head to head · open source
lesspass vs passwall-server
lesspass has 6,068 GitHub stars, 364 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. passwall-server has 767 stars, 101 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. lesspass leads on adoption by 691% (6,068 vs 767 stars). lesspass is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; passwall-server is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. lesspass has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, passwall-server 13%. lesspass was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (password, 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 | passwall-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 767 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-28 | 2026-06-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 364 | ⑂ 101 |
| 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 passwall-server if
- You want the passwall-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and passwall-server 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 passwall-server
Passwall Server is the Go based backend that powers the open source Passwall password manager platform, giving self hosters an API server to store credentials and access them from anywhere.
read the full passwall-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lesspass or passwall-server more popular?
lesspass has 6,068 GitHub stars and passwall-server has 767. lesspass has the larger community by that measure.
Are lesspass and passwall-server free?
Both are open source. lesspass is licensed under GPL-3.0 and passwall-server under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lesspass and passwall-server?
lesspass is written in TypeScript and passwall-server in Go. 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 passwall-server?
Choose lesspass if you want the larger community (6,068 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose passwall-server if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.