head to head · open source
pwd.sh vs Strongbox
pwd.sh has 1,564 GitHub stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. Strongbox has 1,474 stars, 126 forks, 230 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. pwd.sh leads on adoption by 6% (1,564 vs 1,474 stars). pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT; Strongbox is written in Objective-C under AGPL-3.0. pwd.sh has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Strongbox 9%. pwd.sh was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cryptography, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| pwd.sh | Strongbox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.6K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Shell | Objective-C |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-07-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 132 | ⑂ 126 |
| 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 Strongbox if
- You want the Strongbox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Objective-C
- You evaluated both and Strongbox 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 Strongbox
Strongbox A native Password Manager for iOS & macOS crafted by artisan Indie developers! Strongbox supports the well known, portable and open Password Safe (version 3) and KeePass file formats (KeePass 1 and 2, i.e. KDB, KDBX (3.1 and 4)). Strongbox uses encryption algoritms likes TwoFish, Argon2d, ChaCha20, Aes, Salsa20 and various other cryptographic techniques (SHA256s, HMACs, CSPRNGs) to store groups and entries, containing various secrets, mostly designed around password storage. You can also store file attachments in KeePass format safes. YubiKey is also supported. Localization Help Wanted If you would…
read the full Strongbox overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Identity & Access Management (IAM) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Identity & Access Management (IAM) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is pwd.sh or Strongbox more popular?
pwd.sh has 1,564 GitHub stars and Strongbox has 1,474. pwd.sh has the larger community by that measure.
Are pwd.sh and Strongbox free?
Both are open source. pwd.sh is licensed under MIT and Strongbox under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pwd.sh and Strongbox?
pwd.sh is written in Shell and Strongbox in Objective-C. 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 Strongbox?
Choose pwd.sh if you want the larger community (1,564 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Strongbox if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.