head to head · open source
vaultwarden vs Passbolt
vaultwarden has 70,127 GitHub stars, 3,400 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Passbolt has 6,204 stars, 406 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. vaultwarden leads on adoption by 1,030% (70,127 vs 6,204 stars). vaultwarden is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Passbolt is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. vaultwarden has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Passbolt 7%. vaultwarden was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| vaultwarden | Passbolt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 70K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 406 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vaultwarden if
- You weight community size — 70K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Passbolt if
- You want the Passbolt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Passbolt fits your workflow better
About vaultwarden
An alternative server implementation of the Bitwarden Client API, written in Rust and compatible with official Bitwarden clients [disclaimer], perfect for self hosted deployment where running the official resource heavy service might not be ideal. %3D'svg'%5D%2F %5Blocal name()%3D'g'%5D%5B2%5D%2F %5Blocal name()%3D'text'%5D%5B4%5D&style=flat square&logo=rust&label=dependencies&color=005AA4) [!IMPORTANT] When using this server, please report any bugs or suggestions directly to us (see Get in touch), regardless of whatever clients you are using (mobile, desktop, browser...). DO NOT use the official Bitwarden…
read the full vaultwarden overview →
About Passbolt
The open source password manager for teams. Table of Contents Introducing Passbolt Get Started Run it on your own server, natively Available Clients & Apps Browser Extensions Mobile Apps CLI Desktop App Contributing Reporting a security issue License Introducing Passbolt Passbolt is a security first, open source password manager for teams. It helps organizations centralize, organize and share passwords and secrets securely. What makes passbolt different? Security: Passbolt security model features user owned secret keys and end to end encryption. It is audited multiple times annually, and findings are made…
read the full Passbolt overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vaultwarden or Passbolt more popular?
vaultwarden has 70,127 GitHub stars and Passbolt has 6,204. vaultwarden has the larger community by that measure.
Are vaultwarden and Passbolt free?
Both are open source. vaultwarden is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Passbolt under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vaultwarden and Passbolt?
vaultwarden is written in Rust and Passbolt 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, vaultwarden or Passbolt?
Choose vaultwarden if you want the larger community (70,127 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Passbolt if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.