head to head · open source
KeePassXC vs Bitwarden
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars, 2,003 forks, 910 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Bitwarden has 20,554 stars, 1,826 forks, 230 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KeePassXC leads on adoption by 45% (29,711 vs 20,554 stars). KeePassXC is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Bitwarden is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence. KeePassXC has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Bitwarden 9%. 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
| KeePassXC | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 21K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | C++ | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick KeePassXC if
- You weight community size — 30K 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 Bitwarden if
- You want the Bitwarden feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Bitwarden fits your workflow better
About KeePassXC
KeePassXC /statusIcon) KeePassXC is a modern, secure, and open source password manager that stores and manages your most sensitive information. You can run KeePassXC on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. KeePassXC is for people with extremely high demands of secure personal data management. It saves many different types of information, such as usernames, passwords, URLs, attachments, and notes in an offline, encrypted file that can be stored in any location, including private and public cloud solutions. For easy identification and management, user defined titles and icons can be specified for entries. In…
read the full KeePassXC overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is KeePassXC or Bitwarden more popular?
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars and Bitwarden has 20,554. KeePassXC has the larger community by that measure.
Are KeePassXC and Bitwarden free?
Neither KeePassXC nor Bitwarden declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between KeePassXC and Bitwarden?
KeePassXC is written in C++ and Bitwarden in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, KeePassXC or Bitwarden?
Choose KeePassXC if you want the larger community (29,711 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Bitwarden if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.