Bitwarden vs Passbolt

Bitwarden

• People who want a free password manager on unlimited devices
• Users who prefer open-source software or want to self-host
• Organizations that want per-user pricing with SSO and SCIM available

Passbolt

• Technical teams that want to self-host an open-source password manager
• Organizations with EU data residency or sovereignty requirements
• DevOps teams that need an API and CLI for secrets in their pipelines

Bitwarden

• The free plan leaves out file attachments, the integrated authenticator, vault health reports and emergency access.
• Individual plans share items with only one other Bitwarden user; unlimited sharing starts with Families.
• Listed prices are based on annual subscriptions, and taxes are not included.
• SSO integration and enterprise policies require the Enterprise plan.

Passbolt

• Every paid plan has a 10-user minimum, and there is no paid plan aimed at individuals.
• The free Community Edition has to be installed and maintained on your own server and comes with community support only.
• The browser extension is required to use Passbolt, the desktop app is listed for Windows only and offline mode is labeled beta.
• Single sign-on, LDAP provisioning, account recovery and the activity log are not part of the Community Edition.

Bitwarden

Unlimited free vault

The free plan stores unlimited logins, passkeys, notes, cards and identities and works on unlimited devices through browser, mobile and desktop apps.

Open source

Bitwarden's code is open source, and the company describes its security as independently verified.

Passkeys, autofill and generator

Stores and manages passkeys alongside passwords, autofills logins across devices and generates strong passwords and usernames.

Bitwarden Send

Shares sensitive information through a link that disappears. Free accounts can send text only; file sharing comes with paid plans.

Self-hosting

Bitwarden can be deployed on premises or in a private cloud. Families and Enterprise organizations can be moved to a self-hosted server.

Business controls

Teams adds event logs, directory synchronization and SCIM provisioning. Enterprise adds policies, SSO integration and granular access control.

Passbolt

Granular credential sharing

Shares passwords, TOTP codes and encrypted notes with individual users and groups, organized in private and shared folders under role-based access control.

End-to-end encryption

Passbolt says secrets are end-to-end encrypted through a public-private key architecture, and it requires its browser extension in order to guarantee that.

Self-hosted or cloud

Install it on your own Linux server with packages, a Docker container or a virtual machine, or use Passbolt Cloud, which the company hosts in the EU.

Open source, paid editions included

The Community, Pro and Enterprise editions are all distributed under AGPLv3, so the entire source code is available to inspect and modify.

API and command line interface

An open API and a CLI let DevOps teams create, retrieve and rotate secrets and inject them into CI/CD pipelines as environment variables.

SSO, directory sync and audit log

Paid editions add single sign-on with Microsoft, Google and OpenID, LDAP and Active Directory provisioning, account recovery and an activity log.

Bitwarden

• Free$0

  1 user. Unlimited passwords and passkeys on unlimited devices, a password and username generator, and two-step login.

• Premium$1.65

  per month, billed annually at $19.80

  Adds the integrated authenticator, 5 GB of encrypted file attachments, emergency access, security reports and priority support.

• Families$3.99

  per month for up to 6 users, billed annually at $47.88

  6 premium accounts with unlimited sharing and collections, plus shared organization storage.

• Teams$4

  per user / month, billed annually

  Secure credential sharing for a team, event logs, directory synchronization and SCIM provisioning.

• Enterprise$6

  per user / month, billed annually

  Everything in Teams, plus enterprise policies, passwordless SSO integration, granular access control and self-hosting.

Passbolt

• Community Edition$0

  Self-hosted and open source with unlimited users: sharing, private and shared folders, groups, browser extensions, CLI, open API and community support.

• Pro Edition$4.90

  per user / month, billed annually

  Self-hosted, minimum 10 users. Adds LDAP provisioning, single sign-on, account recovery, an activity log, tags and next-business-day support.

• Cloud Business$4.90

  per user / month, billed annually ($5.40 billed monthly)

  Hosted by Passbolt in Belgium and Germany, minimum 10 users, with a yearly database backup and next-business-day email support.

• Cloud Sovereign$8

  per user / month, billed annually

  Hosted in a sovereign private data center in Luxembourg with ISO 27001 certified hosting. Minimum 10 users.

• Enterprise EditionCustom

  Self-hosted, with high-availability and disaster-recovery consulting, custom feature development and a 4-hour support SLA.

• Cloud EnterpriseCustom

  Isolated hosting in Luxembourg with a custom domain, custom backup policies, 24/7 SOC monitoring and a 4-hour support SLA.

Bitwarden

• Other savings

  Free Families plan for Enterprise users

  Bitwarden's pricing page states that the Enterprise plan includes a free Families plan for all of its users.

Passbolt

• Annual discount

  10% off Cloud Business with yearly billing

  Cloud Business costs $5.40 per user a month billed monthly or $4.90 billed annually; the pricing page labels yearly billing as 10% off.

• Nonprofit

  Discounts for non-profits and education

  Non-profits, charities, foundations, associations and educational institutions can request a discount on Passbolt Pro or Cloud. The amount is at Passbolt's discretion.

• Other savings

  Discounts for open source projects

  Maintainers and contributors of public open source projects and communities can request a discount through the same form.

• Other savings

  Volume discounts above 100 users

  The Pro Edition pricing notes that volume discounts apply after 100 users, arranged through a quote.