head to head · open source
Passbolt vs Padloc
Passbolt has 6,127 GitHub stars, 400 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Padloc has 2,922 stars, 266 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped 1.5 years ago. Passbolt leads on adoption by 110% (6,127 vs 2,922 stars). Passbolt is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; Padloc is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. Passbolt has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Padloc 9%. Passbolt 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
| Passbolt | Padloc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.1K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-03-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 400 | ⑂ 266 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Passbolt if
- You weight community size — 6.1K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- 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 Passbolt
Passbolt is a security first, open source password manager for teams, published here as the Passbolt Community Edition (CE) JSON API under the AGPL 3.0 licence and built for organizations that need to centralize, organize and share passwords and secrets on infrastructure they control.
read the full Passbolt overview →
About Padloc
Padloc is an open source password and data manager for individuals and teams, distributed under the AGPL 3.0 license and written primarily in JavaScript and TypeScript. It lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem, and the repository is organized as a monorepo split into separate packages: a core logic library, a web based UI component library, a backend server, a Progressive Web App client, a localization package, an Electron desktop app, a Cordova project for iOS and Android, a Tauri based cross platform native app, and a browser extension. The project positions itself as an open alternative to 1Password…
read the full Padloc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Passbolt or Padloc more popular?
Passbolt has 6,127 GitHub stars and Padloc has 2,922. Passbolt has the larger community by that measure.
Are Passbolt and Padloc free?
Both are open source. Passbolt is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Padloc under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Passbolt and Padloc?
Passbolt is written in PHP 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, Passbolt or Padloc?
Choose Passbolt if you want the larger community (6,127 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Padloc if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.