head to head · open source
lesspass vs pwd.sh
lesspass has 6,063 GitHub stars, 365 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. pwd.sh has 1,563 stars, 136 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 29 days ago. lesspass leads on adoption by 288% (6,063 vs 1,563 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 9%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| lesspass | pwd.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-08-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 365 | ⑂ 136 |
| 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 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 pwd.sh
pwd.sh is a Bash script that manages text secrets such as passwords by storing each one in a GnuPG symmetric encrypted file, and it is for people who work in a terminal and prefer to keep their own encrypted store rather than hand it to a hosted password service.
read the full pwd.sh overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Identity & Access Management (IAM) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Identity & Access Management (IAM) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is lesspass or pwd.sh more popular?
lesspass has 6,063 GitHub stars and pwd.sh has 1,563. 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 (6,063 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.