head to head · open source
lesspass vs pwd.sh
lesspass has 6,080 GitHub stars, 361 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. pwd.sh has 1,564 stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 19 days ago. lesspass leads on adoption by 289% (6,080 vs 1,564 stars). lesspass is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT. lesspass has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, pwd.sh 8%. 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 | pwd.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-10-21 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 361 | ⑂ 132 |
| 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 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 lesspass
LessPass LessPass is a stateless password manager. Stop wasting your time synchronizing your encrypted vault. Remember one master password to access your passwords, anywhere, anytime. No sync needed. Try the demo at How to use LessPass Web extensions Install the web extension on Chrome or Firefox. When you need to generate a password, click on the password field on the web site you want to generate a password for. Hit Ctrl + Shift + L or Command + Shift + L on mac to open the web extension. Fill the login and master password and hit Enter . Your password is now copied in the clipboard. Hit esc key and paste the…
read the full lesspass 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 lesspass or pwd.sh more popular?
lesspass has 6,080 GitHub stars and pwd.sh has 1,564. lesspass has the larger community by that measure.
Are lesspass and pwd.sh free?
Both are open source. lesspass is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pwd.sh under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lesspass and pwd.sh?
lesspass is written in TypeScript 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, lesspass or pwd.sh?
Choose lesspass if you want the larger community (6,080 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pwd.sh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.