Buttercup vs OpenBao
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted password managers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Buttercup
Cross-platform password manager with multiple storage backends
VS
OpenBao
Open-source secrets management forked from Vault
| Feature | Buttercup | OpenBao |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Password Managers | Password Managers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,394 | ★ 6,961 |
| First released | 2015 | 2024 |
| Replaces | 1Password, LastPass | AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Buttercup or OpenBao better?
Neither is universally better. OpenBao has the larger community, while Buttercup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Buttercup and OpenBao free and open-source?
Yes. Buttercup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OpenBao under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buttercup and OpenBao with Docker?
Buttercup: check the project docs for container support. OpenBao: yes.