pass vs Passbolt (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, pass 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
pass 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 pass if
- Fits if you live in a terminal and already use GPG and Git
- Works for people who want plain encrypted files they control
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a graphical app, as there is no official one
- Skip it if you are on Windows, which relies on a third-party client
- Watch out: syncing is your job, through Git or file copying
- Too light for sharing with a team, as the site describes no team features
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
| 2.6GPApassGood | 2.2GPAPassboltFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree software under GPLv2 or later with no paid plans, which sits under 60% of the cheaper quarter in a category where most tools charge $2.99. | 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 | ANo plan, no cap and no account. You download it and use it. | 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 does the job of storing, generating and copying passwords, in a smaller scope than a full manager. Sharing and team features are not described on the site. | 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 | DYou work in a terminal and set up GPG keys and Git 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 | CLinux and Mac, as the site describes, plus community clients such as qtpass, browserpass and passff. No official phone or Windows app. | 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 | command-line people who already use GPG and 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: pass and Passbolt. How we grade
Price against what you get
pass 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 pass 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 and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
At a glance
| pass | Passbolt | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum) |
| Free plan | Free software under GPLv2 or later 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 | Jason A. Donenfeld | Passbolt SA |
| Price read from | passwordstore.org | passbolt.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
pass
- It has no official graphical app; phone apps and browser plugins come from other projects.
- The site describes it for Linux, BSD and Mac OS X; Windows use relies on a third-party client.
- You manage your own GPG keys and any syncing through Git or file copying.
- Sharing and team features are not described on the site.
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
pass
- One GPG file per password
- Each entry is an encrypted file named for the site or resource, kept in folders under a single password-store directory.
- Git history
- The store can be tracked with Git, which records changes to passwords and helps copy the store between machines.
- Generate and copy
- Commands add, edit, generate and retrieve passwords, and can put one on the clipboard and clear it after 45 seconds.
- Plain Unix workflow
- Works alongside normal shell commands, with completion for bash, zsh and fish and a man page for documentation.
- Community clients
- The site lists third-party tools, including a cross-platform GUI, Android and iOS apps, and Firefox and Chrome plugins.
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
pass
Free$0
The full command-line tool; third-party clients and extensions listed on the site are separate projects.
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
pass
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, pass or Passbolt?
As of Nov 13, 2026, pass is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.90 a month for each person for Passbolt. pass is free, and Passbolt starts at $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum).
Which has a free plan, pass or Passbolt?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both pass and Passbolt have a free plan.
Which platforms do pass and Passbolt run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only pass lists macOS and Linux apps and only Passbolt lists a web app, Windows, iOS and Android apps 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.