12PORT vs. BEYONDTRUST
Privileged access without the agent fleet.
BeyondTrust grew from Bomgar (remote support) and PowerBroker (endpoint privilege) into a multi-product PAM stack. The architecture is still tied to agents on endpoints and jump servers. 12Port replaces the agent fleet with a single agentless broker and rolls remote access, vault, recording, and AI-agent support into one platform.
Architecture differences
What 12Port does differently than BeyondTrust.
BeyondTrust is the result of a series of acquisitions (Bomgar, PowerBroker, eEye) stitched into Privilege Management Cloud, Privileged Remote Access, Password Safe, and the Endpoint Privilege Management line. The platform shares branding but not always architecture. 12Port was designed in one piece.
- Agentless broker, not agents on jump servers. BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access requires agents on jump points and endpoints. 12Port brokers SSH, RDP, PowerShell, VNC, Telnet, and HTTP(s) sessions through a server-side broker. No jump-server fleet to maintain.
- One product, not the BeyondTrust portfolio. 12Port covers PAM, vault, account management, remote access, session intelligence, and AI-agent access in one license. BeyondTrust ships PMC, PRA, Password Safe, EPM, and Identity Security Insights as separate products with separate consoles.
- AI agents speak to a native MCP server. 12Port’s MCP server lets AI agents authenticate, request privileged actions, and run them through the same broker as humans. BeyondTrust’s AI story is service-account hardening plus Identity Security Insights for behavior analytics, not a privileged-access plane for agents.
- Multi-tenant from day one. 12Port runs MSPs and multi-business-unit enterprises from one control plane with isolated tenants, per-tenant audit, and per-tenant reporting. BeyondTrust supports MSP scenarios via separate deployments or partner edition.
Side-by-side
BeyondTrust vs. 12Port at a glance.
| Capability | BeyondTrust | 12Port |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoint footprint | Agents on jump servers + endpoints (PRA, EPM) | Agentless. Nothing on endpoint or target |
| Time to first session | Weeks to months (jump-server build, agent deploy) | Same day. Connect IdP, point at assets, broker |
| Product count | PMC + PRA + Password Safe + EPM + ISI = 5 SKUs | One platform, one license |
| AI agent support | Service-account model + ISI behavior analytics | Native MCP server. Agents authenticate and request like humans |
| Multi-tenancy | Separate deployments per tenant | Native, single control plane, isolated tenants |
| Session recording | Video + keystrokes (PRA, PMC) | Video + transcript + event log + plain-language search |
| Pricing model | Per-asset + per-feature; quote-driven | Per named user, all modules included; quote-driven |
| Deployment options | Cloud (PMC), self-hosted (PRA, Password Safe) | On-prem, cloud, isolated networks. Same product |
Honest framing
When BeyondTrust is the right answer. When 12Port is.
BeyondTrust fits when…
- You already run Bomgar (now PRA) for help-desk remote support and want to keep that workflow as-is.
- You have a deep PowerBroker / EPM rollout for Windows endpoint privilege management that the security team is reluctant to migrate.
- You have an active BeyondTrust support contract and a procurement preference that favors a tier-1 incumbent.
12Port fits when…
- You don’t want a jump-server fleet plus an agent fleet plus a vault plus a remote-support tool plus an EPM. You want all of that in one broker.
- You priced out a BeyondTrust renewal or expansion and the line items for additional assets, agents, and professional services do not line up with the privileged identities you actually have under management.
- Your BeyondTrust rollout has stalled. It is common: jump-server projects and agent rollouts cost more time and budget than expected, the original scope shrinks, and a meaningful slice of privileged identities never makes it onto the platform.
- You are heavily invested in BeyondTrust for legacy systems but want a faster, cheaper path to bring new projects, acquisitions, cloud accounts, K8s clusters, and AI agents under privileged-access management, without provisioning more jump servers and agents per workload.
- AI agents are part of your access plan, and you want them brokered through the same control plane as humans.
- You run an MSP or a multi-business-unit enterprise and need real multi-tenancy, not parallel deployments per customer.
- You are tired of paying per-asset and want pricing that scales with how many people actually use the platform.
