gopass 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?
FeaturegopassOpenBao
CategoryPassword ManagersPassword Managers
LicenseMITMPL-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM32 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinary, bare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,072★ 6,961
First released20172024
Replaces1Password, LastPassAWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault

Why pick each one

Choose gopass if…

  • Great for teams using git
  • Single static binary
gopass details

Choose OpenBao if…

  • MPL-2.0 licensed
  • Compatible with Vault tooling
OpenBao details

Frequently asked questions

Is gopass or OpenBao better?

gopass is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenBao if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are gopass and OpenBao free and open-source?

Yes. gopass is licensed under MIT and OpenBao under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run gopass and OpenBao with Docker?

gopass: check the project docs for container support. OpenBao: yes.

Related comparisons