Passbolt vs Psono (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Psono grades higher than Passbolt: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Psono grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan 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
Psono
Open-source password manager that a company runs on its own servers
Which one is for you
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
Pick Psono if
- Fits if you want to run your own team vault on your own server
- Works for small teams of up to 10 that want business features free
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you do not want to run and update a server
- Tight if you want the paid Business version, which has a 25-user minimum
- Watch out: professional support and SLAs are quoted on request, with no listed price
- Watch out: the SaaS tab of the price page could not be read, so hosted prices are not recorded
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAPassboltFair | 2.6GPAPsonoGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CThe free editions are self-hosted, so a C. The Business version is $3 per user a month with a 25-user minimum, which is $75 a month for one person's floor. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | BAn open-source edition with unlimited users, and the business edition free for up to 10 users. Both are self-hosted. |
| Features | 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. | BClient-side encryption, team sharing, enterprise sign-in and a gateway for SSH, RDP and VNC. The listing shows no gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | 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. | DNo store rating on record. The free editions mean running and updating the server yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and an extension, with LDAP, SAML, OIDC, SSH and RDP. |
| Best for | open-source team passwords you can host yourself | an open-source team vault with a free self-hosted edition |
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: Passbolt and Psono. How we grade
Price against what you get
Passbolt starts at $4.90 a month for each person and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Psono starts at $3 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Psono scores higher and starts $1.90 a month lower. Of the other password managers on the chart, 21 score higher than Passbolt for less, and 9 score higher than Psono 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 end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Psono also covers passkeys.
At a glance
| Passbolt | Psono | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum) | $3 per user / month, billed annually (minimum 25 users) |
| Free plan | 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. | Open-source edition with unlimited users, or the business edition free for up to 10 users, both self-hosted. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the self-hosted Pro Edition; 7-day free trial of Cloud Business | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Passbolt SA | esaqa GmbH |
| Price read from | passbolt.com | psono.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Psono
- The free editions are self-hosted, so you run and update the server yourself.
- The Business version has a 25-user minimum; its price is shown for the On Premise edition.
- Professional support and service-level agreements are quoted on request, not sold at a listed price.
- The page's SaaS tab could not be read, so hosted prices are not recorded here.
Key features
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.
Psono
- Client-side encryption
- Vault data is encrypted in the client before it is sent to the server, then stored encrypted on the server.
- Self-hosted or SaaS
- Run every component on your own servers, or use a hosted edition. The pricing section is split into On Premise and SaaS tabs.
- Open source
- The complete codebase is public, so the security design can be audited independently.
- Team sharing and enterprise sign-in
- Share entries in encrypted form. The business editions add LDAP, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, audit logging and policies.
- Gateway for SSH, RDP and VNC
- The business editions include a gateway for opening remote sessions to servers and desktops.
- Apps on every platform
- Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, desktop builds, Android and iOS apps, a web client and a command-line tool.
Plans
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.
Psono
Open Source$0
Free community edition with unlimited users, password sharing, a generator and multifactor login. You host it yourself.
Free business version$0
Full feature set, including SSO, audit logging, policies and the SSH/RDP/VNC gateway, free for up to 10 users.
Business version$3
per user / month, billed annually, min. 25 users
Everything in the free business version for larger companies, with an optional extended support package quoted on request.
Ways to pay less
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.
Psono
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Passbolt or Psono?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Psono is cheaper to start with: $3 a month for each person, against $4.90 a month for each person for Passbolt. Passbolt starts at $4.90 per user / month, billed annually (Pro, 10-user minimum), and Psono starts at $3 per user / month, billed annually (minimum 25 users).
Which has a free plan, Passbolt or Psono?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Passbolt and Psono have a free plan.
Which platforms do Passbolt and Psono run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Psono lists macOS and Linux apps. Both list 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.