Keywhiz vs Knox
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Keywhiz
Secret management and distribution system
VS
Knox
Service for storing and rotating application secrets
| Feature | Keywhiz | Knox |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Password Managers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,625 | ★ 1,268 |
| First released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Replaces | HashiCorp Vault | HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager |
Why pick each one
Choose Keywhiz if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Keywhiz or Knox better?
Neither is universally better. Keywhiz has the larger community, while Knox is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Keywhiz and Knox free and open-source?
Yes. Keywhiz is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Knox under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Keywhiz and Knox with Docker?
Keywhiz: yes. Knox: yes.