head to head · open source
Bitwarden vs PearPass
Bitwarden has 20,554 GitHub stars, 1,826 forks, 230 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PearPass has 542 stars, 72 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Bitwarden leads on adoption by 3,692% (20,554 vs 542 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 | ★ 21K | ★ 542 |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 72 |
| 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 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
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 PearPass
[!WARNING] 🍐 PearPass is currently paused from active development, so please use at your own caution until further notice. PearPass Desktop The desktop app for PearPass, an open source, end to end encrypted password and identity manager built on Pear Runtime. Table of Contents Introduction Features Installation Usage Examples Logging Testing Staging to Dev Workspace Dependencies Dependencies Related Projects Contributing License Introduction PearPass is an open source, privacy first password and identity manager that gives you full control over your sensitive information. It makes storing and managing your…
read the full PearPass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bitwarden or PearPass more popular?
Bitwarden has 20,554 GitHub stars and PearPass has 542. 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 (20,554 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose PearPass if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.