head to head · open source
lesspass vs rowel
lesspass has 6,065 GitHub stars, 364 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. rowel has 944 stars, 80 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped today. lesspass leads on adoption by 542% (6,065 vs 944 stars). lesspass is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; rowel is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. lesspass has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, rowel 8%. rowel was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (password, password-manager, privacy), 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 | rowel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 944 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 364 | ⑂ 80 |
| 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 rowel if
- You want the rowel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rowel 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 rowel
Rowel is a free, offline first password manager for macOS, Windows and Linux that keeps logins, credit card details and secure notes in a locally stored, encrypted SQLite vault, built for individuals who would rather own their secrets than store them in a hosted service.
read the full rowel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lesspass or rowel more popular?
lesspass has 6,065 GitHub stars and rowel has 944. lesspass has the larger community by that measure.
Are lesspass and rowel free?
Both are open source. lesspass is licensed under GPL-3.0 and rowel under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lesspass and rowel?
lesspass is written in TypeScript and rowel in TypeScript. 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 rowel?
Choose lesspass if you want the larger community (6,065 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose rowel if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.