pass-tomb 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?
pass-tomb
Encrypted storage extension for the pass manager
VS
HashiCorp Vault
Secrets management and data protection for infrastructure
| Feature | pass-tomb | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Password Managers | Password Managers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BUSL-1.1 |
| Language | Shell | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 435 | ★ 36,086 |
| First released | 2017 | 2015 |
| Replaces | 1Password, KeePass | AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault |
Why pick each one
Choose pass-tomb if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Shell
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose HashiCorp Vault if…
- Industry standard for secrets
- Powerful policy engine
Frequently asked questions
Is pass-tomb 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 pass-tomb and HashiCorp Vault free and open-source?
Yes. pass-tomb is licensed under GPL-3.0 and HashiCorp Vault under BUSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run pass-tomb and HashiCorp Vault with Docker?
pass-tomb: check the project docs for container support. HashiCorp Vault: yes.