head to head · open source
KeePassXC vs Passbolt
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars, 2,003 forks, 910 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Passbolt has 6,204 stars, 406 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. KeePassXC leads on adoption by 379% (29,711 vs 6,204 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%. KeePassXC 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 | ★ 30K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 406 |
| 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 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 /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 Passbolt
The open source password manager for teams. Table of Contents Introducing Passbolt Get Started Run it on your own server, natively Available Clients & Apps Browser Extensions Mobile Apps CLI Desktop App Contributing Reporting a security issue License Introducing Passbolt Passbolt is a security first, open source password manager for teams. It helps organizations centralize, organize and share passwords and secrets securely. What makes passbolt different? Security: Passbolt security model features user owned secret keys and end to end encryption. It is audited multiple times annually, and findings are made…
read the full Passbolt overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is KeePassXC or Passbolt more popular?
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars and Passbolt has 6,204. 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 (29,711 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.