, single binary deployed with a single CLI command (infisical gateway). Outbound-only SSH reverse tunnels — no inbound firewall rules required. Works for all platform features: dynamic secrets, rotation, LDAP, PKI, and PAM.
Distributed Engines extend Secret Server into remote and segmented networks. Engines handle discovery, RPC, and session proxying. Require dedicated Windows servers and configuration.
Infisical's Gateway is a single binary requiring zero inbound firewall changes. Distributed Engines are full Windows-based infrastructure components requiring dedicated servers and more extensive network planning.
Secret Scanning
Built-in scanning for 140+ secret types across Git repos and infrastructure. Detect exposed credentials before they can be exploited.
No native secret scanning for code repositories or infrastructure. Secret Server's Discovery feature finds unmanaged privileged accounts — a different capability focused on infrastructure, not code.
Secret scanning proactively identifies exposed credentials in source code and CI/CD pipelines. Discovery finds unmanaged accounts in Active Directory and cloud infrastructure. Complementary but distinct capabilities.
Encryption
AES-256-GCM encryption at rest. FIPS 140-3 compliant. Full data sovereignty through self-hosting.
AES 256-bit encryption at rest. SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) supported. HSM integration for encryption key protection. FIPS 140-2 supported.
Both use strong encryption. Infisical supports FIPS 140-3. Secret Server supports FIPS 140-2 with HSM integration.
KMS / BYOK
Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) with AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP Cloud KMS, or custom HSMs. You retain full visibility and revocation capabilities. Infisical never stores or sees your root keys.
Encryption key generated during installation and stored in encryption.config file. HSM integration available for key protection. No native cloud KMS integration (AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP Cloud KMS) for root key management.
Infisical provides straightforward BYOK with major cloud KMS providers. Secret Server's key management relies on a file-based encryption key or HSM — no direct cloud KMS integration for root key protection.
KMIP
Acts as KMIP server for integration with legacy HSMs, databases, and enterprise tools.
No native KMIP support.
KMIP server support enables integration with enterprise tools and legacy infrastructure that rely on the standard key management protocol.
Compliance
SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR, FIPS 140-3.
SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FIPS 140-2. Compliance reporting and audit trails are a core strength.
Both platforms support enterprise compliance frameworks. Secret Server's compliance reporting is mature and deeply integrated with its audit capabilities.
AI Agent Security
Agentic Sentinel: MCP (Model Context Protocol) permission management for users and AI agents. Control what tools and resources AI agents can access with policy-based governance.
Delinea has published an MCP server for Secret Server and Platform APIs, enabling AI agents to interact with the vault. However, there is no dedicated AI agent governance or permission management framework.
As AI agents proliferate in enterprise environments, controlling their access to secrets and resources becomes critical. Infisical provides dedicated governance tooling for AI agents. Delinea enables AI agent connectivity but without granular permission governance.
Storage Backend
PostgreSQL — battle-tested, horizontally scalable, and already familiar to most ops teams. Works with RDS, Cloud SQL, Aurora, and any PostgreSQL-compatible database.
Microsoft SQL Server — requires SQL Server Standard or Enterprise for production. SQL Express is not supported for production use. SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups required for HA.
PostgreSQL is open source, free, and runs everywhere. SQL Server requires licensing and Windows infrastructure, adding cost and operational complexity.
Application Runtime
Stateless application servers. Runs on Linux, Docker, or Kubernetes. No runtime dependencies beyond the application binary and PostgreSQL.
ASP.NET application hosted in IIS on Windows Server. Requires .NET Framework, IIS roles, and Windows Server infrastructure. RabbitMQ recommended for background job processing in multi-node deployments.
Infisical's stateless, Linux-native architecture aligns with modern infrastructure patterns. Secret Server's IIS/Windows dependency requires Windows administration expertise and licensing.
High Availability
Multiple stateless instances behind load balancer with shared PostgreSQL. Standard, well-understood patterns.
Multiple IIS web servers behind load balancer with SQL Server AlwaysOn. RabbitMQ clustering required. Distributed Engines for remote network access. Significant infrastructure planning required. Professional services often recommended.
Infisical HA follows standard stateless application patterns. Secret Server HA involves coordinating IIS nodes, SQL AlwaysOn, RabbitMQ clusters, and Distributed Engines — each requiring dedicated infrastructure and expertise.
Upgrades
Rolling deployment of stateless instances. Database migrations handled automatically.
Careful version upgrade procedures. Pre-compiled versions available for code integrity. Backup encryption.config and database before upgrades. Distributed Engine upgrades must be coordinated. Professional services may be recommended for major version upgrades.
Infisical's stateless architecture enables zero-downtime rolling upgrades. Secret Server upgrades require careful coordination across IIS, SQL Server, Distributed Engines, and encryption key management.
Air-Gapped
Full support with Gateway for connecting to isolated resources. Offline packages available.
Air-gapped deployment supported for on-premises. Distributed Engines can extend into isolated networks. Cloud (SaaS) version requires internet connectivity.
Both platforms support air-gapped deployment for on-premises installations.
Looking to improve your secret management processes?Talk to an expert
Why Infisical?
Full transparency and control. Open-source codebase your security team can audit, with self-hosting on any infrastructure. No dependency on a closed-source, SaaS-only vendor.
Developer experience that drives adoption. An intuitive dashboard, first-party SDKs, 35+ secret syncs, and single-command CLI injection make it easy for teams to do the right thing — reducing secrets sprawl across the organization.
Built-in governance, no assembly required. Approval workflows, change request reviews, access requests with auto-expiration, and native Slack/Teams integration — all out of the box without ServiceNow or custom engineering.
Enterprise-proven with full deployment flexibility. Trusted by Fortune 500 organizations across finance, healthcare, aerospace, and technology — deployed in cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments.
Ready to Get Started?
- Start Free — Full-featured free tier. No credit card required.
- Book a Demo — See Infisical in action with your use cases.
- Read the Docs — Dive into technical documentation.
Starting with Infisical is simple, fast, and free.
PRODUCT
CONTACT