head to head · open source
pwd.sh vs Monica
pwd.sh has 1,564 GitHub stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. Monica has 1,218 stars, 67 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pwd.sh leads on adoption by 28% (1,564 vs 1,218 stars). pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT; Monica is written in Kotlin under GPL-3.0. pwd.sh has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Monica 6%. Monica 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
| pwd.sh | Monica | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.6K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 132 | ⑂ 67 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick pwd.sh if
- You weight community size — 1.6K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Monica if
- You want the Monica feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and Monica fits your workflow better
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 →
About Monica
Monica 本地密码库 中文 English 日本語 Tiếng Việt Русский 黑羽川 聚合 Bitwarden 与 KeePass 的本地优先密码库 Android / Browser · Local Vault · TOTP · WebDAV Backup 友情链接： Linux.do Monica 是一个聚合 Bitwarden 与 KeePass 的本地密码库（Local Vault）。 它以本地存储优先为核心，帮助你在 Android 与浏览器端统一管理账号密码、2FA、私密笔记与敏感附件。 官网入口: Monica for Windows 已归档。历史代码见: Monica for Windows Monica for Browser 已归档。新的 Monica Extension 正在重写开发中，敬请期待。 由于目前项目主要由我一人维护，时间与精力都比较有限，因此 Monica for Wear 暂时无法保持持续更新。现阶段我会将主要重心放在 Monica for Android 的功能完善、体验优化与稳定性维护上，也感谢大家的理解与支持。 用户先看 Monica 适合谁 需要本地优先密码管理，不希望账号数据托管到第三方云。 既使用 Bitwarden，也维护 KeePass ( .kdbx ) 数据。 需要 Android 日常使用，同时在浏览器里完成自动填充。 你能得到什么…
read the full Monica overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pwd.sh or Monica more popular?
pwd.sh has 1,564 GitHub stars and Monica has 1,218. pwd.sh has the larger community by that measure.
Are pwd.sh and Monica free?
Both are open source. pwd.sh is licensed under MIT and Monica under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pwd.sh and Monica?
pwd.sh is written in Shell and Monica in Kotlin. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, pwd.sh or Monica?
Choose pwd.sh if you want the larger community (1,564 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Monica if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.