head to head · open source

Aegis Authenticator vs Passbolt

Aegis Authenticator has 13,448 GitHub stars, 614 forks, 120 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Passbolt has 6,204 stars, 406 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. Aegis Authenticator leads on adoption by 117% (13,448 vs 6,204 stars). Aegis Authenticator is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Passbolt is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Aegis Authenticator has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Passbolt 7%. Passbolt was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.

Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.

Aegis Authenticator ★ 13K Passbolt ★ 6.2K category Productivity & Utilities

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Side by side

Aegis Authenticator Passbolt
GitHub stars ★ 13K ★ 6.2K
License GPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0
Written in Java PHP
Last push 2026-09-06 2026-10-20
Forks ⑂ 614 ⑂ 406
Self-hosting Yes Yes
Data ownership Your server Your server

pick Aegis Authenticator if

  • You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
  • You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
  • Your stack matches Java
  • You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance

full Aegis Authenticator profile →

pick Passbolt if

  • You want the Passbolt feature set and don't need the biggest community
  • You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
  • Your stack matches PHP
  • You evaluated both and Passbolt fits your workflow better

full Passbolt profile →

About Aegis Authenticator

Aegis Authenticator Aegis Authenticator is a free, secure and open source 2FA app for Android. It aims to provide a secure authenticator for your online services, while also including some features missing in existing authenticator apps, like proper encryption and backups. Aegis supports HOTP and TOTP, making it compatible with thousands of services. For a list of frequently asked questions, please check out the FAQ. The security design of the app and the vault format is described in detail in this document. Features Free and open source Secure The vault is encrypted (AES 256 GCM), and can be unlocked with…

read the full Aegis Authenticator overview →

About Passbolt

The open source password manager for teams. Table of Contents Introducing Passbolt Get Started Run it on your own server, natively Available Clients & Apps Browser Extensions Mobile Apps CLI Desktop App Contributing Reporting a security issue License Introducing Passbolt Passbolt is a security first, open source password manager for teams. It helps organizations centralize, organize and share passwords and secrets securely. What makes passbolt different? Security: Passbolt security model features user owned secret keys and end to end encryption. It is audited multiple times annually, and findings are made…

read the full Passbolt overview →

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Frequently asked questions

Is Aegis Authenticator or Passbolt more popular?

Aegis Authenticator has 13,448 GitHub stars and Passbolt has 6,204. Aegis Authenticator has the larger community by that measure.

Are Aegis Authenticator and Passbolt free?

Both are open source. Aegis Authenticator is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Passbolt under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.

What is the difference between Aegis Authenticator and Passbolt?

Aegis Authenticator is written in Java and Passbolt in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.

Which should I choose, Aegis Authenticator or Passbolt?

Choose Aegis Authenticator if you want the larger community (13,448 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Passbolt if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.