Infisical vs. Venafi
Looking for a Venafi alternative? Infisical automates certificate lifecycles for your entire infrastructure out of the box, and can issue through Venafi while you move.
The Venafi way
Manually manage policy folders, drivers, upgrades, licenses, and a ticket queue.
- New Policy Folder
- tpp-01
- Patch Windows and SQL Server on the Venafi cluster: Needs a maintenance window
- License usage report: Counted per certificate and per application instance.
- bigip.internal: Provisioning failed
- Adaptable Application driver PowerShell reference
- CyberArk Certificate Manager is now Next-Gen Trust Security: Contact your account team about your self-hosted roadmap.
- Venafi upgrade window: Every cluster server and the database
- Sam, platform team: Any update from Venafi support on the F5 push? Their ticket says 24 hours.
The Infisical way
Every certificate in one place, renewed and pushed automatically.
What's the difference between Infisical and Venafi?
Venafi (now CyberArk Certificate Manager) is a capable enterprise certificate platform, but requires Windows Server/SQL infrastructure, specialists, and custom work to run. Infisical automates certificate lifecycles on your entire infrastructure.
Evaluate
Infisical- Try the free tier with an internal CA, ACME automation, and the certificate dashboard
- Self-host the MIT-licensed open-source version
Venafi- Get a quote, then plan the implementation with professional services
- Evaluate the roadmap and long-term reliability after two acquisitions in two years
Deploy/integrate
Infisical- Use managed cloud in EU or US regions
- Self-host on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE
- Use a gateway to reach private networks
Venafi- Self-host a cluster on Windows Server, IIS, and SQL Server
- Run a VSatellite in your network for the SaaS version
Migrate/onboard
Infisical- Issue through Venafi while you move to cause no migration outages
- Discover every certificate on your network, whoever issued it
Venafi- Build a full policy tree before issuing your first certificate
- Hire professional services or specialized engineers to implement it
Operate
Infisical- Manage every certificate in one dashboard, no matter who issued it
- Renew, revoke, or reissue from the dashboard or API
Venafi- Work through policy folders and application objects for each certificate
- Wait on a ticket queue when a push fails
Automate
Infisical- Renew certificates automatically, with no agent on the target
- Get a Slack, email, PagerDuty, or webhook alert before expiries
- Sync certificates to 13+ destinations, including F5 and NetScaler
Venafi- Write PowerShell drivers for targets the library doesn't cover
- Keep driver scripts identical on every server in the cluster
Scale
Infisical- Add secrets, privileged access, AI agent security, or KMS on the same platform
Venafi- Monitor how acquisitions affect product development
Infisical vs. Venafi at a glance
Venafi covers the full certificate lifecycle if you have the infrastructure, drivers, and specialists to run it. Infisical automates certificate management out of the box.
| Feature |  | Venafi |
|---|---|---|
| Open sourceWhether the source code is public and auditable for your team. | MIT-licensed, 29,000+ GitHub stars | Proprietary |
| Self-hostingRunning the product in your dedicated cloud or on-premises infrastructure. | Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE | Windows Server, IIS, and SQL Server |
| Managed cloudA version the vendor hosts and operates for you. | US and EU regions | SaaS, with a VSatellite in your network |
| Components to runWhat your team needs to deploy and maintain. | One platform, plus a gateway | A Windows cluster, SQL Server, and PowerShell drivers |
| Product scopeWhat Infisical and Venafi cover beyond certificate management. | Certificates, secrets, privileged access, AI agents, and KMS | Certificates. Code signing and secrets are separate products in CyberArk |
| Private CA hierarchy | ||
| External and public CAs | Public, private, and Venafi itself, in one inventory | |
| ACMEA protocol for tools like certbot and cert-manager to request and renew certificates. | ||
| ESTA protocol common in IoT and networking that helps devices and servers enroll for certificates. | ||
| SCEPA legacy enrollment protocol used by device management tools like Microsoft Intune and Jamf. | ||
| APIRequesting certificates from your own code or scripts. | ||
| Certificate discoveryScanning your networks to find certificates in use, including ones you didn't know about. | ||
| InventoryA central list of every certificate, where it's used, and when it expires. | ||
| Automatic renewalAutomatically replacing certificates before they expire. | No agent on the target | Through drivers or self-maintained PowerShell scripts |
| Expiry alertsNotifications before a certificate expires to renew them in time. | Slack, PagerDuty, email, or webhooks | Email, PagerDuty, or webhooks |
| Certificate syncsInstalling certificates on load balancers, servers, and cloud services that use them. | 13+ destinations, no agent on the target | A driver library, plus PowerShell drivers you write |
| Access controlRules for who can see things or make changes. | ||
| SAML SSOSigning in through an identity provider like Okta or Microsoft Entra ID. | ||
| Audit logsA record of who did what for security reviews and compliance. | ||
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know. Can't find an answer? Talk to our team.
Yes. Infisical runs its own CAs and can issue from public and enterprise CAs (including Venafi). It discovers certificates on your network, renews them, and pushes them to where they're served. Venafi covers the same lifecycle, but requires a Windows and SQL Server cluster or an in-network VSatellite. Most organizations also need implementation help, custom PowerShell drivers, and/or a dedicated PKI team with specialized engineers.
Venafi was acquired by CyberArk in 2024 and became CyberArk Certificate Manager. Palo Alto Networks then bought CyberArk in 2026. Palo Alto now calls the SaaS version Next-Gen Trust Security. The self-hosted version is Certificate Manager, Self-Hosted. Palo Alto Networks hasn't published a detailed roadmap for Venafi's products.
Roadmap, packaging, and pricing now follow Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto says the self-hosted products keep receiving investment. Many teams use a change of ownership as the moment to review their options.
Yes. Self-hosted Venafi exclusively runs on Windows Server with IIS and Microsoft SQL Server, usually as a cluster of servers sharing one database. Infisical self-hosts on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE, with PostgreSQL and Redis.
Venafi is sold by quote, and self-hosted licensing counts certificates by the application instances that use them. The real cost is often in running it: a Windows and SQL Server cluster, implementation with outside help, upgrades, and PowerShell drivers for targets the library doesn't cover. Infisical works out of the box, has a free tier, and offers an MIT-licensed open-source version.
Yes. Infisical can issue certificates through a self-hosted Venafi instance, through a gateway, or have Venafi sign an Infisical intermediate CA. Teams move one application at a time while Venafi keeps issuing, then switch to Infisical's own CAs.
How to migrate from Venafi to Infisical
Infisical can issue through Venafi while you move, so most teams switch one application at a time.
- 01
Connect Venafi
Connect self-hosted Venafi through a gateway, or have Venafi's SaaS sign an Infisical intermediate CA.
- 02
Discover certificates
Run discovery across your networks to see what's deployed and when it expires.
- 03
Move one application
Point an application's ACME, EST, or SCEP client at Infisical, and sync its certificates to where they're served.
- 04
Switch CAs
Issue from Infisical's own CAs or the public CAs you already use as each application moves.
- 05
Retire Venafi
Once nothing renews through Venafi, decommission it.
Our team can help you plan and run the migration.
Start managing certificates, then add secrets, privileged access, KMS, or agent access.
Add products when you need them, on the platform you already run.
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Talk to our team
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