head to head · open source
KeePassXC vs Padloc
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars, 2,003 forks, 910 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Padloc has 2,942 stars, 271 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KeePassXC leads on adoption by 910% (29,711 vs 2,942 stars). KeePassXC is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Padloc is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. KeePassXC has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Padloc 9%. KeePassXC 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
| KeePassXC | Padloc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 271 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick KeePassXC if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Padloc if
- You want the Padloc 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 Padloc fits your workflow better
About KeePassXC
KeePassXC /statusIcon) KeePassXC is a modern, secure, and open source password manager that stores and manages your most sensitive information. You can run KeePassXC on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. KeePassXC is for people with extremely high demands of secure personal data management. It saves many different types of information, such as usernames, passwords, URLs, attachments, and notes in an offline, encrypted file that can be stored in any location, including private and public cloud solutions. For easy identification and management, user defined titles and icons can be specified for entries. In…
read the full KeePassXC overview →
About Padloc
Padloc Simple, secure password and data management for individuals and teams. About This repo is split into multiple packages: How to use As you can see in the About section, there are lots of different components to play with! But at a minimum, in order to set up and use your own instance of Padloc you'll need to install and configure the Server and Web Client. In practice, there a few different ways to do this, but if you just want to install and test Padloc locally, doing so is really quite easy: The web client is now available at In depth guides on how to host your own "productive" version of Padloc and how…
read the full Padloc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is KeePassXC or Padloc more popular?
KeePassXC has 29,711 GitHub stars and Padloc has 2,942. KeePassXC has the larger community by that measure.
Are KeePassXC and Padloc free?
Both are open source. KeePassXC has no licence declared in this registry, and Padloc is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between KeePassXC and Padloc?
KeePassXC is written in C++ and Padloc 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, KeePassXC or Padloc?
Choose KeePassXC if you want the larger community (29,711 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Padloc if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.