gopass vs Passbolt (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, gopass grades higher than Passbolt: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
gopass grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Passbolt grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Passbolt
Open-source password manager for teams, self-hosted or cloud
Which one is for you
Pick gopass if
- Fits if you work in a terminal and keep secrets in Git
- Makes sense if a small team shares credentials through an encrypted store
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a graphical app or a click-through setup
- Watch out: browser fill depends on the gopass-bridge add-on
- Skip it if you need phone apps, as the site lists none
- Tight if you do not want to run GPG keys and a Git remote
Pick Passbolt if
- Fits if your team has someone who runs servers and wants open-source code
- Works for data that must stay in the EU, or secrets pulled into pipelines through an API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're one person, because no paid plan is aimed at individuals
- Pricey if you're a team of three or four, as every paid plan bills for at least 10 users
- Not for you if nobody wants to maintain a server and you won't pay, since free means self-hosted
- Tight if you stay free, as single sign-on, LDAP, account recovery and the activity log are paid
- Watch out: the browser extension is required, the desktop app is Windows only, and offline mode is beta
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAgopassGood | 2.2GPAPassboltFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and open source with no paid plans, well under 60% of the cheaper quarter. | CPro and Cloud Business are both $4.90 a user a month billed annually, above the $3.99 where this category's dear quarter begins, and every paid plan bills for at least 10 users, so a team of three pays $588 a year. The free Community Edition costs nothing, if you host it. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no plan, no cap and no account to open. | BThe Community Edition is free for unlimited users, with sharing, folders, groups, mobile apps and the API, so a team could really live on it. You have to install and maintain it yourself, and single sign-on, account recovery and the activity log are paid. |
| Features | CIt covers storing and sharing secrets from a terminal. Browser fill relies on a separate add-on and the site lists no graphical app. | CSharing covers passwords, one-time codes and notes shared with users and groups under fine-grained permissions, plus an API and CLI that feed secrets into pipelines. But its own pages name the rough edges. The browser extension is required, the desktop app is Windows only, and offline mode is still beta. |
| Ease of use | DSetup needs GPG and a Git remote you set up yourself. No store rating on record. | DNo rating on record, and the free route is a Linux server, a Docker container or a virtual machine that someone has to keep running. Paying to have it hosted means at least 10 seats, and either way everyone has to install the browser extension before anything works. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, Linux and Windows plus a browser add-on. No phone apps listed, so it is a computer-only tool. | BWeb, iPhone, Android, browser extensions, an open API and a CLI, with hooks into Active Directory, OpenLDAP and OpenID. The desktop app is Windows only, though, so Mac and Linux people live in the browser. |
| Best for | terminal users sharing passwords through Git | open-source team passwords you can host yourself |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: gopass and Passbolt. How we grade
Price against what you get
gopass has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Passbolt starts at $4.90 a month for each person and scores 2.0.
Passbolt scores higher, and starts $4.90 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other password managers on the chart, none scores higher than gopass for less, and 29 score higher than Passbolt for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Passbolt is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| gopass | Passbolt | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum) |
| Free plan | Free and open source, with no paid plans. | Community Edition: free and open source under AGPLv3 for unlimited users, self-hosted on your own server, with password sharing, folders, users and groups, mobile apps and community support. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of the self-hosted Pro Edition; 7-day free trial of Cloud Business |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | gopass project | Passbolt SA |
| Price read from | gopass.pw | passbolt.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
gopass
- There is no graphical app on the site; browser fill depends on the gopass-bridge add-on.
- Setup needs GPG and a Git remote that you configure yourself.
- The site lists no mobile apps.
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.
Key features
gopass
- Command-line first
- Commands such as list, show and generate cover everyday use, so a password can be fetched without leaving the terminal.
- GPG encryption
- Secrets are encrypted with GnuPG, and the site says data is stored locally and private keys stay on your machine.
- Git versioning
- The store is versioned with Git, giving a history of changes and a way to sync secrets across devices.
- Team and family sharing
- Secrets can be shared with other people while keeping them encrypted.
- Add-ons
- gopass-bridge fills passwords in Firefox and Chrome, git-credential-gopass serves Git tokens, and gopass-hibp checks for exposed passwords.
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.
Plans
gopass
Free$0
The full command-line tool, installed with a package manager such as Homebrew or pacman.
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.
Ways to pay less
gopass
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, gopass or Passbolt?
As of Nov 13, 2026, gopass is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.90 a month for each person for Passbolt. gopass is free, and Passbolt starts at $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum).
Which has a free plan, gopass or Passbolt?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both gopass and Passbolt have a free plan.
Which platforms do gopass and Passbolt run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only gopass lists macOS and Linux apps and only Passbolt lists a web app and iOS and Android apps. Both list a Windows app and a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.