head to head · open source
pwd.sh vs rowel
pwd.sh has 1,563 GitHub stars, 135 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. rowel has 944 stars, 80 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped today. pwd.sh leads on adoption by 66% (1,563 vs 944 stars). pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT; rowel is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. pwd.sh has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, rowel 8%. rowel was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (cryptography, encryption, password, 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 | rowel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.6K | ★ 944 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Shell | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-24 | 2026-09-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 135 | ⑂ 80 |
| 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 rowel if
- You want the rowel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rowel fits your workflow better
About pwd.sh
pwd.sh is a Bash script that manages text secrets such as passwords by storing each one in a GnuPG symmetric encrypted file, and it is for people who work in a terminal and prefer to keep their own encrypted store rather than hand it to a hosted password service.
read the full pwd.sh overview →
About rowel
Rowel is a free, offline first password manager for macOS, Windows and Linux that keeps logins, credit card details and secure notes in a locally stored, encrypted SQLite vault, built for individuals who would rather own their secrets than store them in a hosted service.
read the full rowel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pwd.sh or rowel more popular?
pwd.sh has 1,563 GitHub stars and rowel has 944. pwd.sh has the larger community by that measure.
Are pwd.sh and rowel free?
Both are open source. pwd.sh is licensed under MIT and rowel under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pwd.sh and rowel?
pwd.sh is written in Shell and rowel in TypeScript. 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 rowel?
Choose pwd.sh if you want the larger community (1,563 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rowel if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.