head to head · open source
hydra vs pwd.sh
hydra has 17,649 GitHub stars, 1,616 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. pwd.sh has 1,564 stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. hydra leads on adoption by 1,028% (17,649 vs 1,564 stars). hydra is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT. hydra has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, pwd.sh 8%. pwd.sh 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.
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Side by side
| hydra | pwd.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-07-29 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 132 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hydra if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 hydra
Chat · Discussions · Newsletter · Docs · Try Ory Network · Jobs Ory Hydra is a hardened, OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 Server and OpenID Connect Provider optimized for low latency, high throughput, and low resource consumption. It connects to your existing identity provider through a login and consent app, giving you absolute control over the user interface and experience. What is Ory Hydra? Why Ory Hydra OAuth2 and OpenID Connect: Open Standards OpenID Connect Certified Deployment options Use Ory Hydra on the Ory Network Self host Ory Hydra Quickstart Who is using Ory Hydra Ecosystem Ory Kratos: Identity and User…
read the full hydra overview →
About pwd.sh
pwd.sh is a Bash script to manage text secrets, such as passwords, using GnuPG. Each secret is saved to a randomly named file in a directory. An encrypted index maps usernames to secrets contained in files. Both the index and files can be decrypted directly with GnuPG without pwd.sh. Install Download from Releases, or to use the latest version, clone the repository: Or download the script directly: Use Run the script interactively using ./pwd.sh or symlink to a directory in PATH : w write (create) a secret r read (access) a secret l list secret names and paths s generate a random secret u generate a random…
read the full pwd.sh overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hydra or pwd.sh more popular?
hydra has 17,649 GitHub stars and pwd.sh has 1,564. hydra has the larger community by that measure.
Are hydra and pwd.sh free?
Both are open source. hydra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pwd.sh under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hydra and pwd.sh?
hydra is written in Go 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, hydra or pwd.sh?
Choose hydra if you want the larger community (17,649 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pwd.sh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.