head to head · open source
KeePassXC vs Passbolt
KeePassXC has 28,843 GitHub stars, 1,910 forks, 910 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Passbolt has 6,127 stars, 400 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KeePassXC leads on adoption by 371% (28,843 vs 6,127 stars). KeePassXC is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Passbolt is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. KeePassXC has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Passbolt 7%. Passbolt was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (password, password-manager, security), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | Passbolt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 400 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick KeePassXC if
- You weight community size — 29K 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 Passbolt if
- You want the Passbolt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Passbolt fits your workflow better
About KeePassXC
KeePassXC is a cross platform, open source password manager derived from the Windows application KeePass Password Safe. It runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux, storing sensitive data—such as usernames, passwords, URLs, notes, and file attachments—in a single, encrypted database file using the KDBX format (KDBX4 and KDBX3). The project is community driven, hosted on GitHub, and maintained under the NOASSERTION license.
read the full KeePassXC overview →
About Passbolt
Passbolt is a security first, open source password manager for teams, published here as the Passbolt Community Edition (CE) JSON API under the AGPL 3.0 licence and built for organizations that need to centralize, organize and share passwords and secrets on infrastructure they control.
read the full Passbolt overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is KeePassXC or Passbolt more popular?
KeePassXC has 28,843 GitHub stars and Passbolt has 6,127. KeePassXC has the larger community by that measure.
Are KeePassXC and Passbolt free?
Both are open source. KeePassXC has no licence declared in this registry, and Passbolt is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between KeePassXC and Passbolt?
KeePassXC is written in C++ and Passbolt in PHP. 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 Passbolt?
Choose KeePassXC if you want the larger community (28,843 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Passbolt if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.