head to head · open source
Bitwarden vs PearPass
Bitwarden has 20,156 GitHub stars, 1,772 forks, 230 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PearPass has 534 stars, 70 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Bitwarden leads on adoption by 3,675% (20,156 vs 534 stars). Bitwarden is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence; PearPass is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Bitwarden has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, PearPass 13%. 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 | PearPass | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 534 |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 70 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bitwarden if
- You weight community size — 20K 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 PearPass if
- You want the PearPass feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and PearPass fits your workflow better
About Bitwarden
Bitwarden Server is the backend infrastructure for Bitwarden client applications, and it lives in the .NET ecosystem. The repository contains the APIs, database, and core services that support secure password management for individuals and businesses.
read the full Bitwarden overview →
About PearPass
PearPass is an open source, end to end encrypted password and identity manager for macOS, Linux, and Windows that keeps credentials encrypted on disk and syncs them directly between devices over Pear Runtime rather than through a central server.
read the full PearPass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bitwarden or PearPass more popular?
Bitwarden has 20,156 GitHub stars and PearPass has 534. Bitwarden has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bitwarden and PearPass free?
Neither Bitwarden nor PearPass 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 Bitwarden and PearPass?
Bitwarden is written in C# and PearPass in TypeScript. 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 PearPass?
Choose Bitwarden if you want the larger community (20,156 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose PearPass if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.