head to head · open source
lesspass vs passman
lesspass has 6,065 GitHub stars, 364 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. passman has 823 stars, 118 forks, 101 open issues and last shipped today. lesspass leads on adoption by 637% (6,065 vs 823 stars). lesspass is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; passman is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. lesspass has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, passman 14%. passman was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (password-manager), 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
| lesspass | passman | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 823 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 364 | ⑂ 118 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lesspass if
- You weight community size — 6.1K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick passman if
- You want the passman feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and passman fits your workflow better
About lesspass
LessPass is a stateless, open source password manager written in TypeScript and licensed under GPL 3.0 that generates passwords from a master password instead of storing them in a synchronized vault, built for individuals and self hosters who want the same passwords on every device without syncing an encrypted database.
read the full lesspass overview →
About passman
Passman is a full featured, open source password manager that runs as an app inside Nextcloud, for individuals and teams who already self host Nextcloud and want their credentials to stay on infrastructure they control.
read the full passman overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lesspass or passman more popular?
lesspass has 6,065 GitHub stars and passman has 823. lesspass has the larger community by that measure.
Are lesspass and passman free?
Both are open source. lesspass is licensed under GPL-3.0 and passman under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lesspass and passman?
lesspass is written in TypeScript and passman in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lesspass or passman?
Choose lesspass if you want the larger community (6,065 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose passman if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.