Passbolt vs SOPS
| Tagline | Open-source password manager for teams with granular sharing and PGP encryption | Encrypt files in Git with KMS/age/PGP — secrets management without a server |
| Category | Password Managers & Secrets | Password Managers & Secrets |
| Replaces | 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane | HashiCorp Vault |
| GitHub stars | 6.1k | 23k |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 1/5 Effortless |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual | Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 4 days ago | yesterday |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Passbolt
- Several features (SSO, directory sync, MFA policies, tags) are gated behind paid Pro/Cloud editions
- Relies on browser extensions; mobile app maturity lags 1Password/Dashlane
- Initial setup (GPG server keys, SMTP, HTTPS) is fiddly compared to consumer apps
- No personal/consumer focus — geared toward team credential sharing
SOPS
- Not a centralized secrets server: no dynamic secrets, leasing, revocation, or audit log like Vault
- Requires an external key provider (KMS/age/PGP) and disciplined key management
- No UI, access policies, or web dashboard
- Suited to config-file secrets in Git, not runtime secret brokering
Bottom line
Choose SOPS if you want the lower-effort setup; choose SOPS for the larger community and ecosystem. SOPS has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Passbolt
Open-source password manager for teams with granular sharing and PGP encryption