head to head · open source
Keycloak vs pwd.sh
Keycloak has 37,738 GitHub stars, 9,148 forks, 3,292 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pwd.sh has 1,564 stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. Keycloak leads on adoption by 2,313% (37,738 vs 1,564 stars). Keycloak is written in Java under Apache-2.0; pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT. Keycloak has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, pwd.sh 8%. Keycloak 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
| Keycloak | pwd.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.1K | ⑂ 132 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Keycloak if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pwd.sh if
- You want the pwd.sh feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and pwd.sh fits your workflow better
About Keycloak
Open Source Identity and Access Management Add authentication to applications and secure services with minimum effort. No need to deal with storing users or authenticating users. Keycloak provides user federation, strong authentication, user management, fine grained authorization, and more. Help and Documentation Documentation User Mailing List Mailing list for help and general questions about Keycloak Join keycloak for general questions, or keycloak dev on Slack for design and development discussions, by creating an account at Reporting Security Vulnerabilities If you have found a security vulnerability, please…
read the full Keycloak overview →
About pwd.sh
pwd.sh is a Bash script to manage text secrets, such as passwords, using GnuPG. Each secret is saved to a randomly named file in a directory. An encrypted index maps usernames to secrets contained in files. Both the index and files can be decrypted directly with GnuPG without pwd.sh. Install Download from Releases, or to use the latest version, clone the repository: Or download the script directly: Use Run the script interactively using ./pwd.sh or symlink to a directory in PATH : w write (create) a secret r read (access) a secret l list secret names and paths s generate a random secret u generate a random…
read the full pwd.sh overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Keycloak or pwd.sh more popular?
Keycloak has 37,738 GitHub stars and pwd.sh has 1,564. Keycloak has the larger community by that measure.
Are Keycloak and pwd.sh free?
Both are open source. Keycloak is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pwd.sh under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Keycloak and pwd.sh?
Keycloak is written in Java and pwd.sh in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Keycloak or pwd.sh?
Choose Keycloak if you want the larger community (37,738 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pwd.sh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.