OpenBao vs HashiCorp Vault
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?
OpenBao
Open-source secrets management forked from Vault
VS
HashiCorp Vault
Secrets management and data protection for infrastructure
| Feature | OpenBao | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Password Managers | Password Managers |
| License | MPL-2.0 | BUSL-1.1 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,961 | ★ 36,086 |
| First released | 2024 | 2015 |
| Replaces | AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault | AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault |
Why pick each one
Choose HashiCorp Vault if…
- Industry standard for secrets
- Powerful policy engine
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenBao or HashiCorp Vault better?
Neither is universally better. HashiCorp Vault has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenBao and HashiCorp Vault free and open-source?
Yes. OpenBao is licensed under MPL-2.0 and HashiCorp Vault under BUSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenBao and HashiCorp Vault with Docker?
OpenBao: yes. HashiCorp Vault: yes.