head to head · open source
Bitwarden vs Aegis Authenticator
Bitwarden has 20,554 GitHub stars, 1,826 forks, 230 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Aegis Authenticator has 13,448 stars, 614 forks, 120 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Bitwarden leads on adoption by 53% (20,554 vs 13,448 stars). Bitwarden is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence; Aegis Authenticator is written in Java under GPL-3.0. Bitwarden has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Aegis Authenticator 5%. Bitwarden was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Bitwarden | Aegis Authenticator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 13K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 614 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bitwarden if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Aegis Authenticator if
- You want the Aegis Authenticator feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Aegis Authenticator fits your workflow better
About Bitwarden
The Bitwarden Server project contains the APIs, database, and other core infrastructure items needed for the "backend" of all bitwarden client applications. The server project is written in C using .NET Core with ASP.NET Core. The database is written in T SQL/SQL Server. The codebase can be developed, built, run, and deployed cross platform on Windows, macOS, and Linux distributions. Developer Documentation Please refer to the Server Setup Guide in the Contributing Documentation for build instructions, recommended tooling, code style tips, and lots of other great information to get you started. Deploy You can…
read the full Bitwarden overview →
About Aegis Authenticator
Aegis Authenticator Aegis Authenticator is a free, secure and open source 2FA app for Android. It aims to provide a secure authenticator for your online services, while also including some features missing in existing authenticator apps, like proper encryption and backups. Aegis supports HOTP and TOTP, making it compatible with thousands of services. For a list of frequently asked questions, please check out the FAQ. The security design of the app and the vault format is described in detail in this document. Features Free and open source Secure The vault is encrypted (AES 256 GCM), and can be unlocked with…
read the full Aegis Authenticator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bitwarden or Aegis Authenticator more popular?
Bitwarden has 20,554 GitHub stars and Aegis Authenticator has 13,448. Bitwarden has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bitwarden and Aegis Authenticator free?
Both are open source. Bitwarden has no licence declared in this registry, and Aegis Authenticator is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Bitwarden and Aegis Authenticator?
Bitwarden is written in C# and Aegis Authenticator in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Bitwarden or Aegis Authenticator?
Choose Bitwarden if you want the larger community (20,554 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Aegis Authenticator if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.