head to head · open source
pwd.sh vs sysPass
pwd.sh has 1,563 GitHub stars, 133 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. sysPass has 994 stars, 220 forks, 280 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pwd.sh leads on adoption by 57% (1,563 vs 994 stars). pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT; sysPass is written in PHP under GPL-3.0. pwd.sh has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, sysPass 22%. sysPass 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 | sysPass | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.6K | ★ 994 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Shell | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 133 | ⑂ 220 |
| 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 sysPass if
- You want the sysPass feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and sysPass 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 sysPass
sysPass Systems Password Manager Join us in the Gitter chat room: PHP web based Password Manager for business and personal use. [x] AES 256 encryption in CTR mode [x] RSA for sending passwords from forms [x] Two factor authentication [x] HTML5 and Ajax interface [x] Users, groups and profiles management with up to 29 access levels [x] MySQL, OpenLDAP and Active Directory authentication [x] Tags, custom fields, public links, private accounts, favorites, history, etc. [x] Activity notifications by email and in app, and event log [x] Multilanguage [x] JSON RPC API Installation instructions and documentation at Doc…
read the full sysPass overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is pwd.sh or sysPass more popular?
pwd.sh has 1,563 GitHub stars and sysPass has 994. pwd.sh has the larger community by that measure.
Are pwd.sh and sysPass free?
Both are open source. pwd.sh is licensed under MIT and sysPass under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between pwd.sh and sysPass?
pwd.sh is written in Shell and sysPass in PHP. 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 sysPass?
Choose pwd.sh if you want the larger community (1,563 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sysPass if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.