head to head · open source
SuperTokens vs pwd.sh
SuperTokens has 15,342 GitHub stars, 785 forks, 155 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pwd.sh has 1,564 stars, 132 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. SuperTokens leads on adoption by 881% (15,342 vs 1,564 stars). SuperTokens is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence; pwd.sh is written in Shell under MIT. SuperTokens has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, pwd.sh 8%. SuperTokens was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (password), 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
| SuperTokens | pwd.sh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 785 | ⑂ 132 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SuperTokens if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- 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 SuperTokens
Open Source auth provider Add secure login and session management to your apps. SDKs available for popular languages and front end frameworks e.g. Node.js, Go, Python, React.js, React Native, Vanilla JS, etc. Supertokens architecture is optimized to add secure authentication for your users without compromising on user and developer experience Three building blocks of SuperTokens architecture 1. Frontend SDK: Manages session tokens and renders login UI widgets 2. Backend SDK: Provides APIs for sign up, sign in, signout, session refreshing, etc. Your Frontend will talk to these APIs 3. SuperTokens Core: The HTTP…
read the full SuperTokens 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 SuperTokens or pwd.sh more popular?
SuperTokens has 15,342 GitHub stars and pwd.sh has 1,564. SuperTokens has the larger community by that measure.
Are SuperTokens and pwd.sh free?
Both are open source. SuperTokens has no licence declared in this registry, and pwd.sh is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between SuperTokens and pwd.sh?
SuperTokens is written in Java 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, SuperTokens or pwd.sh?
Choose SuperTokens if you want the larger community (15,342 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pwd.sh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.